Two-day Seminar on Bioresources Conservation inaugurated at USTM

Dignitaries releasing the Book of Abstracts at National Seminar on Bioresources Conservation and Management Strategies for Rural Development at USTM on 22 August 2019s

9th Mile, Ri-Bhoi, 22 August 2019: Many fold increase in world human population in the recent decades has adverse impact on bio-diversity, and surprisingly within less than 45 years since 1975 there has been a loss of 65% of the plant and animal species in the world. The North East of India in this context is still regarded as a biodiversity hot spot but thoughtful planning is needed by the government for conservation of the region’s biodiversity, in the absence of which it would not take more years for this status to vanish. This was stated by Dr NC Talukdar, Director, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) in the National Seminar titled “Bioresources Conservation and Management Strategies for Rural Development” organised by the University of Science & Technology-Meghalaya here today. A Book of Abstracts of the Seminar Papers was also released by the dignitaries on the occasion.

Delivering his keynote address, Dr Talukdar said that increase in human population has resulted in reduce of arable land, biodiversity loss which in turn has led to reduced access of safe drinking water giving rise to global sustainability issue. According to him, the North East India harbours wide array of ecological niches that support unique sets of rich microbial resources. A varied climatic condition, diverse topology, diverse cultures ethnic communities are therefore characteristic qualities of the region.

A total of 65 papers would be presented at different sessions by participants coming from various colleges and universities of different states. Organised under the initiative of the Botany department of USTM, the two-day-long Seminar would also see 51 poster presentations on the theme of the seminar which will be made by various participants. Earlier, the welcome address was made by Dr PK Goswami, Vice Chancellor of USTM. Dr RK Sharma, Advisor of USTM also addressed the inaugural session with his insightful speech on the subject.