JORHAT: CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat and National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India has signed an Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of the Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre (RCFC) during a virtual meeting held between the two institutes on Thursday. Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre will act as one stop centre for the growers, cultivators, researchers, traders and other stakeholders of medicinal plants and to function in close co-ordination with State Medicinal Plants Board (SMPBs), the State implementing agency of the medicinal plants component of the AYUSH Mission in the North Eastern Region of India. Besides undertaking identified research relevant to the area of MPs, Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre will provide a service window for growers of Medicinal Plants (MPs), supporting conservation, development, marketing, cultivation of medicinal plants and provide handholding support to stakeholders in terms of technology dissemination and in establishing primary processing facilities. It was signed by respective heads of the two institutes Dr. G Narahari Sastry, Director, CSIR-NEIST, and Dr. JLN Sastry, CEO, National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH.
Keeping in view the importance of S&T intervention in the area of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants and the valuable contribution of CSIR-NEIST towards promotion of entrepreneurship for local population, CSIR has also organized a webiner focusing CSIR-NEIST in North East India on the topic entitled "Science, Technology and Skill Development in Medicinal, Aromatic Plants (MAPs) for Rural Development in NE India" on Thursday.
CSIR-NEIST is aggressively working on CSIR-Aroma Mission and propagating the High Yielding Varieties of Citronella and Lemon Grass, Patchaouli, Kaeamferia galanga in NE States as well as other parts of the country through different NGOs/Stakeholders/Aroma industries/Plantation Industries and CSIR-NEIST Branch Laboratories located at Imphal & Itanagar. The institute has propagated these aromatic plants in more than 2000 ha of coverage in different North Eastern States. Moreover, several distillation units of improved and better (than the existing ones) have already been installed and a few are in the process of installation including establishment of marketing channel for assured selling of distilled oil, stated a press release.