Plants
have been a source of nutrition, medicines and crop protection
agents for centuries and it is still true today that over
50% of all medication taken in the developed world is
derived from plant origins. Some of the earliest insecticides
are extracted from plants and these are still used in
both organic and conventional farming. There is resurgent
interest in traditional Chinese plant-based remedies in
search of active principles and significant progress is
evident. All flesh is grass’, Isaiah tells us in
the Bible. We have derived much benefit from plants but
there is much more that can be done. Plants are clean,
environmentally friendly ‘factories’ that
produce a wealth of novel, biologically active chemicals
and, with time, we expect to discover an increasing number
of compounds with more and more uses. This meeting will
discuss the opportunities for optimising naturally-based
remedies in medicine, new plant-based approaches to crop
protection and how vitamin deficiencies can be alleviated
simply, cheaply and effectively. It is an opportunity
to debate these issues and identify the way forward, assess
the opportunities, applaud the successes and look to the
promises for the future.