Int'l seed treaty: Tomar for removing north-south divide

New Delhi: Amid the lack of consensus on issues like benefit sharing of germ plasm which will provide access to better quality seeds, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday urged member countries of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) to make headway eliminating the north-south divide.

However, while addressing the 9th governing body meeting of ITPGRFA, Tomar affirmed that the government was committed to ensuring food and nutrition to all.

On the occasion, Tomar said, "No negotiation is possible at the cost of food security. All international forums must remember that access to food is an essential right. Developing countries will be motivated by the need to ensure that the rights of farmers producing food are never compromised. This community is also responsible for the existence of plant genetic resources that we have today."

"People around the world have conserved priceless genetic resources and the treaty must support access and exchange of all crop genetic resources," he said, adding that member countries must stress on conservation and utilisation of minor millets, under-utilised potential crops as well as crop wild relatives before it is too late.

Our fight for climate resilient agriculture and nutritional security leans heavily on your decisions and actions, he added.

India is hosting a week-long 9th governing body meeting of International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and representatives of 175 countries are participating in it. The meeting held once in two years could not be organised in 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic. The treaty has been ratified by 149 countries.

Pointing out that ITPGRFA is "grappling to find consensus" on issues like digital sequence information, multipurpose plant species, benefit sharing rates, etc, Tomar requested member countries to "revive, reset and recover" to find best ways forward.

"The plant genetic resources are the source of solutions to breeding challenges. But they are also vulnerable due to habitat destruction and climate change. Their conservation is the shared responsibility of humanity. We must use all the modern technologies as well as traditional knowledge to conserve and use them sustainably," the minister said,

India stands firm in her belief and actions on the commitments to multilateral agreement, he said, and adding unless we eliminate the divide between North and South, and convergence of the aspirations of the treaty founders, we will fail to make any

headway.