National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI)

National Botanical Research Institute Latest News

The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) recently achieved a breakthrough by cultivating the exotic flower, Eustoma, native to Mexico and America, in Odisha after successfully growing it on its campus in Lucknow.

About National Botanical Research Institute

• It is amongst one of the constituent research institutes of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• It is located in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
• It is a multi-disciplinary plant research centre of international repute, undertaking basic and applied R&D programmes in several strategically important areas of plant sciences.
• Originally set up as the National Botanic Gardens (NBG) by the State Government of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), it was taken over by the CSIR in 1953. 
• Though initially engaged in research work in the classical botanical disciplines, the NBG went on laying an increasing emphasis, in keeping with the national needs and priorities in the field of plant sciences, on its applied and developmental research activities.
• NBG was renamed as the NBRI, i.e., The National Botanical Research Institute in 1978. 
• Objectives:
  • Basic and applied research on plant diversity and prospection, plant-environment interaction and biotechnological approaches for plant improvement.
  • Development of technologies for new plant and microbial sources of commercial importance.
  • Building up germplasm repository of plants of indigenous and exotic origin, including rare, endangered and threatened species
  • Providing expertise and assistance for identification, supply and exchange of plants and propagules, garden layout and landscaping.
  • Dissemination of scientific knowledge and technologies on plants and microbial resources through publications, training, capacity building and extension activities
• The NBRI R&D department has seven divisions under which they conduct various researches. Those seven divisions are
  • Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium.
  • Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry and Product Development.
  • Plant Ecology and Environment Technologies.
  • Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.
  • Plant Genetic Resources and Improvement.
  • Botanical Garden, Plant Conservation and Agro-technologies.
  • S & T Management.
• CSIR-NBRI is equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories to support R&D.
• CSIR-NBRI has a well-designed Botanic Garden spread over 25 hectares with documented collections of about 5,000 indigenous and exotic plant species and varieties.
• It has an herbarium with 253,103 reference collections of flowering and non-flowering plants of India and two field research stations at Banthra.
• The institute is known for its outstanding contributions to enriching the knowledge base on India’s plant diversity, particularly in developing globally competent biotech and microbial technologies, herbal products, and plant databases.
• NBRI is recognized as a leading institute and referral center by different Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and the United Nations in matters related to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Traditional Knowledge, and Intellectual Property Rights. 
• The Institute has been recognized by Government of India as one of the National Repositories for Indian flora under the National Biodiversity Authority and as per the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Source: TH

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