Union Minister of State RK Ranjan on Tuesday pitched for farming edible insects, considering their health benefits such as to keep the problems caused by cholesterol in check while at the same time ensuring sufficient protein in the diet.
Ranjan was virtually addressing the participants of ‘Brainstorming on Medicinal Plants for Rural Livelihood and Drug Development in North East Region of India’ that was organised by Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Takyelpat at the institute’s conference hall.
The union minister of state drew the attention of IBSD to further its research in the field of edible mushrooms and insects, and their health benefits.
He mentioned that the institute has been working on identification, scientific validation and value addition of the unique bioresources of the Northeast region. The research activities and numerous outreach programmes will yield development of bioeconomy and bioresources, he added.
Considering the vast plant resources and diverse traditional healthcare practices of the region, the IBSD has established the phytopharmaceutical mission to promote documentation, scientific validation and evaluation of the traditional healthcare practices, he said.
He further emphasised that farmers taking up commercial cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants will go a long way in boosting the economy of the state.
Since the phytopharmaceutical mission focuses on therapeutic areas such as developing anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, insect repellent, anti-diabetic and anti-arthritis drugs from medicinal and aromatic plants, it will help in popularising traditional healthcare practices and development of effective alternative herbal medicines to combat infectious diseases like COVID-19, he said.
He also lauded IBSD for establishing a linkage between traditional healers and the scientific community for benefit sharing with such initiatives.
Meanwhile, scientists of the department of Biotechnology, Government of India Sanjay Kumar Mishra said, “A lot has been done yet a lot needs to be done to tap the phytochemical properties in Northeast.”
He pointed out that India’s bioeconomy is presently valued around 70 billion dollars and that the government is targeting to achieve 150 billion dollars by 2025.
He also assured possible support to IBSD to come up with tangible activities to make the country viable in terms of bioeconomy and bioresources.
Various scientists, industrialists and traditional healers were present during the session.
