The Union Minister for Agriculture and Famers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar on August 16, 2021, inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Pusa in New Delhi.
While speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister mentioned that the farmers in India are completely capable of accepting the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and can also conquer them.
He further added that the Indian farmers are skilled human resources even without any major educational degree.
According to the release by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, the revamped state-of-the-art National Gene Bank is a powerful step in the direction of helping the farmers of India.
राष्ट्रीय पादप आनुवंशिक संसाधन ब्यूरो (@INbpgr ), पूसा, नई दिल्ली में आज विश्व के दूसरे सबसे बड़े नवीनीकृत-अत्याधुनिक राष्ट्रीय जीन बैंक का लोकार्पण कर राष्ट्र को समर्पित किया… pic.twitter.com/0wtLM03LEr
— Narendra Singh Tomar (@nstomar)
August 16, 2021
National Gene Bank in India: Key details
• The National Gene Bank was established in 1996 for preserving the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations.
• The bank has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.
• Presently, the National Gene Bank has been protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are the Indian germplasm while the rest have been imported from other countries.
• The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources is meeting the need of in-situ and ex-situ germplasm conservation through the Delhi Headquarters and ten other regional stations in the country.
Why there is a need for Gene Bank?
The Union Minister while speaking on the occasion said that today the need for biofortified crops is being felt. He pointed that somewhere there is an imbalance and the government has been trying to overcome it by taking the farmers along.
The agriculture farmers will be greatly benefited by the new gene bank with state-of-the-art facilities at germplasm. The goal is to make the farmers of the country self-reliant and the government has been making every effort in that direction.
Agricultural production in India in current times:
In ancient times there were no resources or technology, however, the fabric of nature was strong, there was complete coordination because of which there was neither malnutrition nor death due to hunger.
But when this fabric broke, the country started facing difficulties and was required to make special efforts. Because of the successful efforts of the Central Government with the farmers and the agricultural scientists, the production and the productivity of food grains in India are increasing continuously.
The Minister further added that if proper attention had been given to the development of agriculture in the country 20-30 years ago, the world today would have been dependent on India for the agriculture and allied sectors.