The National Project Steering Committee (NPSC) Meeting was held at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), New Delhi on 21 June 2023 to present and review the progress of the UN Environment implemented GEF project “Mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity conservation and utilization in agricultural sector to ensure ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability”, undertaken by The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, India Office, along with ICAR/Other National Partners/Stakeholders from 2016-2023. It was attended by 17 participants including the NPSC Chair and members and project partners from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes, State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Dr. JC Rana, Country Representative, The Alliance, briefed the gathering on the entirety of the project from its initiation to its achievements and limitations faced in the implementation of activities in all components. Project partners from different organizations shared their own experiences working with farmers, practical achievements that will benefit all stakeholders and improve ecosystem services and learning new technologies through the project that they can apply to their on-going and future activities. Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) & Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Chair, NPSC congratulated the project team and appreciated the contribution of the GEF activities to mainstreaming farmer varieties and providing additional livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmers. Prof. SK Sharma, Emeritus Scientist & Former Vice Chancellor, CSIR- Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology suggested fine-tuning some of the positive outcomes of the project and replicating these activities at other sites to improve the sustainability of the project. Dr. D K Agarwal, Registrar General, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority (PV&FRA); Dr. TR Sharma, DDG (Crop Science), ICAR; and Dr. GP Singh, Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) acknowledged the contributions of the project and stated that the inclusion of the information generated from the project into the database of their respective organizations will further enhance the research outputs that will benefit all stakeholders. Based on the comments and suggestions, Dr. JC Rana mentioned that all activities will be reviewed within a year and, based on common consensus, various activities will be scaled up at current and potential target sites in the future.
