Plants forma major source of drugs and the information relating to their occurrence, distribution, vernacular names and full knowledge regarding the position of the plant wealth is required for knowing the availability of the drug. It is a well known fact that the drug (Dravya) is the primary tool of the entire research programme. Therefore survey of medicinal plants, cultivation of medicinal plants in the demonstrative gardens occupies a pivotal position in the the field of Medicinal plant research. The council has planned research programmes in various fields and one such programme is the medicinal plant research of the country. The exploration of Medicinal flora of the county is of paramount important to procure authentic drugs( dravya) for other research programme and as well as to meet the demands of the country extending from alpine Himalayas ranges to the coastal areas penetrating to the arid zones helps to determine the areas where particular plant grows in abundance or it is scare in a particular region. This shall ultimately lead to the qualitative and quantitative estimation of several Ayurvedic drugs which are currently in demand for research work and pharmaceutical industry.
The main aim of the programme medicinal plant research is to provide quality drug material in adequate quantity for research/Pharmaceutical purposes. The survey work has greatly helped in the estimation of Medico-Ethno Botanical potential of the country. And cultivation of Medicinal plants in these different demonstrative herbal gardens also provides suitable agro-techniques for successful growth of scarcely distributed, threatened plant species of plants.