Prez Murmu to inaugurate ‘First Global Symposium on Farmers’ Rights’ today at ICAR Convention Centre

Eminent scientists, farmers and resource persons will participate from more than 80 countries in this 3-day event

Shri Ram Shaw

New Delhi: The President Smt Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the first ‘Global Symposium on Farmers’ Rights’ (GSFR) at the ICAR Convention Centre, National Agricultural Science Centre Complex in New Delhi, today (12 September). Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary and Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Sushri Shobha Karandlaje will also be present in the event.

Organised by the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (International Treaty) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, the Global Symposium is being hosted by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in collaboration with Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Authority, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), and ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).

Chairperson, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Authority, Dr T. Mohapatra, informed that India has been the first country in the world to include Farmers’ Rights in the context of Plant Variety Registration through its Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act, 2001. He informed that eminent scientists and resource persons will participate from 59 countries across the globe to deliberate during the sessions on how to recognize and reward the enormous contribution that local and indigenous communities and farmers of all regions of the world have made for the conservation and development of plant genetic resources (PGR).

He stressed that food systems across the world depend on seeds. New varieties of crops and planting material drive agricultural production, self-sufficiency and food security. Plant genetic resources are the key to face the challenges of malnutrition, climate change enhanced productivity.

Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Rakesh Ranjan informed that the proposal to hold the first GFSR was mooted by Government of India at the Ninth Session of the Governing Body (GB9) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (International Treaty) held in India in September 2022, which was agreed by the FAO. Farmers Rights is an interconnected issue and common understanding of the issue is required for a roadmap, he said.

FAO Representative in India, Takayuki Hagewara congratulated India for successful organization of the recently concluded G20 Summit. He appreciated the organizing capacity of India and the ability to embrace diversity of people from different countries. Diversity is important as it brings stability. Biodiversity, therefore, is required to support life and the GSFR is an event important for farmers and food security.

Secretary, ITPGRFA, Kent Nnadozie said that the Treaty works on the dictum “it all starts with a seed” and farmers are at the heart of the FAO’s work as the important intermediate between seed and food security. He said that the GB9 was hosted by India in an excellent manner and was a build up to this Global Symposium.

He informed that Article 9 of the Treaty focuses on recognizing, realizing, and promoting Farmers’ Rights concerning plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). The Treaty places the responsibility for realizing Farmers’ Rights on national governments and outlines potential measures to safeguard, enhance, and achieve these rights, he said. Farmers are the custodian and holders of work done over millennia in selecting saving and sharing seeds for availability of food to the world. The rights of farmers to save sow and share as well as space in decision making process are much needed and also to celebrate their contributions.

He also emphasized the need to protect indigenous knowledge of farmers and the relevance of diversity in seeds and production systems. India has rich experience and to share knowledge to address common problems with collaboration.

Agricultural Commissioner, MoAFW, P.K. Singh stated that Farmers provide food security to the world. Plant breeder rights and farmers rights are part of the PPVFR Act 2001and Section 39 has all provisions for Farmers Rights. India has a leading role with respect to Farmers Rights.

Former Chairperson, PPVFR Authority, Dr P.L.Gautam gave a historical perspective on the importance of the Treaty over the last three decades. The early 1990s was a very crucial period as the importance to conserve biodiversity was realized and led to the adoption of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, which enshrined the sovereignty of nations over their biological resources. FAO Treaty was adopted with two major issues left unattended by CBD one was the farmer’s rights and the other was ex-situ collections collected before CBD. The Treaty included these in their mandate and India played a big role in such negotiations.

Joint Secretary (Seeds), Pankaj Yadav informed that the newly constructed ‘Plant Authority Bhawan’, the office of the PPVFR Authority, and an online plant variety ‘Registration Portal’ would be inaugurated by the President. The inaugural ceremony will also feature the presentation of the Farmers’ Award instituted by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Authority as per the provisions of the PPVFR Act, 2001, honoring ‘Plant Genome Saviour Communities’ and ‘Plant Genome Saviour Farmers of India’ for the years 2021 and 2022.