New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday inaugurated the refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank -- the world's second-largest -- at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) here.
"The farmers of India are fully capable of accepting the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and conquering them. Our farmers are skilled human resources even without any major educational degree. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly concerned about the welfare of the farmers and concrete steps have been taken by the government through several schemes to increase their income," he said.
Appreciating the services of visionary experts like Prof B.P. