Conservation of plant genetic resources shared responsibility of humanity: Agriculture Minister

New Delhi: Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has said that plant genetic resources are the source of solution to the breeding challenges.

“Plant genetic resources are also vulnerable due to habitat destruction and climate change. Their protection is a “shared responsibility of humanity”. We must use all modern technologies as well as traditional knowledge to preserve and use them in a sustainable manner,” Tomar said this while inaugurating the Ninth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in New Delhi.

The ITPGRFA is a legally binding comprehensive agreement signed during the 31st session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome in November 2001, which took effect on 29 June 2004, and currently has 149 Contracting Parties including India. This treaty, in consonance with the Convention on Biological Diversity, seeks to achieve food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), equitable sharing of profits from its use, as well as playing an important role in the recognition of rights of farmers.

PGRFA provides scale-free solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture. Countries are mutually interdependent for the PGRFA, leading to the need for a global system to facilitate access and profit sharing. GB9 is being organized under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.

The theme aims to highlight the contribution of the world’s small farmers to the effective management of PGRFA and provide an opportunity to consider how the treaty and its community can contribute to the new global biodiversity architecture.

In the inaugural session, Tomar said that the aim of the Plant Treaty is to recognize the contribution of farmers and local communities to the diversity of crops. Over the centuries, tribal and traditional farming communities have continuously shaped and adapted the dimensions of the rich genetic material they have. This has given rise to vast and diverse cultural (life and commerce around plant diversity), culinary (incredible variety, tastes and nutrition as per purpose and season) and curative (food as medicine) practices.

Tomar said that the COVID pandemic has taught us some lessons. Availability and access to food is paramount to peace and stability. India remains committed to ensuring food and nutritional security for its citizens. Shri Tomar said that we need to ensure bountiful crop production year after year. The answer is crop diversity and diversification.

Tomar said that no negotiation is possible at the cost of food security. All international forums must not forget that food is an essential fundamental right. Developing countries will be motivated by the need to ensure that the rights of farmers producing food are never compromised. This community is also responsible for the existence of plant genetic resources that we have today. We have many places and people around the world who have conserved invaluable genetic resources and valuable traditional knowledge.

Emphasizing on the timely conservation and use of wild species of crops as well as potentially underutilized crops, he said that our struggle for climate resilient agriculture and nutritional security depends heavily on your decisions and actions.

Tomar said that genetic information obtained using advanced genomic and bio-informatic tools has the potential to become the subject of IPR. On the other hand, traditional knowledge that has been preserved and enriched from generation to generation becomes common knowledge. Multilateral fora such as the ITPGRFA are responsible for balancing commercial interests and heritage values ​​to ensure the continuity of PGR conservation on earth.

Minister said that India has been a firm advocate of sharing the wealth of plant genetic resources. A look at the IARC genebank and other national gene banks shows that about 10% of the germplasm is of Indian origin. Our vision is very clear that the genetic resources of plants should be made available for research and sustainable use.

Tomar said that we cannot ignore the contribution of farmers, indigenous communities, tribal population and especially the women of the community in the conservation and selection of plant genetic resources over time. Therefore, we have a duty to keep their interests in mind while considering amendments and improvements to the Treaty. India stands firm in its faith and actions in the commitments of the multilateral agreement. He said that Article 9 of the ITPGFRA deals with the rights of farmers, which India is fully compliant with and relevant provisions are contained in the PPV&FR Act, 2001. 166 farmers/agriculture communities have been honoured with Plant Genome Saviour Awards. He said that India proposes to the Governing Body of ITPGRFA to consider putting into action a module of Awareness, Outreach and Capacity Building Programme related to Farmers’ Rights, for which India will support its implementation.

Tomar said that global agricultural research is focusing on a few key crops for obvious reasons. Focusing on minor millets, minor pulses, minor fruits and leafy vegetables, he said that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has a network of institutions working on these crops. We have encouraged our farmer-conservers to join us for the GB-9. Shri Tomar said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, agriculture is progressing in the country, farmers are prospering and the economy is also being strengthened. Many such infrastructures have been built in the country which inspires the country and can also show the way forward to the world.

Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, GoI, while welcoming all the dignitaries, briefly elaborated about the strength of Indian agriculture and the significant progress made in the recent past due to progressive policies of the government. He urged that deliberations during the GB9 must lead to a balance in between genetic resources governance with use, investment with innovation and access with Benefit Sharing to achieve future-ready solutions for agriculture and food security.