Kohima, January 2: The Nagaland Science & Technology Council (NASTEC) has expressed optimism that exploiting the rich biodiversity of Nagaland, with intervention of biotechnology, will boost the socio-economic future of the people in a big way. NASTEC in a publication ‘Science and Technology Intervention in Nagaland’ stated that Nagaland is endowed with rich biodiversity and that indigenous Naga people posses wide traditional knowledge on natural therapeutic values of biological products, owing to their varied food habits and ready resources.
NASTEC has also stated that orientation of bright students, researchers and talented youth towards innovative research and providing technical know-how and infrastructures can materialize natural and human resources.
Realizing the latest prospects, NASTEC under the Science and Technology Department, Government of Nagaland had set up a biotechnology hub with the support of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India in 2011.
According to the NASTEC publication, the main objective of the hub is to create and maintain state-of-the –art biotechnology research laboratory and to facilitate and promote applications of biotechnology on indigenous bio-products of Nagaland by harnessing indigenous traditional knowledge and practices.
It also provides technical know-how on latest trends of biotechnological innovative researches to students, researchers and entrepreneurs through seminars and workshops. NASTAC also informed that the hub can conduct hands-on- training and encourage scientific innovations to young students and research aspirants within the region by providing cutting edge research knowledge and infrastructures. The hub further facilitates innovative research emphasizing on locally available biological products for technology transfer.
In the form of current activities and progress of the hub, a well equipped biotechnology research laboratory with all the essential equipment and facilities has been set up and a project entitled ‘Isolation & characterization of microbes in fermented foods of Nagaland’ was in progress, informed the publication.
Outreach programmes to various institutions in the state are conducted for awareness and promotion of biotechnology and hands-on-training and demonstration programmes are hosted in the hub for interested candidates, institutions and researchers. A shiitake mushroom spawn unit has also been initiated with the technology from, NEIST, Jorhat, Assam.
