NE medicine research centre opened at Hengbung

By A Staff Reporter

IMPHAL | Aug 10

Deputy chief minister Yumnam Joykumar along with commerce and industries minister Thongam Biswajit Singh, inaugurated North East Centre for Ethno Medicinal Research at Hengbung village in Kangpokpi district today.

The research centre was opened within the campus of Foundation for Environment & Economic Development Services (FEEDS) near Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Hengbung.

Inaugurating the centre Joykumar said opening of such a centre will be a milestone in North-East especially to Manipur as the state has abundant medicinal plants. We have so many traditional ways of healing ailments by using various medicinal plants, he said.

He maintained that proper codifications for treatment of diseases by using medicinal plants are yet to be done. If we have the knowledge of its medicinal values by analysing its ingredients and chemicals, it will be more helpful to undergo treatments. The newly opened research centre would play an important role in this regard, he added.

Joykumar further said lots of research work needs to be done to utilize ethno-medicinal plants in treatment of diseases. He said, besides confining on some of the medicinal plants, researchers should also pay their attention to other plants that have some medicinal values which are abundant to our environment.

Speaking on the occasion Th. Bishwajit said ethno-medicinal treatments have been a long tradition in healing ailments in our society. Out of 12,000 medicinal plant species which are reported in the world, 430 species are found in the Northeast of which 108 species have been identified in Manipur, he added.

Th. Boswajit also pointed out that the state government with the help of the Centre will also try to take steps for felicitation of traditional medicinal treatments. If the research centre works out ways to identify medicinal aspects of various plants in the state, investors from within and outside the country will come, he said, adding it can generate employment to the local populace thereby enhancing their sustainability for livelihood and developing entrepreneurship.

H.B. Singh, senior scientist, ministry of science & technology also spoke on the importance of utilising local resources and manpower to create certain products as a part of Prime Minister’s Make in India Campaign.

Deputy Commissioner Kangpokpi T. Ranjit Singh and Haokholet Kipgen, president FEEDS also spoke on the occasion.

It may be mentioned that the centre has four scientists and 13 other staffs. It will cultivate plants with medicinal value across 100 hactres of farm. The centre will also establish a production unit which will collect such plants grown by farmers. The extracts will be sold to pharmaceutical companies.

The centre will conduct research on traditional method of healing using herbs. These plants having medicinal, aromatic and health improving properties will form the basis for the growth of pharmaceutical industry.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi during one of his visits in the state claimed that the Northeast has the potential of multi-million dollar herbal medicine market.