A National conference on ‘Conservation, Cultivation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants’ (CCSMAP-2019), was organized by the Department of Biotechnology, FET, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana. The conference was sponsored by National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.

The second day of the conference started with the poster presentations by the participants which included Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral students from various departments of MRIIRS, Bundelkand University, Jhansi, Dr B Lal Institute, Jaipur. Total 32 participants presented their posters.

This was followed by lecture sessions by eminent scientists, starting with Dr J. L. N Shastry, Head, Healthcare, Dabur India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi. He emphasized the inter-relationships between various species in an ecosystem and shared the success stories of his research team on tissue culture of various important medicinal plant species. The next lecture was delivered by Dr Arvind Pareek, Professor and Head, Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer.

He stressed on the importance of algal culture for production of pharmaceutical compounds in terms of cost, establishment and applications. The third lecture was delivered by Dr Tapan Mukherjee, Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIISCAIR, New Delhi, who gave insights into traditional medicine and documentation of various medicinal plants in Traditional Knowledge Digital Library and its role in patenting.

The conference concluded with the valedictory function which was graced by the presence of Dr Sanjay Srivastava, MD, MREI, Dr M M Kathuria, Trustee, MREI, Dr. V K Mahana, ED & Dean- Academic Excellence, MRIIRS and Dr. Sarita Sachdeva, Dean Research, MRIIRS.

The valedictory function started with auspicious Ganpati Vandana by Indian classical singer and special invitee Ms Namrata Sharma from Jaipur. She also dedicated a patriotic song to the soldiers of Indian Army, saluting their martyrdom. Other cultural items involved a Rajasthani folk dance and a thought provoking dance presentation reiterating ‘No to Plastics’ by students of Department of Biotechnology, FET, MRIIRS.

The dignitaries addressed the gathering and awarded the winners of technical presentations (oral and poster) with prizes and certificates. Dr. Abhilasha Shourie, Professor and Head, and Dr, Nidhi Didwania, Associate Professor and Conference Convener, Department of Biotechnology, FET, MRIIRS, thanked the speakers, guests, delegates and all participants and congratulated all for the success of conference.