VALUE ADDITION TO BIODIVERSITY PRODUCTS FOR BIOPROSPECTING AND BENEFIT SHARING

Sri Lanka has been identified as a biodiversity hotspot in the world. This is because of her richdiversity at genes, species and ecosj stem levels and unprecedented rate of loss ofSuch biodiversity. Sharing of benefits and increase in the recognized value of resources havebeen considered as one of the most effective pathways to foster conservation and utilization ofbiodiversity. Bioprospecting is searching for new genes, species and lor products for utilization,which has been practiced for centuries in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. However, to reach theoptimum benefit of bioprospecting and benefit sharing, it is essential to understand the valueaddition processes to biodiversity products. Value addition is considered as a step taken toincrease the value of a raw product any time between the harvesting and sale of the finalproduct. Value added products not only offer a higher return, but also open new markets, createbrand recognition and add variety. Value addition to biodiversity products can be rewarding andbenefits accrue from matching under-utili sed resources with potential marketsThe objectives of this study were to explore different value addition pathways of biodiversityproducts and identify sharing of benefits in each value addition process using Exacumtrinervium (binara), Salacia reticulate (kotalahimbutu), Munronia pinnata (binkohomba),Santalum a/bum (suduhandun) and Coscinium fenestratum (venival gata). Information wascollected from personal communication (indigenous knowledge), literature survey and brainstorming discussions.Potential value addition pathways were identified for all species. Sharing of benefits occursthroughout the value addition processes, although magnitude of sharing between different stepsvaries with species. In majority of species higher level of benefits is received by middlemanwhere as inM pinnata, collectors share high level of benefits. Results of the study also revealedthat there are no benefits provided in return to the area of conservation, which is a key factor ofdetermining sustainability of conservation. Implications of understanding of value additionprocesses of biodiversity prospecting, requirements of establishment of national legislation onbiodiversity prospecting, value addition and benefit sharing, and development of procedures andinstitutional capacities to implement such legislation are also discussed in this paper

Salvia officinalis L. coverage on plants development

ABSTRACT Medicinal plants with essential oils in their composition havetypicallybeen shown to be promising in plant control. Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) is cited for its allelopathic effects. This study evaluated the allelopathic potential of dried sage leaves in vegetation, soil and the development of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (tomato), Panicum maximum Jacq. (guinea grass) and Salvia hispanica L. (chia) plants. Three seedlings were transplanted seven days after germination in 1 kg plastic containers with soil, in a greenhouse. The grinded dry mass of sage was placed at rates of 3.75; 7.5 15 t ha-1, and a control (no mass). After 30 days, the chlorophyll index of tomato and guinea grass plants were inhibited with 7.5 and 15 t ha-1 sage cover crops. Tomato shoot length was inhibited in all tested rates, and guinea grass plants showed some reduction in growth when using the highest rate of sage mass (15 t ha-1). The dry mass of tomato and guinea grass plants was reduced when using the15 t ha-1, and 7.5 and 15 t ha-1 of sage cover crops, respectively. It can be concluded that there was some effect of sage coverage on the soil in tomato and guinea grass, but no effect was observed on chia plants

Vegetative propagation of insulin (Cissus verticillata (L.) Nicolson & C.E. Jarvis) by cutting

Propagation techniques may support handling, this way providing an alternative for producers of medicinal plants, thus avoiding indiscriminate collection. We aimed to evaluate the size of cuttings with and without leaves on the seedling production of insulin (Cissus verticillata (L.) Nicolson & C.E. Jarvis). The herbaceous apical cuttings were prepared with diagonal cut at the bottom and straight cut at the apex, with 5, 10 or 15 cm in length, kept with two whole leaves, two leaves cut in half or without leaves, being sterilized with sodium hypochlorite at 0.5% for 15 minutes. The cuttings were planted in plastic containers with 180 mL capacity with vermiculite as substrate and placed in greenhouse at the temperature of 22 ± 2° C. The experimental design was completely randomized and means were compared by Tukey's test at 5% probability. After 60 days, we found that the cutting of 5 cm with whole leaves and with leaves cut in half and the cutting of 10 cm with whole leaves had rates above 70% of rooting with the best means for number and length of roots. There was a high mortality rate for cuttings made without leaves. The callus and the percentage of live cuttings were not significant for the treatments. Therefore, 5 cm long cuttings with whole or half leaves and 10 cm long cuttings with whole leaves are the most suitable for the vegetative propagation of insulin