AG:GCP/RAS/186/JPN Field Document No.2006/03
FAO/GOVERNMENT COOPERATIVE PROGRAM
Report on the Establishment of the National Information Sharing Mechanism on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in India
Compiled by R.C. Agrawal Pratibha Brahmi Sanjeev Saxena Gurinder Jit Randhawa Kavita Gupta D.S. Mishra J.L. Karihaloo
2006
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND COOPERATION Ministry of Agriculture, Krishi Bhawan New Delhi-110 001, INDIA and NATIONAL BUREAU OF PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012, INDIA The designation and presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources/ Indian Council of Agricultural Research/Department of Agriculture and Co-operation concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries.
Published by:
Director National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources Pusa Campus, New Delhi - 110 012, India (on behalf of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India)
Citation: Agrawal R.C., Brahmi Pratibha, Saxena Sanjeev, Randhawa Gurinder Jit, Gupta Kavita, Mishra D.S and Karihaloo J.L. (2006). Report on Establishment of the National Information Sharing Mechanism on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in India. National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, India.
Copies available from:
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources Pusa Campus, New Delhi - 110 012 Tel.: 91-11-25843697 Fax: 91-11-25842495 E-mail: [email protected]
Printed at: Yugantar Prakashan (P) Ltd., WH-23, Mayapuri Phase-I, New Delhi - 110 064, India. Phones: 011-28115949, 28116018
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MESSAGE
The FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources held in Leipzig, Germany, formally adopted the Global Plan of Action (GPA) on 23 June 1996 and, along with it, a Leipzig Declaration that affirmed government level commitment to implement the GPA in the context of national efforts to strengthen world food security. The GPA and the Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources were prepared through a unique, country driven process. The process was guided by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and culminated in the International Technical Conference at Leipzig (Germany), attended by 150 countries and over 50 non-governmental organizations.
The Government of India is one amongst the seven Asian Countries (Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) that have signed an agreement with Food & Agriculture of the United Nations to participate in the Regional Cooperative Project “Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation & Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food & Agriculture (PGRFA) in Asia and the Pacific Region”. The project aims at promoting the implementation of the GPA and to contribute to establishing a continuing monitoring framework of the GPA implementation at national and regional levels and a mechanism for gathering and sharing information, as well as for priority setting for the GPA implementation.
I am glad that the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi is bringing out the final report of the FAO sponsored project “Establishment of the National Information Sharing Mechanism on the Implementation of the GPA for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in India” (GCP/RAS/186/JPN project) funded by Government of Japan for US$ 53,000.
This project was assigned by Department of Agriculture and Co-operation to NBPGR, New Delhi through Indian Council of Agricultural Research during November 2004 for implementation. The NBPGR, New Delhi identified 114 stakeholders representing ICAR Institutes, State Agricultural Universities, State Departments of Agriculture, Non-
v Governmental Organizations, Private Institutes. Concerted efforts have been made to gather relevant information from stakeholders related to PGRFA to establish a centralized information system. The present report is the culmination of these efforts. It brings out the process undertaken for the establishment of the National Information Sharing Mechanism on GPA Implementation and includes the analysis of the data gathered through this mechanism as the outcome of this project.
NBPGR has also developed in collaboration with FAO staff a website (http:// www.nbpgr.ernet.in) on the National GPA Information Sharing Mechanism, describing its establishment and purpose, listing its participants/stakeholders and making accessible the information so far gathered. Using this website, one can have a fair idea of various activities related to plant genetic resources in India.
I am sure that the information gathered under this project can be used for effective planning, management and identifying priority areas in the plant genetic resources activities in India. It would also help to eliminate replication of efforts of the various agencies involved in management of plant genetic resources in India.
