The Hindu : National : Genetic conservation centre dedicated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 08, 2005

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National

Genetic conservation centre dedicated

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Patnaik Medicinal Plants Garden & Research Centre, established by the Chennai-based M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at Jeypore in Koraput district, was dedicated at a special ceremony held here on Saturday.

The aim of the Centre is to establish an ex situ genetic conservation centre of medicinal plants of major tribes of the region.

Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa; M.S. Swaminathan, chairman of the MSSRF; Kiran Karnik, president of NASSCOM; and Surya Narayan Patra, Information Technology Minister; were present at the function held at the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology.

The research centre would help tribal men and women to protect their intellectual property rights under the provisions of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act and the Biodiversity Act.

A participatory knowledge management system would be developed to foster genetic, trade and legal literacy.

The Government had provided 15 acres of land to the MSSRF for the establishment of the Centre and foundation stone of the project wad laid by the Chief Minister in November last year.

The MSSRF has been working in the Jeypore region for the past 12 years for conservation of biodiversity, promotion of sustainable livelihood through micro-level interventions, establishment of community-managed gene, seed, grain and water banks, promotion of genetic literacy and documentation of local conservation traditions.

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