Fish hatchery complex inaugurated in Manipur

The first commercial tissue culture facility in the entire north eastern region

Our Correspondent
Imphal, March 14 (EMN): The institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), a central institute in Manipur has began to develop a bio-resource hub , one of its kind in the entire NE region and a unique one in the country at its picturesque bio-resources park in Haraorou village, 16 km north of Imphal in Manipur.
Spreading across the foothill fields measuring around 40 acres, the IBSD team under the supervision of its energetic Director Prof Dinabandhu Sahoo have started to convert the park into a sustainable development facility hub considering the requirement of the local population as well as people across the country.
On Wednesday, Prof Sahoo accompanied by scientists of the institute inaugurated a fish hatchery complex having portable facilities besides dedicating the foundation stone for the development of a tissue culture and hardening facilities inside the park.
“This will be the first commercial tissue culture and hardening facility in the entire north eastern region as it plans to supply a minimum of 8 lakh saplings of horticulture plants and other forest plants per year at a highly subsidized rate to the farmers and other people,” said Prof Sahoo. “This is the real sustainable development model created by the institute park where a total of 250 farmers were trained under bio-resources enterprise development only on one orchid (Dendrobium) species.”
“Earlier tissue cultured plants were imported from Bangalore and Hyderbad etc. Now it will be done here as everything will go from here once the ongoing infrastructure developments are completed,” said the professor in Botany who has visited seven continents in the last 18 months. “The bio-resources available here can be airlifted directly through our helipad. So it will be self sufficient facility which you will not find in any parts of NE where you have the water harvest, fish culture, tissue culture, training for farmers etc at one particular place.”
He said although only 4% of the country’s population live in the northeast, unemployment is a major problem in the entire region. Therefore, biotechnology based enterprises is one of the best option for the socio-economic development of the region, as establishment of heavy industries will damage the environment.
Prof Sahoo also admitted that at present, nearly 50 percent of the fishes are imported from outside the state because of lack of quality fish seedlings. IBSD has developed 23 ponds with rain water harvesting facility in the area, so that round the year faring can be done along with high value fish production besides interaction with the farmers and do necessary works based on their requirements in some sectors in the last three years.
Dr Gusheinzed Waikhom who looks after the fishery section of the institute said that the newly opened fish hatchery will produce a minimum of 5 million fish sponges annually. Production of quality fingerling is need of the hour in a state like Manipur where people consumes fishes as a favourite dish in their day to life and during festivals.