‘Edible insects for sustainable livelihood’

Workshop on sustainable practices in insect harvesting and rearing underway

Our Correspondent
Kohima | March 11

Entomophagy is not a new concept and in North East India, from exotic to common ones, insects are more than just a delicacy. Entomophagy, the technical term for eating insects, was established way back in the NE and is deeply rooted in the ethnic culture of the region.

Taking these factors into account, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in partnership with Department of Zoology, Kohima Science College Jotsoma started a two-day workshop on ‘Edible Insects for Sustainable Livelihood’ at Kohima Science College Jotsoma from March 11.

The workshop intends to discuss the importance of sustainable and ethical practices in insect harvesting and rearing. It enabled the participants to have a basic understanding about the edible insects, how to identify and domesticate them.

Also, hands-on training will be provided on insect identification, domestication and rearing, value added products and entrepreneurship.

This workshop was organised as part of the large scale research project “Bio resources and Sustainable Livelihoods in Northeast India” funded by Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

The workshop was formally inaugurated today by C Peter Yanthan, Additional Director of Agriculture, Nagaland.

Speaking on the occasion, he stressed on the importance of exploring the insect assemblage of Nagaland and shared his experiences related to edible insects and also talked about the importance of insects in agriculture.

The workshop registered 30 participants from all over the Northeast India. Resource persons from various prestigious universities have been invited to share their valuable knowledge and expertise.

 Also, native ethnic people were also invited as resource persons for some of the sessions. Dr Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, Senior Fellow, ATREE Bangalore explained the importance of the workshop being conducted in the Northeast.

Earlier, welcome address was delivered by Dzesevituo Angami, HoD, Department of Zoology, Kohima Science College Jotsoma while Dr Lily Sema, principal Kohima Science College Jotsoma delivered presidential address.  

The programme was followed by interactive session on ‘Insects for sustainability’, ‘Rearing grasshoppers’, ‘Hornet domestication’ and ‘Towards sustainability’.

ATREE is a global non-profit organisation which generates interdisciplinary knowledge to inform policy and practice towards conservation and sustainability.

For over two decades, ATREE has worked on social- environmental issues from local to global policy levels.

ATREE envisions a society committed to environmental conservation and sustainable and socially just development.

Its mission is to generate rigorous interdisciplinary knowledge by policy makers and society, and to train the next generation of environmental leaders.

To deliver its mission, ATREE work across issues like biodiversity and conservation, climate change mitigation and development, land and water resources, forests and governance and ecosystem services and human wellbeing.

On March 12, Anungla Pongen will talk on ‘Know what insects we eat’ while another technical session on ‘Nutritional aspects of edible insects’ will be led by Dr Amlan Das.

It will be followed by hands-on training on edible insect identification.