The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed ₹2.82 crores under the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) mechanism arising from the utilisation of India’s biological resources. Of this, ₹2.80 crores has been released to 27 State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and 3 Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs), while ₹2.01 lakh is being released to the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Karnataka.

The NBA received ₹2.94 crores from M/s Advanta Enterprises Ltd. (formerly M/s UPL Limited) towards ABS for the utilisation of genetic resources associated with eight hybrids of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), five hybrids of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum), five hybrids of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and six hybrids of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).

In this case, the biological resources were accessed through an acquisition of another company and could not be traced to benefit claimers like specific individual farmers, communities or a single identifiable geographic source. Earlier, NBA constituted an Expert Committee (EC) to recommend an appropriate modality for sharing / utilizing the benefit sharing component in such cases and the recommendation of the EC was subsequently approved by the Authority. In accordance with the approved modality, ₹2.80 crores were disbursed by the NBA. The allocation has been made taking into account the cultivation of the concerned horticultural crops across different States and Union Territories. Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh are among the major recipient States, with the ten States receiving the largest shares being as follows:

The funds released to the SBBs and UTBCs are to be utilised for activities, including documentation and updation of People's Biodiversity Registers, in-situ and ex-situ conservation, restoration of degraded ecosystems, strengthening of Biodiversity Heritage Sites, capacity building of Biodiversity Management Committees, and community livelihood enhancement, and must submit a utilisation certificate and expenditure statement within one year of receipt.

Separately, the NBA received ₹7.15 lakh from M/s Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd., Mumbai (formerly M/s Excel Crop Care) as an ABS amount towards access to two microbial strains, namely Pseudomonas fluorescens 1% WP (strain IIHR-Pf-2) and Trichoderma harzianum 1% WP (strain IIHR-Th-2), sourced from the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Karnataka, for research and commercial utilisation. As the biological resources in this case were accessed from public research institution, 30% of the ABS amount ie., ₹2.01 lakh is being disbursed to the concerned institution ICAR-IIHR in accordance with the modalities and the rest of the fund to be utilised as per the Section 27 of the Biological Diversity Act by the NBA.

The institution is required to utilise the funds within one year for activities including maintenance of repositories, research and biodiversity survey work, capacity building in taxonomy and conservation, and in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the biological resources and their wild relatives. The disbursement is part of the NBA’s continuing efforts to strengthen the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and its associated regulatory framework, while ensuring that benefits arising from the commercial utilisation of India’s biological resources are channelled towards biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and the socio economic development of the farmers, local communities and others associated with the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

The total ABS amount released so far by NBA is ₹185 crores (USD 19.34 mn). The initiative also contributes to India’s commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), particularly Target 13, which calls for effective measures to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and digital sequence information on genetic resources, as applicable.

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VM/SK