Naharlagun, Jun 07: A group of 8 members including scientists and technical personnel from DBT-APSCS&T Centre of Excellence for Bioresources and Sustainable Development, Kimin, Arunachal Pradesh reached ICAR-NRC for Orchids, Pakyong, Sikkim, to attend a ten days duration advanced “Hands-on training program on Micropropagation, molecular biotechnological aspects of Orchids”
The session began with Dr. Ram Pal, Director, ICAR-NRCO, Pakyong, Sikkim where he briefed about the Institute and addressed the objectives, the ongoing works, and the future thrust of the Institution. Dr. Ram Pal then proceeded to speak about orchids, their importance & identification, cultivation techniques, and the present gap in the research scenario regarding orchids in India specially the Northeastern states, that needs to be acknowledged.
Further, the team was outlined regarding the 10-day training program commenced from 6th June till 16th June, 2022 which, will be taken up in the institute covering various aspects of Orchid Conservation and Cultivation and value addition of orchids with a view to providing entrepreneurship to the local farmers. The program will also provide hands-on training on plant tissue culture of orchids for conservation and commercial mass cultivation.
The training program is an initiation towards the collaboration established between DBT-APSCS&T CoE for BRSD, Kimin, and ICAR-NRCO, Sikkim for working towards Orchid Conservation and increasing its economic awareness among the local people of the state. The team also visited a conservatory for orchids which is being collected by ICAR-NRCO, Sikkim. The conservatory houses 3130 accessions, 360 species of Orchids of which 1026 accession has been registered.
Arunachal Pradesh is one of the richest states of the country in terms of Biodiversity, being home to more than 600 species of orchids and with new species being discovered habitually, is a pandora box of orchid wealth and research aspects related to it. The DBT-APSCS&T CoE for BRSD, Kimin has been working on various aspects of orchids for their conservation and creating economic awareness to the local populace of the State towards taking up orchid cultivation on entrepreneurial basis.
ICAR-NRCO, Pakyong, Sikkim is providing technical support and consultancy service to DBT-APSCS&T, Kimin, Arunachal Pradesh on all other aspects of Orchid Conservation, Cultivation and Orchid based Entrepreneurship which will be very beneficial to the state and provide sustainable growth to the 412 small-scale farmers, added Dr. Ram Pal.
