In vitro propogation of curcuma angustifolia as an economic empowerment of rural farmers in middle Kerala

India is a rich source of medicinal plants due to the diversity in soil, their altitudes and other eco-geographical conditions. Economic plants play a vital role in providing nutritional and economical security to the poormass in rural areas. Overexploitation and destructive harvesting have made many medicinal plants scarce in their natural habits and costly in the market. East Indian arrowroot (Curcuma angustifolia) is a nutritionally and medicinally important crop belongs to family Zingiberaceae. It is an important medicinal plant of tropical and subtropical India. Its medicinal usage has been reported in the Indian and British Pharmacopoeias and in traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha. As the multiple uses of this species have increased its commercial demand, resulting in over-exploitation. Hence the natural population of these plants is rapidly disappearing especially in Kerala, India. The micropropogation of the plant was achieved using MS medium supplemented with Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) and Kinetin, under the controlled room temperature and photoperiod. 0.2mg/L of IAA and 1.0mg/L Kinetin gave the highest rate of shoot and root generation and average length of the shoot The paper also explores the traditional knowledge of rural women in middle Kerala on processing of Koovapodi a rhizome based ethnic weaning food from Curcuma aungustifolia. The information on preparation is based on the preliminary discussions with medical practioners of traditional medicine and elderly rural women of middle Kerala.