India will host the 9th Session of Governing Body of the ‘International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture’ (ITPGRFA) from 19-24th September, 2022 in New Delhi.
- The GB9 is being held under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.
- The organization of 9th session of ITPGRFA will provide a common platform for all the participating countries to deliberate upon the pivotal issues related to the development, conservation and protection of Plant Genetic Resources for the benefit of farming community.
- The GB9 will consider the options for encouraging, guiding and promoting the realization of Farmers’ Rights as set out in Article 9 of the Treaty, developed by an ad hoc Technical Expert Group on Farmers’ Rights.
About ITPGRFA
- ITPGRFA is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November, 2001 at Rome during the 31st session of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which entered into force on June 29, 2004 and currently has 149 Contracting Parties, including India.
- The treaty provides solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture.
- Countries are inter-dependent for PGRFA and consequently a global order is essential to facilitate access and benefit sharing.
- India is endowed with rich crop genetic resources and has successfully established legal, institutional and scholastic infrastructure to utilize the genetic diversity for breeding new varieties.