S.L. Bhat Joint Secretary (Seeds)
vi FOREWORD
The Global Plan of Action (GPA) represents an important contribution to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in the field of food and agriculture and it is one of the supporting elements to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Its main objectives are (i) to ensure the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) as a basis for food security, (ii) to promote sustainable utilization of PGRFA in order to foster development and to reduce hunger and poverty, (iii) to promote a fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of PGRFA, (iv) to assist countries and institutions responsible for conserving and using PGRFA to identify priorities for action, and (v) to strengthen national, regional and international programmes for the conservation and utilization of PGRFA, including education and training. The GPA provides a normative framework for 20 inter-related activites, which are organized into four groups: In situ Conservation and Development, Ex situ Conservation, Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources, and Institutions and Capacity Building. Furthermore, a catalyst for both priority-setting and creating synergies among ongoing activities for the conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA. The signatory countries are committed to implement the plan, whose overall progress in implementation is monitored through the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources (CGR).
We are very pleased that India and the other six participating countries of the GCP/ RAS/186/JPN project are among the first countries to establish a National Information Sharing Mechanism on the Implementation of GPA (NISM-GPA). The Mechanism is based on the participation of stakeholders at national level and seeks to promote information exchange and strengthen stakeholder cooperation, thereby contributing to enhance the capacity of the national programmes for the conservation and sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources. The Mechanism uses a computer application that facilitates the documentation, management and analysis of the information addressed by a list of indicators and a related reporting format for monitoring the implementation of the GPA activities in the country.
We recognize the excellent leadership played by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, in the whole process in establishing the NISM-GPA in India. The ability of NBPGR to bring together over one hundred stakeholders from around the country to discuss and share knowledge about the GPA, the purposes and the activities of the NISM-GPA and to commit stakeholders to collaborate in establishing the Mechanism was highly commendable. The many meetings and training workshops on the use of the computer application for gathering information, validation of data and the preparation and review of the draft report that were organized by the NBPGR requires tremendous efforts and time of its responsible staff members, particularly the authors of the report. The collaboration and time devoted to this work by the participating stakeholders and the support from the FAO and the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project are important
vii factors contributing to the success in the establishment of the Mechanism. The guidance and advices provided by the members of the two National Coordination and Monitoring Committee of the GPA project played a very vital part in the achievement of the project.
We are very pleased that a vast amount of very useful information on PGR activities throughout the country has been gathered and documented in the NISM-GPA database, which has now been made accessible to the public. We believe that the information and data presented in this well synthesized report and the available database will help in effective planning of projects and identifying priority areas in plant genetic resources in India. The establishment of the NISM-GPA would also enhance coordination and collaboration of activites and reduce duplication of efforts among the various agencies in India. The information will also be very useful for other countries and interested parties.
Dr. N. Quat Ng Chief Technical Advisor Dr. Gautam Kalloo (GCP/RAS/186/JPN), FAORAP, Bangkok, Thailand Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences and Horticulture), Indian Council of Agricultural Research Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001, India
viii PREFACE
The FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources held in Leipzig, Germany, formally adopted the Global Plan of Action (GPA) on 23 June 1996 and, with it, a Leipzig Declaration that affirmed government-level commitment to implementing the GPA in the context of national efforts to strengthen world food security. The GPA and the Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources were prepared through a unique, country-driven process. The process was guided by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and culminated in the International Technical Conference, attended by 150 countries and over 50 non-governmental organisations. The Government of India is among the seven Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) that signed agreement with the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) to participate in the regional cooperative project “Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in Asia and the Pacific Region”, GCP/RAS/186/JPN, a project funded by Government of Japan. The project aims to promote the implementation of the GPA and to contribute to establishing a monitoring framework of the GPA implementation at national and regional levels and a mechanism for gathering and sharing information, as well as for priority setting for GPA implementation. One of the main immediate objectives of this project is to establish a National Information Sharing Mechanism on the implementation of GPA (NISM-GPA) in each of the participating countries for enhancing coordination of plans and activities on conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA amongst stakeholders and for sharing information. The NISM-GPA databases put online (http://www.nbpgr.ernet.in) for sharing with the stakeholders and other interested parties are the culmination of hard work made during the past 18 months by the national focal point of the project and numerous national stakeholders in India, with some technical support from the FAO and the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project. The modest funding support provided by the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project and FAO was supplemented with actual and in kind contributions from the Government of India. It is a network of 114 public and private institutions which conserve and/or use plant genetic resources in India. Its objective is to share information related to Indian PGRFA and, in particular, to the implementation of the GPA. In the present report, the process of establishment of NISM-GPA in India, data analysis and reporting based on the data submitted by the stakeholders in the categories - state of diversity; state of in situ management; state of ex situ management; state of use; state of national programmes; training and legislation; state of regional and international collaboration; access to plant genetic resources and sharing of benefits arising out of their use, and farmers’ rights and the contribution of PGRFA management to food security and sustainable development have been discussed.
ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The project on National Information Sharing Mechanism (NISM) on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in India was carried out under the consistent guidance of Dr. Mangala Rai, Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE), Goverment of India and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Dr. G. Kalloo, Deputy Director General (Crop Science and Horticulture), ICAR. We gratefully acknowledge them for their support and guidance in timely completion of this project.
We also gratefully acknowledge the financial and technical support of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Government of Japan, for its generous financial support given to the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project “Implementation of the GPA for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of PGRFA in Asia and the Pacific”. We also thank the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India for giving National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) the responsibility of executing this project.
Dr. S.P. Tiwari, as the Assistant Director General (Seeds), ICAR and later as Director, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad has been a source of inspiration and guidance right from the inception of this project. We sincerely thank him for his contribution in execution of this project.
The invaluable technical support and continuous guidance and encouragement received from Dr. N. Quat Ng, Chief Technical Advisor, GCP/RAS/186/JPN and Mr. Stefano Diulgheroff, AGPS/FAO in the execution of this project are highly appreciated. Continuous guidance received from Dr. Anishetty Murthy, former FAO Official (who was involved in GPA formulation at FAO ) in the execution of this project is also gratefully acknowledged. The cooperation extended by all the stakeholders by providing the relevant information using the NISM software is highly appreciated.
Timely submission of reports and receipt of funds was made possible with the help from Dr. N.B. Singh, former Assistant Director General (Seeds), ICAR and Dr. C.P.Singh, Principal Scientist, Crop Science Division, ICAR and the FAO Office, New Delhi.
The valuable support of Dr. K.S. Varaprasad, Dr. Z. Abraham and Dr. Vinita Gotmare who organised the regional training workshops at Hyderabad, Thrissur and Nagpur, respectively is also acknowledged with thanks.
xi Special thanks are also due to Dr. A.K. Singh, former Acting Director, NBPGR, Dr. N. Quat Ng and Stefano Diulgheroff for their keen interest, critical comments and technical editing of the report.
We are also thankful to all the Vice Chancellors, Secretaries of Agriculture of States, Directors and Heads of the Institutes for providing the resources and nominating the nodal officers for the purpose of the NISM.
Lastly, we wish to thank all Heads of Divisions and staff of NBPGR for their full support and help in successful completion of this project.
xii CONTENTS
Page No. 1. Project details 1 2. National Coordination and Monitoring Committee 4 3. Introduction 5 4. The process 10 5. Data analysis and reporting 21 6. State of diversity 25 7. State of in situ management 32 8. State of ex situ management 41 9. State of use 49 10. State of national programmes, training and legislation 59 11. State of regional and international collaboration 62 12. Access to plant genetic resources and sharing of benefits arising out of 64 their use and farmers’ rights 13. Contribution of PGRFA management to food security and sustainable 70 development Annexures I. Species included in the NISM database 72 II. Details of the stakeholders 91 III. Stakeholders who submitted the information 117 IV. Members of the National Advisory Committee 119 V. Participants of the Ist Meeting of the National Advisory Committee held on 120 11 August 2004 VI. Participants of Meeting of National Coordination and Monitoring 121 Committee held on 22 November 2004 VII. Participants of the National Workshop held on 24-25 January 2005 122 at NBPGR, New Delhi VIII. Participants for Regional Workshop meeting (November 2005) 125
xiii IX. Participants of the IInd Meeting of the National Advisory Committee 129 (29th March 2006) X. Species reported by the stakeholders for the ex situ collections 131 XI. Cultivars released in various crops 139 XII. Cultivars released during the last 10 years 142 XIII. Stakeholders with various types of storage facilities and list of species 185 under field genebank XIV. Crops for which minimal descriptor lists have been published 191 XV. Abbreviations 195 XVI. Details of the tables 196 XVII.Letter of Agreement 198
xiv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Seven Asian countries namely Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam have signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) to participate in the regional cooperative project “Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGFRA) in Asia and the Pacific Region”, funded by the Government of Japan. The project aims to promote the implementation of the GPA and to contribute in establishing a monitoring framework of the GPA implementation at national and regional levels.
