15/11/2024
IBSD is organising International Conference on “Bioeconomy from Bioresources: Promoting Traditional Resources of NER for Viksit Bharat” with 11th Convention of Society for Ethnopharmacology, India (SFE)
at Gangtok, Sikkim
Gangtok 15th November 2024
Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) is the only Institute in North Eastern Region under Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC), Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India having its presence in Imphal, Manipur; Gangtok, Sikkim; Aizawl, Mizoram; and Shillong, Meghalaya. The institute is working on Bioresources development and their sustainable use through biotechnological interventions for the socio-economic growth of the region with the major goal of scientific management of bioresources in the Indian region falling under Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. IBSD is promoting bioresources of NER and synergising research areas for catalysing the growth of entrepreneurship and startups in the region for livelihood generation and boosting bioeconomy with different perspectives. IBSD is organising the International Conference on "Bioeconomy from Bioresources: Promoting Traditional Resources of NER for Viksit Bharat" with the 11th convention of SFE scheduled on November 15-16, 2024 with the leadership of Prof. Pulok Kumar Mukherjee and his esteemed team of IBSD. This is the first time such event happening in Sikkim. This event will be jointly organized by the IBSD, Society for Ethnopharmacology, India in association with the State Medicinal Plant Board, Sikkim, Gangtok and Regional Ayurveda Research Institute, Sikkim, Gangtok. distinguished scientists, researchers, traditional healers, industry experts from over 15 countries and 400 delegates from different states of India and abroad are joining in this event for promoting bioeconomy from bioresources for Viksit Bharat.
During the inaugural programme, Prof. Pulok Kumar Mukherjee, Director, IBSD highlighted various initiatives for the development of bioeconomy from bioresources of this region. He also highlighted different outreach activities of IBSD for the promotion of entrepreneurship development including traditional healers business meet, industry connect, women bioentrepreneurs, women skill development, agri-entrepreneurs to encourage startups in NER for Viksit Bharat.
Dr Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India appreciated the efforts of IBSD under the leadership of Prof. Pulok Kumar Mukherjee for organising such events in NER for the promotion of traditional resources for the development of Bioeconomy for Viksit Bharat. He highlighted various initiatives of BioE3 policy of DBT, Govt. of India for the promotion of bioresources for biomanufacturing. Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India highlighted various opportunities for harnessing bioresources of NER for the bioeconomy development. Shri Vishvajit Sahay, additional Secretary & Finance Advisor, DBT, Govt. of India congratulated Director, IBSD for organising this conference in Sikkim which is rich in bioresources. He highlighted various funding opportunities of DBT under various initiatives for NER by Govt. of India. Prof. J. P. Tamang, Vice Chancellor (i/c), Sikkim University appreciated the initiative of IBSD for organising this conference at Gangtok to connect scientific experts with industry and traditional healers of the region. Dr. C. K. Katiyar, Vice president, Society for Ethnopharmacology, India highlighted the initiative of SFE and IBSD for organising this event in Sikkim.
Dr. Rabinaranyan Acharaya, Director General, CCRAS, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India congratulated Prof. Pulok Kumar Mukherjee, Director, IBSD and his team for organising international conference for promoting traditional resources for development of bioeconomy for Viksit Bhaarat. He highlighted various initiatives of Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India for promotion of bioeconomy with the development of products, processes, technologies. He emphasised to fucus on best practices for cultivation and harvesting medicinal plants.
Prof. Rudolf Bauer, Professor, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Austria highlighted the importance of active principles in Ethnopharmacological Research. Dr. Suraksha S. Diwan, Scientist-F, DBT, Govt. of India highlighted various initiative of DBT under NER division for the development of bioresources of the region and entrepreneurship development. Shri Indraneel Das, Vice President, SFE highlighted various initiatives of the society for the promotion of bioresources through different outreach activities in NER. Dr. Anju Majeed, Executive Group Chairperson, Sami-Sabinsa Group Ltd., Bangalore appreciated various initiatives of IBSD for the development of Bioeconomy from Bioresources of NER.
In NER, there are significant opportunities for developing a bioeconomy exploring the rich biodiversity and natural resources. A bioeconomy strategy in the NER, could involve various bioresources including plant resources, microbial resources and animal resources to develop biobased industries with the integration of research and development activity, capacity building and training with the involvement of different stakeholders, which will be helpful to identify opportunities, overcome challenges, and promote sustainable development.
This event will highlight on several contemporary aspects on Development of Bioeconomy from all natural resources of North Eastern region of India with special reference to those having impact on human health in all aspects. Several aspects of the impact on transformation of traditional knowledge based bioresources for the emerging economy will also be discussed. This conference is happening for the first time at Gangtok to showcase different initiatives for “Bioeconomy from Bioresources: This will include traditional medicine, medicinal plants, traditional foods and many others for betterment of the healthcare of the society and also promotion of Bioresources for Viksh*t Bharat. Students, researchers, academicians, scientists, industrialists, healthcare professional, traditional healers and others from the discipline of Life Sciences/ Pharmaceutical Sciences/ Ethnopharmacology and Medicinal plant research. Professionals with experience in product development, policymakers can also participate in this program. Eminent academicians, scientists, researchers, technologists, policy makers from universities, industries and other research organizations, traditional health practitioners, will share their experiences on different aspects of bioresources including Bioeconomy from bioresources, Globalization of Traditional Medicine: Tradition to Translation, Promotion of AYUSH drugs, Exploring medicinal plants for its cultivation, Sustainability and related aspects, Ethnopharmacology in drug discovery and development- global perspectives, Development and evaluation of traditional fermented foods, Synergy research for development of Bioresources, Bioprospecting of natural products – an approach towards drug discovery, Ethnopharmacological survey and documentation of traditional healthcare practices of NER, Business meet - Industry-institute partnership, Exploring bioresources for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Ethnopharmacology conclave - Traditional healthcare practices, Ethno veterinary medicine, Evaluation of safety, efficacy and quality of botanicals, Analytical techniques for quality control and standardization of medicinal plants, Perspectives of edible insects traditionally consumed in NER for health benefit, Artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science in developing bioresources.
During the event, there are special sessions including Industry Connect-Business, Traditional Healers Meet, Young Researcher Award competition, Best Poster Presentation Award competition. Besides, there are many panel discussions, session for interaction with Royal Society of Chemistry and other scientific lecturers for the promotion of traditional resources of NER for Viksit Bharat. Many participants from different institutes, universities, state departments, entrepreneurs, traditional healers, industry experts from Sikkim are also joining the conference. (PIB)