Punniamurthy Natesan

Punniamurthy Natesan has spent four decades testing the herbal remedies that Indian farmers have long used for their animals. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of medicine, from Tamil Nadu ^[1].

Teacher

Natesan was born on 6 March 1957 and earned his doctorate, with a gold medal, from Madras Veterinary College ^[2]. Since 1980 he has worked at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), TDU in Bengaluru and the National Dairy Development Board ^[2]. He taught veterinary pharmacology and toxicology at the Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal ^[2].

Herbs for animals

Since 2001 he has worked to study and test ethnoveterinary remedies, mostly based on Siddha principles, and to bring them into veterinary practice ^[2]. His citation says the herbal protocols he developed are used widely for conditions in cattle such as mastitis, foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy skin disease and parasites ^[2]. The aim is to cut the use of antibiotics and chemicals in livestock, part of the national effort against antimicrobial resistance ^[2].

Training farmers

He founded a postgraduate diploma in ethnoveterinary practice, run jointly by TANUVAS and FRLHT-TDU, Bengaluru ^[2]. Through field demonstrations and internet-based tele-extension, he has trained more than one lakh livestock farmers, many of them women, and over 1,000 vets ^[2]. He has advised the NDDB, ICAR and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and taken his work to countries from the Netherlands to Ethiopia ^[2].

He has received the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology’s scientist award ^[2].