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NEWS

DETAILS OF THE COURSE

Programme components

A. Course curriculum

Course curriculum will be followed on the basis of guidelines of DBT. All the below given topics given by DBT will be takenup for discussion.

• Importance of Biodiversity and Bioresources; focal components, problems,

• Government land for biodiversity conservation

• Biodiversity - Genetic diversity, species diversity, and Ecosystems diversity.

• Bioresources - Distribution of terrestrial and aquatic bioresources, Microbial bioresources, Value of Bioresources – direct and indirect values, Ethical values,

• Biodiversity and food security

• Natural and wild resources- Medicinal plants, economically/industrially useful plants, Economically / industrially useful animals, Parasites & predators diversity.

• Ecologically relevant resources-Keystone species, pollinators, natural predators

• Bioresources maintained by and in man made ecosystems. Genetic resources, agrobiodiversity,

• Why you should speak for Biodiversity – Importance of student participation

• Ethnobotany  - Ethnic knowledge bases, Folklore knowledge bases.

• Wetlands – importance, productivity, habitats, nutrient cycling

• Marine Ecology – fisheries, plantkons, seaweeds, seagrasses, mangroves, sand binders

• Threats to bioresources

• Conservation and sustainable use of bio-resources – in situ, ex situ, seed banks, tissue culture repositories, Centres of diversity of crop plants,

• Differences between traditional and modern agriculture

• Differences between crop plants and wild species.

• Intellectual Property Rights and Bioresources.

• Biotechnology and Bioresources-scope, limits & precautions

• Emerging avenues and careers in the fields of Biodiversity, Bioresources and Biotechnology.

B. Local Visits

Field work for studying and documenting local biodiversity / bioresources - Visit to Various ecosystems in and around the programme Venue).

• Coastal ecosystem – Mahabalipuram to Chennai

• Agroecosystem (traditional rice varieties germplasm) – CIKS farm, visit with farmers practicing organic farming.

• Nursery – Tamilnadu Forest Department, Tamilnadu Horticulture Department

• Medicinal plants Garden – MCRC, Arignar Anna Hospital, Chennai

• Lake – Pulicat Lake – Freshwater and Marine ecosystem, confluence

• Vedanthangal Lake – Scoring Avian Fauna

• Backwaters – Muttukkadu Lake, Swamps

• Zoological Survey of India – Faunal diversity

• Enumeration of flora and fauna. Enumeration and Classification of plants based on taxonomy and use.

• Visit to Zoological Park – Listing of animals

• Visit to villages – Vadakadambadi, Perumaleri, Thirukazhukundram, etc. – Discussion with local farmers, elders to compare the past and present flora and fauna, agrobiodiversity etc.

C. Interactive Sessions

1.      All the selected students will be given a separate topic for preparation and presentation during the programme. Each and every topic will be discussed after presentation in the presence of MCRC resource persons and invited resource persons. The topics include a) Green house effect, b) Chlorofluorocarbons, c) Plastics and human health, d) Chemical fertilizers and pesticides, e) Sanitation and health, f) Urbanization and loss of flora and fauna, g) Agroclimatic zones of India, h) Forest produce in human life, i) Marine flora and fauna in human life, j) Alternate sources of energy – advantages and disadvantages, k) Food Alternatives, l) Fast foods – Perils, m) biodegradation – Methods, n) Water pollution, o) Your city –Bioresources and threats, etc.

2.      In addition, quiz competition will be held on selected topics after giving enough reading time. The winners will be awarded with certificates and prizes.

3.      The students will be encouraged to paint/ prepare posters on conservation of Bioresources. Facilities will be provided through the programmes and the best posters/ painting will be rewarded suitably with certificates and prizes.

4.      A separate programme will be conducted by MCRC resource person on Web-page designing on bioresources, internet search of  bioresources and each and every student will have a CD prepared when they complete their course with MCRC.

5.      The students will be encouraged to enact a drama collection or individually through a Play / Skit on themes identified by themselves and will be guided suitably to do so.

6.      Daily the evening sessions will be didicated for Audiovisual shows, films on bioresources, nature, preservation, alternatives, sustainable agriculture etc.

D. Practical hands-on activities

A.     Preparation of cycles of O₂, CO₂, N, water, plant, animal and food chain

B.     Preparation of food web

C.     Soil analysis - Preparation of soil list – Types, Texture analysis – identification of sand, silt, clay; properties – cohesion, flocculation, elasticity, plasticity – pH, EC, Organic carbon.

D.     Plant diversity analysis – Basic categorization, Quadrant analysis – Shannon wiener index - Scoring flora of selected areas and the campus on the basis of utility - Habit, Habitat, leaf arrangement, leaf venation, inflorescence, floral formula etc.

E.      Preparation of a list of parts where plants store food

F.      Faunal diversity  - Scoring fauna of the selected areas (paddy field, lake etc) and the campus.

G.     Sand binders in coastal ecosystem

H.     Crop diversity analysis - Identification of main and by products of various trees

I.        Farming – List of various farming operations, mixed farming, permaculture

- Identification of seeds, names of fertilizer, pesticides, tools and equipments

J.       Practical training on sowing, weeding, harvesting and threshing etc.

K.    Seed viability test – on paper rolls, sheets, sand – stain test to see viability

L.      Preparation of seed beds for various crops

M.   Study of seed commonly available crops and classification according to germinability, presence hard seed coat, dormancy etc.

N.    Growing crops on land allotted to the groups - Kitchen Garden

O.    Survey of plants, crops, weeds in irrigated and unirrigated areas

P.      Forest diversity analysis – Identification of main and by products of various trees

Q.    Organic farming – preparation of compost and Vermicompost

R.     Preparation of biopesticides

S.      Isolation of fungi, bacteria and nematodes

T.      Clonal propagation and Plant tissue culture

U.     Data Mining - Searching internet resources

E. Individual Projects by students

Each student will be asked to work on a specific project assignment that involves field studies, library research and data collection and analysis and identification of school / community based activity to be followed at his/her place of origin. The topics for the projects include,

1.      Enumeration of plant biodiversity from selected environments

2.      Enumeration of flora and fauna from selected school environments

3.      Enumeration of flora and fauna from MCRC campus

4.      Preparation of Vermicomposting

5.      Preparation of organic farming

6.      Data mining of web for Bioresources

7.      Organic farming practices in kitchen garden

F. Wrap-up Session

·        Experience sharing

·        Presentation by students followed by allocation / adoption of follow-up projects,

·        Get together with invited guests, Parents and School Authorities.

·        Award of Certificates.

G. Awards/certificates

Three best performing candidates for the following will be selected and will be awarded with first, second and third prizes.

1. Elocution
2. Essay Writing
3. Examination on Bioresources
4. Seminar Presentation
5. Sketch work / drawing on nature
6. Role Plays / Skit
7. Dumb Charades
8. Dance
9. Solo and Group Singing
10. Group Dancing

The prize includes gifts like CDs and/or books with citations in the form of certificates.