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Roscoea alpina Royle (Zingiberaceae) commonly known as Kakoli is a perennial medicinal plant endemic to the Himalayas. It has been used in vitality strengthening Ayurveda groups i.e., Astavarga and Jeevaniyagana and in preparation of Ayurvedic formulations e.g., Chyavanprasha and Divya Pidantak Tail. Considering its medicinal uses, high demand and overexploitation, natural habitats were surveyed in subalpine and alpine regions of Garhwal Himalaya for population estimation and to identify elite germplasm. R. alpina frequency was recorded more than 60% in Tungnath, Dayara, Valley of Flowers and Kedarnath populations. However, plant density and area occupied were low compared to other species of subalpine and alpine site. For threat category assessment, IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria were used and conservation status was assigned, based on site to site and for entire Garhwal region of the Western Himalaya. R. alpina, based on extent of occurrence was categorized as Vulnerable and based on number of mature individuals as Endangered for the Garhwal Himalaya. Further, habitat destruction and degradation were the major threats for population reduction in the wild. Morphological variation revealed plants from Tungnath and Kedarnath may be used for future propagation and domestication programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop production in mountain agriculture is in steady decline (5%-30%) over the past few decades. Only few species of cereals, pulses, potato, amaranth, etc. are important cash crops in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand, India. In traditional hill cropping systems, framers grow sesame, black soybean, corn, proso millet, amaranth, Brassica spp, etc. as mixed crop. These types of traditional cropping systems are not much advantageous and do not meet the requirements of the existing population. In the hilly regions Perilla, Hedychium, turmeric, industrial hemp, lemon grass, citronella, lavender, belladonna and other medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have immense potential. However, they are still not a part of the cropping system. Introduction of these MAPs as intercrops with traditional crops will not only improve the production potential of main crops, but also generate additional income to the farming family. Besides immense cash value, these plants also have less/no threats from wild animals. Similarly, introduction of medicinal and aromatic crops with horticultural crops is one of the key options to enhance agriculture production, as topography and climate of Uttarakhand is suitable for growth of these crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]