Some of the orchids found in Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar, June 28: The rare and ornamental orchids of Arunachal Pradesh are a treat for any flower enthusiast but these exotic flowers are yet to find a place in the national and international markets.

N. Rao, an orchidologist who has extensively researched orchids in the Northeast, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, for nearly three decades, said lack of knowledge about their commercial value stopped local residents from cultivating the flowers and this hindered the prospect of its largescale commercialisation.

“The forest department initiates programmes to train and encourage locals to take up orchid cultivation in a big way in various districts, especially in West Kameng and Tawang where orchids are mostly found, but people are yet to take it up on a largescale. But Arunachal Pradesh, unlike Sikkim, is yet to market its ornamental and multi-hued orchids,” he added.

Rao said Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim were the two states in the country that had the most conducive atmosphere for growing orchids. But Arunachal Pradesh has the advantage of a vast area and accounts for nearly 600 of the 1,300 species of orchids found in India.

The Himalayan state, the largest repository of orchids in the country, boasts of species such as Paphiopedilum (widely known as Lady’s slipper), white Coelogyne nitida, the yellow Cymbidium elegans, Dendrobium chrysanthum, Erica, Aracus and Selogenia which have a good market value in the national and international markets.

The state also has an orchid research centre at Tipi in West Kameng district which undertakes conservation of the flowers in addition to extensive research. The Sessa Orchid Sanctuary is the only one of its kind in the country. The centre gives local residents training in seed culture, tissue culture, storage, packaging and conservation, thereby, helping in conservation of orchids, Rao said.

Rao has identified 35 new orchid species in the state and a research team headed by him has developed six hybrids.

Sources said the rare and endangered orchids of the state were facing further danger from the upcoming hydropower projects in Tawang, West Kameng and Lower Subansiri districts which could submerge land home to these species.

The ministry of forest and environment recently ordered the relocating of 80 species of orchids, including rare ones, from Ranganadi hydel project site in Lower Subansiri to another place. With the state government signing 107 MoUs and MoAs with power developers for mega and minor hydel projects, the survival of these rare species has become a matter of major concern.