He also cautioned against ignoring sustainable development and conversation of biodiversity while finding solutions to poverty, malnutrition and hunger through science and technology.
Addressing the first International Agro-biodiversity Congress, Modi emphasised on focused research and proper management of genetic resources.
As threat to genetic resources is going to increase in the coming days, there should be "shared vision" with pooled resources from national, international, private bodies and scientific experts across the world towards conservation of biodiversity, he said.
"People have exploited natural resources blindly in the name of development. As a result, challenges are going to grow in the coming days. In the current scenario, discussion and research on agro-biodiversity are very important for achieving global food, nutrition, health and environment security," he added.
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Modi expressed concern over extinction of 50-150 species every day and said that in the coming years there is a threat to one out of eight birds and one-fourth of animals.
"World over, crores of people are fighting hunger, malnutrition and poverty. To address these issues, science and technology is very important. While finding solution to these problems, we should not ignore sustainable development and conservation of biodiversity," Modi said.
Highlighting that India is rich in agro-biodiversity, he said the country has 6.5 per cent of the world's biodiversity and feeds 17-18 per cent of the global human and animal population with only 2.5 per cent of the land resources.
"Our country is agriculture based and more than 50 per cent of the population is dependent on it. Our philosophy has been to keep natural resources intact and focus on development. Even development programmes across the world are based on this philosophy," he said.
In the first international conference on biodiversity
held in the national capital, about 900 delegated from 60 countries are deliberating on the issue of conservation of agro-biodiversity.
Stating that each nation is adopting different ways to protect agro-biodiversity, Modi said, "It would be appropriate if we prepare a register to keep a record of all such practices and then do research to find out which practices need to be promoted."
He talked about the negative impact of science and technology and suggested "audit of development of science".
"Science and technology is important for addressing malnutrition, hunger and poverty, but we will see to that how technology is impacting us...We need to be alert on negative impact of technology," he said, while citing example of usage of pesticide hindering honeybee in pollination process.
"In the coming years, there is threat of extinction of one out of eight birds and one fourth of animals. We will have to change our thinking. We need to focus on conserving our current resources and also strengthening it. All countries will have to learn from each other. This will happen when we focus on research in the area of agro-biodiversity," he said.
Elaborating on the richness of India's biodiversity, Modi said there are more than 47,000 plant species and over 89,000 animal species, besides over 8,100 km of coastal areas.
India has been able to protect genetic resources as the ancestors linked agri-produce with our culture, he said citing various examples.
The country has been able to conserve many varieties including 'Konamani' rice variety in South India, 'Agnibora' in Assam, 'Bhalia' wheat in Gujarat, he added.
India has also helped other nations in conserving agro- biodiversity, Modi said, noting that Haryana's buffalo breed 'Murah' and Gujarat's 'Zafrabadi' are known as international trans-boundary breeds.
for value-addition in agri-produce based on the strength of biodiversity, Modi mentioned a grass variety 'Banni' in Gujarat that is helping increase milk production. This grass has high nutritional value.
"Through value addition in the characteristic of this grass, we can promote this grass in the country. We need to expand the scope of research for this," he said, adding that value-addition can be done in castor, millets and mushroom.
He made it clear however that there should not be any damage to species while doing value addition.
"Human beings have created a problem of climate change by interfering in the nature. Rise in temperature is affecting life cycle of plants and animals. As per one estimate, 16 per cent of wild species will be on the verge of extinction by 2050. This situation is a cause of concern," he said.
"We need to create such a mechanism so that our farmers are able to analyse desirable genes in their farm fields and for which they should get good price. Such farmers should be involved in research work," he said.
Modi also called for blue revolution and asked scientists to focus not only on fisheries but also on cultivation of sea weeds.
Addressing the conference, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said India has rich genetic resources to face the challenges like climate change on agriculture.
Eminent agri-scientists and Father of Green Revolution in India M S Swaminathan urged the Prime Minister to take up with the United Nations a proposal of having an international year of agro-biodiversity.
Agro-biodiversity is the foundation of food security of India, he said, adding that new varieties need to be promoted for boosting production.