India attends International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
India attended the eighth session of the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) at Rome, Italy. Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Tomar attended the session representing India.
The Treaty is in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity. The treaty was negotiated through FAO.
About the session
- The Governing sessions of the treaty are biennial.
- Around 146 countries participated in the session
- International organizations such as FAO, UN were also part of the session
About the Treaty
It is also known as the “Seed Treaty”. It is an international agreement to ensure food security by exchange of world’s plant genetic resources of food and agriculture. It also aims at conservation and sustainable use of seed varieties
Objectives
The International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is based on the following principles
- Countries depend on plant genetic resources to produce food
- To provide a broad integrated global system that will provide easy access of genetic materials to scientists, farmers and plant breeders
- To help farmers on crop selection that adapts to unpredictable environmental changes and human needs.
The treaty provides a list of 64 crop species and their facilitated access.
India’s Nodal Agencies of the Treaty
In India, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation is the nodal agency that fulfills the objective of the treaty. However, the ministry responsible to fulfil the treaty is Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as the guidelines of the treaty are completely based on environment resilience.
India’s Legislation
The Indian laws that abide by the treaty are as follows
- Protection of plant varieties and farmers rights act
- Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Along with the treaty, the act is also pursuant to India’s commitment towards United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity.
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Month: Current Affairs - November, 2019