In India, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi was identified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India as the lead center to implement the project. One of the immediate objectives of this project was to establish a National Information Sharing Mechanism on the implementation of GPA (NISM-GPA) in the country for enhancing coordination of plans and activities on conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA amongst stakeholders and for sharing information, as well as for priority setting for the GPA implementation. A network of 114 public and private institutions involved in conservation and/or use of plant genetic resource (PGR) in India has been developed.
The NISM in the Monitoring of the Implementation of the GPA has been a very useful exercise in India. This project has helped in identifying the institutions involved in PGR related activities and the synthesis of all the PGR work in India. Perceiving the great threat to PGR, last three decades have witnessed deployment of large resources for ex situ conservation particularly in genebanks. The National Genebank at NBPGR currently holds more than 311,554 accessions of germplasm belonging to about 600 species. In addition, there are more than 50 National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS) as integral part of national plant biodiversity conservation network. The NAGS conserve germplasm as active/working collections in modules maintained at 4-80C and 35-40% relative humidity, which are used in on-going research and crop improvement efforts. However, the wild relatives are poorly represented in most of the ex situ collections and priorities in the major food crops should be to collect mainly for gaps in collections with trait-specific and area-specific explorations; to collect the wild and weedy relatives of under-utilized crops and a number of native species that occur in the wild which are utilitized for medicinal purposes in the traditional health care systems. Though, it is encouraging that a large number of PGR have been assembled representing a broad range of diversity particularly in major food crops, only some of these have been used in the breeding programmes. A national effort by multi-disciplinary teams of scientists for the characterization (including molecular characterization), evaluation and pre-breeding programmes, using biotechnological tools, wherever required, would provide the required thrust for utilisation
xv of conserved PGR. The PGR conservation is a long-term, resource-intensive commitment, but is imperative for sustainable development and for posterity.
Inspite of commendable efforts in ex situ conservation, a serious lack of effort and institutional mandate is felt in the area of in situ management of PGR specially the crop species, wild food plants and wild related species. For PGR, due emphasis on in situ on- farm conservation of old varieties, traditional cultivars and landraces is required, as these are the storehouse of desirable traits such as drought tolerance, heat tolerance, disease resistance and sustainable yield. These are the potential resources for development of new improved varieties. Information generated under this project can be used for effective planning and identifying priority areas of research. It will also help to eliminate duplication in efforts of the various agencies. Gaps in PGR activities would be filled with certainty and not based on speculation. As part of awareness raising and strategic development, policy makers in the country would be supplied with vital information on PGR relevant to political debate and interested parties would be given appropriate advice.
xvi REPORT ON NISM-GPA
1
PROJECT DETAILS
Project period: November, 2004 to April, 2006
Total Budget for India: Rs. 26,00,000 ($53,000 USD).
