Lucknow, Nov 24 (IANS): The Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow, has been designated as the coordination centre for medicinal plants by the Indian Ocean Rim Association-Regional Centre for Science and Technology Transfer (IORA-RCSTT), an official spokesman said on Saturday.

"The centre is funded by the Ministry of External Affairs to carry out activities over the next five years," said Anil K Tripathi, Director, CSIR-CIMAP.

The centre would be "coordinating activities related to cultivation, processing, value-addition, quality control, training, research and development, trade, commerce and exchange of experts on medicinal plants and their products in the 21-member states and 7 dialog partners of the association".

A six-day training program, he added, would begin on Monday in which presentations would be made on current quality standards of medicinal plants and products.

The spokesperson said 12 external experts have been identified to impart training on plant identification, databases and documentation, gene bank, industrial linkages and herbal product manufacturing by 28 members from Kenya, Mauritius, Iran, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, Tanzania, Seychelles and Bangladesh.