Harvesting Pelargonium in E Cape
7 April 2004
A joint venture between the Medical Research Council, the Senqu Municipality, German pharmaceutical company Percaval, and the Department of Science and Technology to harvest the indigenous Pelargonium plant for medicinal use will benefit the residents of three impoverished Eastern Cape towns.
The project will help reduce the high levels of unemployment in Lady Grey, Aliwal North and Sterkspruit, creating an estimated 130 new jobs. The 50 hectares of land on which the plants will be grown is owned by the municipality.
Pelargonium is used as a herbal remedy to treat conditions such as sinusitis, acute respiratory tract infection and tonsilitis.
Gilbert Matsabisa of the Medical Research Council said the project, which is in the planning stages, aims to reinvest the benefits of the plant into the communities from where it originated. "We need to develop the communities of Sterkspruit to become entrepreneurs, and to make sure that we impart
skills to the people there," Matsabisa said.
Percaval executive director Ulrich Feiter said that Germany has a long tradition of using herbal medicines, and that his company had invested huge amounts of money in pharmacological studies of Pelargonium.
Meanwhile, efforts to produce hemp in the Eastern Cape took a positive turn when the Department of Health gave permission for commercial production of the herb on a total of 2 000 hectares of land.
The Department of Trade and Industry has undertaken to allocate R55-million towards a hemp processing plant in the province.
Research trials have confirmed the commercial viability of hemp production in Addo, Dohne in Stutterheim, Fort Cox in Middledrift, Libode, Mthiza in East London, and Tsolo and Qamata in Cofimvaba.
Source: BuaNews
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