Source of funding: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Other participating countries: Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam
National Focal Point Joint Secretary (Seeds), Department of Agriculture and Co- operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India
Project Team Members (INDIA) Principal Investigator
Dr. B.S. Dhillon, Director, NBPGR (upto 26 July 2005) Dr. J.L. Karihaloo, Director, NBPGR (from 27 July 2005 - 31 January 2006) Dr. A.K. Singh, Director, NBPGR (from 1 February - 31 March 2006)
Co- Principal Investigators
Dr. R.C. Agrawal, Senior Scientist, NBPGR Dr. Pratibha Brahmi, Senior Scientist, NBPGR Dr. Sanjeev Saxena, Senior Scientist, NBPGR Dr. Gurinder Jit Randhawa, Senior Scientist, NBPGR Dr. Kavita Gupta, Scientist (Senior Scale), NBPGR
National Co-ordinator
Dr. R.C. Agrawal, Sr. Scientist, NBPGR, New Delhi
1 REPORT ON NISM-GPA
Zonal Co-ordinators
Dr. Pratibha Brahmi, Sr. Scientist, NBPGR, New Delhi Dr. K.S. Varaprasad, Pr. Scientist, NBPGR RS, Hyderabad Dr. Vinita Gotmare, Scientist (SS), CICR, Nagpur Dr. Z. Abraham, Pr. Scientist, NBPGR RS, Thrissur
Nodal Officers from stakeholders (Detailed list is enclosed in Annexure- II)
Z. Abraham; M. Ahmeduallah; K. Anjani; S. Babu; K.S. Baig; Madhu Bala; H.M. Behl; Ch. Bharadwaj; Pratibha Brahmi; Vikas Chandak; Ram Chandra; R.C. Chaudhary; Y.S. Chauhan; Praveen Chhuneja; R.K. Choudhary; Harshwardhan Choudhary; S.K. Chowdhury; Rajib Das; D.G. Dhandar; N. Dikshit; N.K. Dwivedi; R. Elanchezhian; M. Elangovan; S.J. Gahukar; R.D. Gharpade; S.K. Ghosh; A.K. Gogoi; Yogesh Gokhale; Vinita Gotmare; V.K. Gour; D. Gupta; V.K. Gupta; S. Gupta; P.S. Gusain; Iqbal Hussain; Jerard Jayaramegowda; B. Augustine; J.R. Kannan Bapu; G.S. Karibasappa; R.P. Katiyar; I.S. Khairwal; Anil Khar; P.R. Kothari; Neeraj Kumar; Ashok Kumar; P.P. Kumbhare; S. Kundu; K.M. Kuruvilla; S.K. Luthra; K.J. Madhusoodanan; V. Mahajan; N.D. Majumder; S.K. Malhotra; E.H. Mallick, P.K. Mandal; S. Manickam; A. Manjunath; R.K. Mathur; D.K. Mishra; S.P. Mishra; D.N. Mishra; A.K. Misra; N. Mohanan; V. Murali; K. Murgasen; B.N.S. Murthy; T.G.K. Murthy, M.C. Narayanan Kutty; M. Gangadhara Nayak; K.S. Negi; J. Padu; D.P. Patel; B.C. Patra; C.J. Ponraj; N.R. Potdukhe; Shailendra Rajan; K. Rajgopal; D. Ram; P.W. Ramteke; A.S. Rana; Hari Har Ram; Geetha Rani; R.V.S. Rao; N.S. Rao; Y. Ravindrababu; P. Reddy; Raghava; R. Sadhukhan, K.V. Saji; S.K. Samanta; D.V.S.S.R. Sastry; Satya Pratik; A.K. Sen; S.K. Sethi; V.K. Shahi; S.D. Sharma; Y.P. Sharma; T.R. Sharma; R.K. Sharma; N.S. Shekhawat; B.B. Singh; Gurdayal Singh; S.B. Singh; Harpal Singh; D.N. Singh, P.K. Singh; I.P. Singh; L.V. Subba Rao; A. Suganya; Uma S.; Uma Uniyal, Sanjay Kumar; M. Unnikrishnan; Sashikant Untwale, V. Vadivel; K.S. Varaprasad, Y. Annamma Varghese; V.D. Verma; Ajay Verma, R.L. Yadav; N.A. Zeerak
2 REPORT ON NISM-GPA
Computer Assistance
Mr. Sunil Kumar, NBPGR Mr. Rajeev Gambhir, NBPGR Mr. Vijay Mandal, NBPGR
Chief Technical Advisor FAO Dr. N. Quat Ng, (GCP/RAS/186/JPN), FAORAP, Bangkok, Thailand
Information Management Mr. Stefano Diulgheroff, AGPS/FAO, Rome, Italy Officer
Letter of Agreement Signed between Joint Secretary (Seeds), Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India and Assistant Director General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, FAORAP, Bangkok, Thailand
Details of the LOA are in Annexure XVII
3 REPORT ON NISM-GPA
2 NATIONAL COORDINATION AND MONITORING COMMITTEE
Envisaging the quantum of work and multiplicity of agencies involved in the implementation of the project a National Co-ordination and Monitoring Committee was constituted. The Committee comprised senior policy makers from the Government of India and a member from IPGRI. The Committee provided overall guidance for the implementation of the Project by reviewing the progress periodically.
