A novel Trichoderma based formulation has been developed to manage phytonematode problems in medicinal and aromatic plants especially in menthol mint. In addition several plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and endophytes that can enhance the growth and yield of several medicinal and aromatic plants have been identified. Microbes significantly reducing the incidence and severity the infestation of plant pathogens including phytonematodes in large number of medicinal and aromatic plants have also been identified. The department has recently shown that endophytes of medicinal plants can modulate the synthesis of pharmaceutically important microbes and higher yields of these can be achieved in important medicinal plants. Our department is also working towards developing technologies for reclaimation of stressed soils through microbial interventions especially the lands affected by salts, draught, floods and heavy metals.

On antiageing front, our department has identified some phytomolecules from medicinal and aromatic plants having the ability to influence broad classes of physiological variables—metabolic rate and respiration, reproduction, sensory perception, stress responses and associated developmental state to extend lifespan thereby showing that lifespan is the collective outcome of many integrated processes. Our department is also engaged in age-dependent reactions of phytomolecules which relieve the stress and neurologic disorders under lifespan-altering genetic and environmental conditions. Our work is largely supported by the CSIR, DBT, DST, NMPB and UPCST .