Jorhat, March 16: Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla today inaugurated the new campus of Advanced Research Centre for Bamboo and Rattan at Aizawl.

The centre is a unit of Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat, under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun.

The new campus, which has a building for the centre, residential quarters, nurseries for bamboo and rattan, is spread across 11.63 hectares of land. The campus has been built at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

Mizoram industry minister S. Hiato, director general of the forestry council, V.K. Bahuguna, director of the rain forest institute, N.K. Vasu, Mizoram University vice-chancellor Prof. R. Lalthanthluanga were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

Vasu told The Telegraph over phone that the centre was established in Aizawl as a unit of the forest research institute based on the decisions taken by the Standing Finance Committee, Union ministry of environment and forest in 2004.

“The new campus of the centre likely to boost to the activities being undertaken by it,” the director said.

Vasu said the ARCBR had been entrusted to conduct advanced research on bamboo and rattan for conservation and sustainable utilisation of the plants.

“To carry out research on genetic improvement, technology for value addition, edible shoot processing, setting up of germplasm (a collection of genetic resources for an organism) banks of bamboo and canes, product development of the two species are the areas which the centre is working,” the official said.

As Mizoram has large areas of bamboo and rattan forests and plantations in the region the centre has been set up at Aizawl, Vasu said.