Members 1. Dr G. Kalloo, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences and Horticulture), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001 (Chairman)
2. Dr. N.B. Singh, Assistant Director General (Seeds), Indian Council of Agricultural Reserarch, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001 3. Mr. S.L. Bhat, Joint Secretary (Seeds), Department of Agriculture and Co- operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001
4. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest , Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, New Delhi-110 003
5. Dr. J.R. Bhatt, Additional Director, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, New Delhi-110 003 6. Dr. S. Natesh, Chairman, National Biodiversity Development Board, Department of Biotechnology, CGO Complex, New Delhi-110 003
7. Mr. Harish Prasad, Director (Seeds), Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001
8. Dr. Bhag Mal, Co-ordinator, IPGRI Office for South Asia, NASC Complex, New Delhi-110 012 9. Dr. B.S.Dhillon, Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012
10. Dr. Pratibha Brahmi, Senior Scientist, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012 (Member Secretary)
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3 INTRODUCTION
The project entitled “The Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in Asia and the Pacific” is a cooperative project between Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Government of India and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and six other member countries in Asia (project no. GCP/RAS/186/ JPN). It aims to contribute towards enhanced world food security and socio-economic development, reduced poverty and more sustainable agricultural systems through conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA. Its immediate objectives are to
(a) Promote the implementation of the twenty priority activities of the GPA for the conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA. (b) Contribute towards establishment of a continuing monitoring framework of the GPA implementation at national and regional level and a mechanism for gathering and sharing information, as well as setting priorities for GPA implementation: (i) thorough assessment of the present status of PGRFA in the country and the region for identification of needs and effective strategies for conservation and utilization of PGRFA. (ii) establishment of a national information sharing (clearing-house) mechanism on the GPA implementation (NISM-GPA) to enhance coordination of plans and activities on conservation and utilization of PGRFA amongst stakeholders and for achieving the objective (a). (iii) capacity building and training for National PGRFA Programmes. (iv) sharing of experiences in PGRFA in situ conservation, and on-farm management. (v) improvement of regional cooperation.
Thus, the scope of this project covers genetic resources of all plant species with potential for food and agriculture, in situ management and development, ex situ conservation, utilization and institution and capacity building within the framework of the GPA. The project works with the national partners and collaborates with regional and international organizations, especially Biodiversity International and other Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research centres and networks in the region.
5 REPORT ON NISM-GPA
Seven countries, namely, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam participated in this project which was funded by the Government of Japan.
Approach for Monitoring the Implementation of the GPA
Activities under the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project commenced in June 2003. At that time, the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) was considering a new approach for monitoring the GPA implementation, which was being developed by FAO with inputs from Biodiversity International. This was in line with the recommendations made by the Inter-governmental Technical Working Group on PGRFA in 2001. The new approach envisaged a country-driven, participatory and capacity building process which culminated with the establishment of a NISM-GPA.
NISM-GPA is based on a set of internationally agreed indicators and reporting format for monitoring the GPA implementation and an information system developed to facilitate and simplify recording, processing, analysis and sharing of the information addressed by the indicators and the reporting format. The indicators and the reporting format were developed in consultation with an expert group at a meeting convened by FAO and Biodiversity International in February 2002 (CGRFA-9/02/Inf.2).
The new monitoring approach was tested in a pilot study in several countries during the later part of 2003 and early 2004. Based on the results from this study, some revisions or modifications were made in the Indicators and Reporting Format during an Evaluation Meeting on Pilot Testing in May 2004. The revised Indicators and Reporting Format were adopted by the Commission on its 10th Session in November 2004 (CGRFA-10/ 04/Inf.5). Since then, several revisions and updated versions of the computer application for the NISM have been released for use by the countries, the most recent being version 3.8.
The FAO-GCP/RAS/186/JPN project took advantage of this development, adopted the new approach for monitoring GPA implementation and its components in order to assess the current status of PGRFA and identify gaps and priorities for carrying out further work in each participating country. The project contributed to the revision of the indicators and the development of the NISM-GPA computer application.
Objectives of the GPA Monitoring Approach
The main objectives of the new GPA monitoring approach, which culminated with the establishment of a National Information Sharing Mechanism on GPA implementation, were to: