Shillong gets first of its kind Orchidarium in the entire country

SHILLONG, June 5 (HS) While several parts of the country are reeling under a severe heat wave where temperatures have crossed 50 degrees Centigrade, a large number of tourists from across the country are moving to various hill stations. This being the time of school and college holidays, lakhs of tourists are visiting the North Eastern States including Meghalaya, to enjoy the beauty of this hill state which is famous for Sohra (Cherrapunji) which is known for one of the highest rainfall in the world.

Taking advantage of the huge tourist rush , Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) , an autonomous institute of Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India has opened its state of the art orchidarium to the public in its campus at the hills of Upper Shillong, where the maximum temperature is between 15-20 degrees Centigrade. It is first of its kind Orchidarium in the entire country.

The 6000 square feet state of the art orchidarium  is quite unique and only one of its kind in the country having climate controlled system and displays several species of orchids, said Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo, Director IBSD.

IBSD is promoting orchid based bio-entrepreneurship to strengthen  the bioeconomy of the region as a major flagship program, said Sahoo.

While acknowledging the prospect of cultivation of Orchids as a trade, Prof Sahoo said that North-east India houses about 900 species of Orchids and Meghalaya houses 439 species alone. He also expressed his concern over the fact that many species are little known and are facing various threats both natural and anthropogenic; while unregulated wild collection of many species with ornamental values poses a big threat to their existence. He however expressed his firm belief that through this kinds of Orchidarium, students and citizens of India will be encouraged to develop love and care for nature and will also generate employment opportunities for many farmers and unemployed youth in the region.

Giving an estimate of orchids as a trade, Prof Sahoo informed the media people that the estimated global trade of floriculture is 80 Billion USD and India shares a very low pie of this stake holding a meagre 0.6% of the total floriculture exports. The Indian Floriculture market was worth INR 130 Billion in 2017 and it is further projected to reach INR 394 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 20% during 2018-2023, he added.

When asked about creating employment opportunities through orchids cultivation, he said IBSD has trained 1000 people from the Northeast at its centre at Manipur to excel in the field of orchid farming. He also informed that they have been able to open an Orchid Production Unit at Tura with the help of the state government and they plan to open 20 such production unit in the entire Meghalaya.

In this orchidarium, tourists, scholars and flower lovers can view several orchid species in one place like in Thailand, Singapore, Japan, England and many other countries, said Prof Sahoo.  IBSD has also come with construction of Tree house and Bamboo house in the premises of the Orchidarium to attract tourists.