Union agriculture minister Nitish Kumar has said the government will soon introduce the plant varieties and farmers' rights protection Bill in Parliament.
The Cabinet has already approved the draft of the proposed sui generis (suited to local situation) legislation for protecting new plant varieties as well as plant breeders and farmers' rights. The measure is in conformity with the provisions of the trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) agreement.
The minister was speaking to scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) campus here yesterday. He visited the laboratories of the IARI and National Gene Bank.
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Nitish Kumar assured the scientists the government would look into their problems, including their demand for enhancement of the retirement age to 62 years from 60 years at present.
While appreciating the role played by Indian agricultural scientists in ushering in the green, white, yellow and blue revolutions, he said the next target should be a "rainbow revolution", integrating all the sectors of agriculture.
Speaking on the occasion, ICAR director-general R S Paroda said the aim now should be to raise the share of agricultural exports in the country's total exports to 25 per cent from the current 17 per cent. He stressed the need for achieving technological competitiveness to face the challenges of the new millennium. ="description" content="Everybody, be it a right-wing Hindu, a proselytising Christian, or a marketer, is worried about conversions. How do you keep your flock intact while sowing dissension in others' ranks? Now, while there were not too many Hindu fundamentalists or evangelising Christians at the Chennai Brand Summit, there were a few marketers around. And they heard Jannie Hofmeyr hold forth on his `Conversion Model'.">