Manipur: IBSD celebrates 22nd foundation day

IMPHAL — The Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) celebrated its 22nd foundation Day by organising a seminar on “Synergizing Research Verticals to promote Bioeconomy from Bioresources of NER” in Imphal on Wednesday.

IBSD in Imphal is the only institute in Northeast working with the mission of, ‘Bioresources development and their sustainable use through biotechnological interventions for the socio-economic growth of the North East region.’

Speaking on the occasion, Director (IBSD) Pulok Kumar Mukherjee highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding signed with 29 international/national institutes for collaborative research in Northeast.

He mentioned on the new initiatives of IBSD including the Phytopharmaceutical Mission, Himalayan Bioresources Mission, Synergy Mission and Network Pharmacology for the development of bioresources of the region.

VC (Manipur university), Prof. N Lokendra Singh highlighted about the unique biodiversity of the region and appreciated IBSD for working on traditional medicines and translational research while Senior Advisor (Department of Biotechnology) Dr. Sanjay Mishra shared the various challenges and opportunities in bioresources research for adaptation and mitigation of climate change.

Dr. Hanashiro Yoshihiro of Okinawa Churasima Foundation, Japan shared various activities of the foundation for the bioresources management in Japan and mentioned various areas for collaborative research with IBSD.

Former Director Dr. H Tombi Singh, Director (Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Sciences) Mizoram Dr Sanjay Dinkar Sawant, Director ( NESTEC, Nagaland) Dr. Zavei Hiese appreciated the research progress of IBSD and shared their experiences.

Advocate (Calcutta High Court) Tamal Kanti Mukherjee mentioned about the laws, acts for biodiversity conservation and benefit sharing from bioeconomy perspectives while Former Dean (Manipur University) Prof GA Shanitibala Devi  spoke on bioresources of the region.

Twenty two year old IBSD is not only serving the people of Manipur but also has three different other entities including its Regional Centre at Gangtok in Sikkim and Research Nodes at Shillong in Meghalaya and at Aizawl in Mizoram.