Ayurvedic formulations to deal with urinary tract infections amongst cattle; options from the Charaka Samhita in treating bovine mastitis (an inflammatory illness amongst cows); the usage of vedic structure to create a wholesome indoor setting; and growth of high quality biofertiliser from cow dung — these are amongst 11 analysis proposals chosen for presidency funding by the Union ministry of schooling’s Indian Knowledge System (IKS) division within the newest spherical of its “Bhartiya Gyan Samwardhan Yojana” or outcome-based analysis proposals programme.

The division invited analysis proposals in February underneath 9 broad areas, together with architectural engineering, chemical science, and sustainable agriculture. The chosen analysis tasks will obtain as much as ₹20 lakh over two years. This is the second spherical of approvals for the 12 months 2022-23. Thus far, since 2021-22, the division has cleared round 70 analysis proposals. For the primary time in February, the division invited proposals underneath the top “Pashu Ayurveda (ancient veterinary medicine) based approach” .

Ganti S Murthy, nationwide coordinator, IKS division, and a professor on the Indian Institute of Technology, Indoresaid that this isn’t solely essential within the Indian context but additionally has relevance globally. “There is an ongoing discourse on antibiotic resistance globally. One of the major reasons behind it is the increase in use of antibiotics in the world. Interestingly, more than 70% of the antibiotics used in the world are for animals. They are used in poultry farming, dairy, and meat industry. This is causing antibiotic resistance organisms to emerge.”

“Pashu Ayurveda is a branch of Ayurveda which deals with animals, and a lot of traditional knowledge and scriptural knowledge exists in India on how to treat common diseases among animals without using antibiotics. The idea is to find solutions to minimise the use of antibiotics among animals,” Murthy stated.

The two analysis proposals chosen underneath this respective class will discover options for urinary tract infections amongst cattle and bovine mastitis, which causes irritation of mammary glands of cows and reduces milk manufacturing.

Explaining his challenge, Shanker Shyam Sundhar Panchapakesan, senior assistant professor at SASTRA University, stated that sure herbs together with moringa will help remedy bovine mastitis as a substitute of antibiotics. Citing an IIT-Roorkee research from 2020 that confirmed that bovine mastitis was the main reason for income loss amongst farmers and leads as much as 70% loss in milk manufacturing, he stated the thought is to deal with the illness utilizing options from Charaka Samhita, a complete textual content on historical Indian medication — authored by Charaka, one of many early specialists in Ayurveda — that dates again to between 100 and 200 BCE.

“In this project, we propose to study the molecular effects of Krimighna Ghana (the ancient text’s term for germ killing plant matter) as described in Charaka Samhita on microorganisms that cause mastitis in cattle; to formulate a treatment regime using rat models ; and to field test the formulation in cattle. This study aims to establish reduction of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria and antibiotic residues in milk and to establish scientific mode of action on Pashu Ayurveda products,” he added.

Under the sustainable agriculture class, three tasks, together with growth of high quality biofertiliser utilizing cow dung, and conventional farming practices for sustainable millet manufacturing, have been chosen. “Researchers will study different varieties of cow dung biofertilisers, including that from indigenous cows and hybrid cows, under this project. They will be looking at two breeds of cows from Gujarat, Gir and Kankrej, and will compare the microbiome (microbial profile) in their biofertiliser. The researchers will also study food habits of different cows,” Murthy stated.

“Another project will focus on traditional farming practices in millet production in Arunachal Pradesh. Since we are celebrating the international year of millets, it is important we focus on such projects,” he added.

At India’s occasion, the UN declared 2023 because the worldwide 12 months of millets, and India has since launched into a mission to popularise the coarse grains which can be each wealthy in micronutrients in addition to hardy.

In the architectural engineering class, two tasks have been chosen, together with “application of vedic architecture in creating a healthy indoor environment” with Varanasi and building methods used within the well-known Mahakal Temple in Ujjain being the case research.

Some of the opposite authorised tasks are: Investigating and manufacturing of iron beams utilized in Konark Sun Temple; Folkfare and legends of central Kerala Devi temples; and understanding Sampradaya and Sampradayik information within the Vallabhacharya and Chaitanya Vaishnava traditions.

The consequence of those analysis tasks will probably be revealed in peer-reviewed journals. “We are very particular about the quality of proposals and the research carried out under the project. We are also conducting research proposal writing workshops for IKS division. This time, we received 350 relevant proposals and we just selected 11 out of them for the research funding even though we could have funded up to 30 projects. For us, quality is most important,” Murthy added.