Dr. V Arunachalam is the Director of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (KSCSTE-JNTBGRI). Dr. V Arunachalam completed a Ph.D. in Horticulture from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, in 1996, following an M.Sc. in Horticulture from IARI in 1992.
KSCSTE-Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (KSCSTE – JNTBGRI) is a conservatory botanic garden and research institution established by the Government of Kerala which functions under the umbrella of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE). It was found on 17 November 1979 with the objective of providing conservation of tropical plant resources in the country in general and Kerala in particular. It also undertakes research activities for the sustainable utilization of the plant wealth of the country.
The idea of establishing conservatory botanic garden and research institute was conceived after the first United Nations Conference on Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. It was under the committed efforts by late Professor A. Abraham, the Founder Director, the Garden became a reality. It was established as an autonomous R&D organization with a broadened mission of conserving the waning tropical plant resources and species of India. The Kew Botanic Gardens played a significant role in the designing and lay-out of the garden during its formative years.
Formerly, the garden was known as Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute which is hailed as the only botanical research organization in India that maintains a conservatory garden for the wild tropical plant genetic resources of the country, in an expansive area of 300 acres besides housing a well-integrated multidisciplinary R&D system. The Institute undertakes research in areas such as conservation biology, plant taxonomy, biotechnology, phytochemistry, microbiology, ethnomedicine and ethnophamacology.
In 2011, the institute was renamed in the fond memory of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the visionary Prime Minister of India. In 1996, Saraswathy Thangavelu Extension Centre, the Bioinformatics component came into existence. During the year 2003, the institute was bought under the newly formed Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE). During the past 43 years, the institute has flourished into one of the premier R&D centers in Asia, devoted to conservation and sustainable utilization of tropical plant diversity.
The institute is now recognized as a ‘National Centre of Excellence in ex situ conservation and sustainable utilization of tropical plant diversity’ by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and the Centre for Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre). KSCSTE – JNTBGRI enjoys the prestige of being a member of BGCI, Botanic Gardens Conservation International. The institute is recognized as an approved research center by several universities within the country.
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