Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

`Digital herbarium needed to preserve natural wealth'

A. A. Michael Raj

Coimbatore: A digital herbarium that can preserve detailed information about plants will help to preserve the natural wealth of the country, S. Nagarajan, Chairperson, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority, Government of India, has said.

Mr. Nagarajan, who was on a visit to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University recently, told The Hindu that a traditional herbarium was a collection of plants, stems, flowers and other natural substances documented and kept under the charge of the curator. However, the material tended to degrade.

Seed characteristics

"Preservation is possible with the digital camera and modern techniques that make it possible to record information about seed characteristics. We can process and store data on different varieties and species, do statistical analysis and compare new species. We want to promote the idea and motivate people to examine the possibilities," he observed.

He said that the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 safeguarded the rights of farmers, researchers and plant breeders. "India has a diverse climate and qualified human resource. We should be able to nurture seed companies that can grow globally. We are opening up an opportunity for entrepreneurs to invest in plant breeding," he noted. Under the provisions of the Act, farmers could cultivate, harvest and sell whatever crops they wished to grow but they could not brand their agricultural produce, label them or sell seed.

Researchers could conduct experiments on plant physiology and cross-fertilize varieties to produce new ones. However, researchers needed permission to repeatedly use the same variety.

Mr. Nagarajan said that the rules and guidelines framed in 2003 under the Act were aimed at promoting innovation.

"We expect more creativity and better varieties," he said, adding that India was the only country to have protected the rights of farmers in this manner, mainly because over half the people in the country depended on agriculture for their livelihood. In European countries, only two per cent of the population were farmers.

By encouraging competition inside India as well as from outside the country, breeders would be motivated to provide high quality planting material to overcome stagnation in crop yield caused by plant breeding fatigue and lack of new varieties.

One-credit course

He suggested that the University offer a one-credit course to all students of agriculture, to familiarise them with national policies and international laws governing plant protection.

More information was available at www.plantauthority.in, he said.

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