Bhubaneswar: A new species of Cherry Blossom, discovered by two scientists from Manipur, has been named after well-known Odia botanist Prof Dinabandhu Sahoo, who is credited with putting India on the Cherry Blossom map of the world. The new species has been named “Prunus dinabandhuana” after him.
One usually associates Cherry Blossom with Japan or the US, where Cherry Blossom Festivals attract millions of tourists during March-April. But thanks to Sahoo, India is now a popular destination for Cherry Blossom Festival.
How this came about is a remarkable story. In 2014, Sahoo, a Professor in the Department of Botany, University of Delhi, while delivering a TEDx Talk at Shillong, spotted a Cherry Blossom tree in full bloom in the city.
Luckily, the same year, Sahoo was appointed Director of the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) at Imphal. Immediately after his posting, he started exploring the forests of North-Eastern states for the presence of Cherry Blossom trees.
To his surprise, he found that the Cherry Blossom is native to the Himalayas. In 2015, under his initiative, thousands of Cherry Blossom saplings were planted in Shillong and Manipur in collaboration with the state governments.
Because of Sahoo’s determined efforts, the Cherry Blossom now grows in large numbers in six North-Eastern states.
Sahoo’s work was noticed in Japan. A delegation of GIFFU Cherry Blossom Association from Japan arrived in India and jointly organised India’s First Sakura Ceremony in 2016, making India the 28th country in the world to be part of the Sakura map.
Sahoo did not stop there. In November 2016, he planned and organised India’s First Cherry Blossom Festival at Shillong, which attracted lakhs of people. Thanks to his efforts, the First Manipur Cherry Blossom Festival was held at Mao, the border town of Manipur and Nagaland, and major research projects were started in the North-East.
From this research efforts, “Prunus dinabandhuana” was discovered by Manipur scientists Biseshwori T and Jenifer M. Growing up to 25-30 metres, the new species blooms in November unlike Japanese Cherry Blossom, which blooms during March-April.
The findings were published in the latest issue of international scientific journal Annales Botanici Fennici.
Sahoo is presently Director, Centre for Himalayan Studies; Director, Cluster Innovation Centre; Senior Professor, Department of Botany, University of Delhi, and a former Vice Chancellor of Fakir Mohan University, Odisha.
Sahoo was the first Indian student to visit Antarctica in 1987.
