Planning for posterity

FARM VIEW/ Preservation of plant genetic resources needs to be taken up as a movement

The importance of the diversity of plant genetic resources (PGRs) for the sustained supply of food, feed, fodder, medicines and industrial products is well-recognised.

So is the need for documentation and conservation of these resources. Fortunately, India is neither an exception nor a laggard in this area.

In fact, from the view of conservation of these resources, India is at par with, if not ahead of, many developed nations. The country has one of the world's largest and the most modern gene banks for PGRs.

It is indeed among the few that have set up gene banks even for preserving the germplasm of animals, fish and microbes.

However, what is not fully appreciated in India, as also elsewhere, is the role that communities and tribals have played in sustaining this diversity over centuries.

Indeed, it is they who have saved many important plant species from extinction, albeit for the sake of their own subsistence. And, in this process, these communities have remained by and large poor.

The time has come to look into this aspect and make modern society repay its debt to the tribals and other communities living with these resources.

This was the focus of the discussions at a brain-storming session held in Delhi last week on the role of science and society towards PGR management.

It was organised by the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources.

Several significant suggestions emerged from this meet, which the policy planners need to consider and implement. Some of these require policy interventions by the government as well.

One such proposal, mooted by noted agricultural scientist and TAAS Chairman R S Paroda "" and endorsed by this meet "" was that the PGR management should be taken up as a movement. Society as a whole needs to help in the conservation of these resources and not the underprivileged communities and the tribals alone. For this, the nexus between PGR conservation and poverty needs to be broken without alienation of the tribals from their habitats, which also happen to be the habitats of most PGRs.

This can be done if society somehow bears the cost of supporting the tribals economically so that they do not switch over to purely commercial farming. Thus, the suggestion to involve the Panchayati Raj bodies, co-operatives, self-help groups and non-government organisations in this task merits consideration.

Globally, a crop diversity trust has recently been set up to finance PGR management. A similar trust could be set up in India. This trust could provide funds not only for PGR management, but also to support the tribals living off these resources. These tribals could even be trained in proper preservation of these resources. Business houses should come forward to contribute money for this trust.

It was indeed the commercial importance of these resources that has led in the past to bio-piracy and patenting of plants, varieties, germplasm and genes. The question of rights over the indigenous resources and the need for sharing them for the benefit of mankind has been discussed for long.

Many of them have now been resolved through international treaties like the convention on biological diversity (CBD), the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the intellectual property rights regime stipulated under the World Trade Organisation.

The most contentious of these issues "" whether everyone should have free access to these resources "" has been more or less settled.

The international undertaking on PGRs has clarified that "free access" does not imply "free-of-cost access". The global conventions have also unambiguously accepted the concept of sovereign rights of the countries over their indigenous PGRs.

These developments have made it incumbent upon the countries to undertake proper documentation of these resources, with authentic information on their genetic make-up.

India has, of course, set up a centre for fingerprinting of germplasm that will provide proof for sovereign rights and geographic indications of our native genetic resources. In fact, a part of the preserved germplasm has already been finger-printed.

But this task will indeed be incomplete without recording the indigenous knowledge regarding the local genetic resources as well. This knowledge, too, needs to be properly documented and preserved for posterity.

Besides, a well-developed information and communication system is needed to disseminate the details of the available germplasm. This will help the potential users know what kind of genes are available, and where. Without such a system, the gainful exploitation of the PGRs will not be possible.