Shimla, Jan. 25 -- With a bid to revive endangered medicinal plants and promote their scientific cultivation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) forestry project in Himachal Pradesh, said an official spokesperson.

Special focus has been given on "Picrorhiza kurroa", locally known as Kadu or Kutki, a medicinal plant on verge of extinction owing to unscientific extraction by local traders. The plant's roots are used for medicinal preparation.

Under the initiative, rural communities are being encouraged to take up medicinal plant farming with support from village forest development committees and self-help groups formed under the project. The spokesperson informed that up to the financial year 2025-26, around 1.62 million Ka...