Shillong, Jan 07: Scientists on Wednesday said poultry
originated from the North-East, an area where outbreak of bird
flu wrought havoc to the poultry population this year.
"The poultry which is eaten as chicken meat originated
in North-East, a centre of origin for many genetic species
like some variety of chilly, banana and oranges," K Venkataraman, Secretary of Chennai-based National Biodiversity Authority, said while participating at the ongoing 96th Indian Science
Congress.
Poultry from the region have gone to other parts of
India and the world, Venkataraman said in course of a lecture
at the 96th Indian Science Congress.
Ironically, several parts of North-East, that included
states of Assam, Tripura and Manipur, were affected by bird
flu in the recent past, prompting the authorities to cull
thousands of birds.
According to World Health Organisation, more than 200
people in a dozen countries were killed by bird flu virus
since its resurface in Asia in 2003.
According to Venkataraman, countries like the US take
blood samples of the affected poultry in North-East to use
them during experiments for manufacturing anti-bird flu drugs.
Influx threatening NE biodiversity
Venkataraman said, "The influx has been creating
economic pressure in the region. The people coming to the
northeast are exploiting the biodiversity of the region for
survival. Locals should rise against the problem as they have
the best knowhow of the biodiversity."
He suggested that state governments in northeast
should implement the Biodiversity Act and form biodiversity
management committees at village level to protest and preserve
the green wealth.
"Only locals can serve as the custodians of the
explicit resources," he said.
K Haridasa, joint director of Foundation for
Revitalisation of Local Health Traditionals, said northeast
has been a home to over 3,500 of the 6,500 medicinal plant
species found in India.
Out of them, about 450 have "high trade value", he
said.
According to D K Hore of National Bureau of Plant
Genetic Resources, close to 10 rice geno types have
disappeared from Tripura in the past five years.
This is despite the fact that "domestication of rice"
had taken place in northeast over 10,000 years ago. The
scientists called for originating of "new rice varieties" in
the region by blending traditional wisdom and modern science.
"The cultural traditions of the tribal people have a
key role in understanding biodiversity conservation and
management issues," they said.
The northeast is one of the 12 mega biodiversity areas
of the world and over 80 per cent of the people in the region
depend for their livelihood on agriculture.
Bureau Report