As a continuation of the National Seminar on “Ethno Science and Traditional Technology of Tribes and Indigenous Peoples Northeast India” that started on February 5, 2016, the final and closing programme of the seminar was held on February 8, 2016 at the Maharaja Bodhchandra College, Palace Compound, Imphal. The seminar was jointly organised by the Department of Social Work and Department of Sociology, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Regional Campus, Manipur and hosted by the Maharaja Bodhchandra College, Imphal.
The inaugural session of the programme was attended by Prof. N. Rajmuhon Singh, Department of Chemistry, Manipur University, Shri. K. Monoranjan Singh, Associate Professor of English, M.B. College, Imphal and Dr. Th. Manihar Singh, Principal, M.B. College, Imphal as Chief Guest, Guest of Honour and President, respectively.
The first technical session of the seminar was the presentation of a Special Lecture by Prof. P. Kumar Singh, Centre for Advanced Study in Life Science, Manipur University on the topic, “Ethno Medicine and Health Care System”. Prof. N. Lokendra Singh, Dean, School of Social Sciences, Manipur University Chaired the session and Shri. K. Monoranjan Singh, Associate Professor of English, M.B. College, Imphal was the discussant.
Prof. P. Kumar Singh stated that Ethno Medicine or traditional medicine is a study or comparison of the traditional medicine practiced by various ethnic groups, and especially by indigenous peoples. According to him India is known for its valuable heritage of herbal medicinal knowledge. Northeast India has more than a hundred and fifty tribes speaking many languages and that the region is a melting pot of variegated cultural mosaic of people and races. He added that Manipur is one of the two hotspot of biodiversity of the world. The State is one of the 12 mega biodiversity rich zones of the world and form a distinctive part of the indo-Burma hotspot that ranks the 6th among the 34 biodiversity hotspots.
Speaking on the Medicinal Plants of Manipur Prof. Singh stated that there are around 1200 reported species of plants as medicinal plants. Out of 12000 species, 430 species have been noted down as local medicinal uses, and various communities of Manipur use 108 plant species as medicinal plants. The significance of these medicinal plants is that more than 70 percent of the total population of Manipur are still dependent on traditional medicine on account of lack of medical facilities in various parts of the state.However, the concern is that there are processes of misappropriation of the traditional knowledge system as well as rapid erosion of the same. Further, there is incompatibility of the traditional knowledge system with modern Intellectual Property Rights regimes. Further, ecological degradation and environmental pollution is a threat to the biodiversity especially on the medicinal plants.
He concluded that there is need for identification of new or prospective herbal remedies in health care programs. Also there is need for digitization and archiving of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. And lastly, he emphasized that there is need for identification of the medicinal plant species-rich areas and evaluation of the cultural value for conservation efforts.
In the post lunch session six resource persons presented papers. The session was Chaired by Prof. P. Kumar Singh, Centre for Advanced Study in Life Science, Manipur University. Dr. KshVedmani Devi, T.S Paul Women’s College, Mongsangei, Manipur presented a paper titled, “Traditional Knowledge System of the Tribes and Indigenous Communities of Manipur and Issues of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)”. Dr. Vedmani opined that IPR is an integral process of the lifestyles of native people, where upon the native people depend largely on the use of locally available material for their sustenance. The use of locally available plants and herbs for food and traditional medicine is an integral part of the native people’s lives. She said that there are enough instances worldwide where the traditional knowledge system on the use of plants and animals and their parts by native people were documented by commercial companies and later patented by them, finally resulting in the native people having to pay for use of the same resources that were originally being used by them since ages. She cited the example of the infamous cases of patenting of the Basmati rice and other indigenous food variety found only in India by commercial entities based in foreign countries had necessitated for the protection of the intellectual property rights (IPR) of the native people. She concluded that the traditional knowledge system of the native people needs to be carefully documented and patented on their behalf so that the native people are not unnecessarily deprived of their rights to their intellectual properties.
