No drop in Ayurveda drug production - SLADC MD

Production at the Sri Lanka Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation (SLADC) will not be affected by the ban on exports of gingelly oil and herbal raw materials from India, said Managing Director SLADC, Nalin Mervin Fernando.

SLADC supplies almost all Ayurvedic drugs to government Ayurvedic hospitals and Ayurvedic clinics islandwide.

The Managing Director said that the corporation has sufficient stocks of imported and local gingelly oil which is one of the main raw materials of ayurvedic medicinal oil, for two months.

"SLADC has decided to buy gingelly from the harvest which is expected next month to produce gingelly oil," he said.

He said that the corporation has decided to double its production this year due to the demand for ayurvedic drugs, manufactured by the corporation.

Under the guidance of the Minister of Indigenous Medicine Tissa Karalliyadda a herbal farm garden project was launched last year.

The herbal farm gardens provide most of the herbs needed for production, he said.

L. S. A.