Gangmumei Kamei, School of Human Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi, presented a paper titled, “Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Culture Interface among the Rongmei Naga Tribe of Manipur”. The paper focused on the need for innovation in entrepreneurship based on cultural materials amongst the Rongmei Naga Tribe of Manipur. According to him, cultural and traditional materials have become an important part of local entrepreneurship due to demand, need for economy and survival amongst many tribes. The paper lookedinto three different cultural materials – food, beverages and weaving traditions of the Rongmei Tribe and how these cultural materials have been transformed from basic local use to generating economy and commercialising cultural materials through entrepreneurial endeavours amongst those who have gained access into the traditional knowledge and techniques of the production process.
M. H. Devi, Department of Botany, Manipur College presented a joint paper titled, “Ethnobotanical Bio-Resource of KeibulLamjao National Park, Loktak Lake, Manipur”. According to her, wetlands are the backbone of bio-resources having rich nutrients status and natural home of flora and fauna including many important macrophytes. Loktak is a largest fresh water lake in the north eastern India and is one of the important Ramsar sites in India. In the southern part of the lake, there is a floating island Known as KeibulLamjao National Park (KLNP), generally made up of floating mat i.e. phumdi, is a unique one having rich bio-resources such as wild edible (54), medicinal plants (131) and fodder plants (30) etc. However, there is variation of the bio-resource categories in the six study sites [Keibul, Nongmaikhong, Sargam, Kumbi, Khordak, and Toyaching] of KLNP. They are as follows: Kumbi recorded highest (9) in wild edible; Sargam and Toyaching reached highest (11) record of medicinal plants; Sargam and Khordak recorded highest (10) fodder plants as dominant one. Toyaching is the best resource area in wild edible and fodder plants. This finding will be very important because, KLNP is also the natural home of many indigenous animals including Sangai deer (RucervuseldiieldiiMcClelland). The macrophytes are used for any purposes by the human beings and also as a fodder and shelter plant of many animals. In this regard, sustainable harvesting and conservation of the macrophyes is an important one for future generation.
N. Olivia Devi, Central Agricultural University, Manipur, presented a joint paper (authored along with W. Tampakleima, Angela L, B Sinha, Pramesh. Kh and R. Joseph), titled, “Plant Extracts for the Managements of some important diseases of crop plants”. The paper submits that natural products have the potential as a viable solution to the environmental problems caused by the synthetic pesticides and many researchers are trying to identify the effective natural products to replace the synthetic pesticides. The presence of anti fungal compounds in higher plants has long been recognized as an important factor in disease resistance. These can be used to control many soil borne and foliarfungal and bacterial plant pathogens. Fresh or dried plant materials can be used as a source for the extraction of secondary plant components.
Dr. Ksh. Bimolata Devi, Ideal Girls’ College, Akampat presented a paper titled, “Advance in Soyabean Products”. In this paper she examined the nutritional aspects and primary uses of soyabean in the United States of America and Asia. Then she focused on the use of fermented soyabean (Hawaijar) in Manipur. She elaborated on the steps of preparation of Hawaijar and concluded that soyabean is arich source of protein for humans and food animals besides being a rich source of vegetable oil. Advancement in processing technology, bio engineering and the use of feedsupplements have further added value to soybeanmeal by increasing the core of its nutrient bio availability.
W.Tampakleima, Central Agricultural University, Manipur, presented a joint paper (authored along with B. Sinha, PrameshKh, R. JosephK and Olivia Devi) titled, “Seed Borne Disease of Rice and Seed Health Test”. The paper argues that seed health test concerns the overall condition of seeds. It includes pathogenic infection of seed, insect infestation, morphological and physiological disorder, inert matter etc. Health of seed refers primarily to the presence or absence of disease causing organisms such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, animal pests including nematodes and insects, but physiological conditions such as trace element deficiency may be involved. Seed may carry pathogen as admixture, external and internal (ISTA). Techniques includes in detection of rice seed borne diseases are visual inspection, microscopic observation, placing seed on petriplates, seed soaking and washing, agar plate method and blotter test.
In addition to the presentations, there were poster displays by Ningombam Babyrose Devi, O.K Singh, Ajit Kumar Das and Leishangthem Ranibala Devi from the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Assam University, Silchar, Centre of Advanced Study in Life Sciences, Department of Life Sciences and Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Assam University, Silchar, respectively.
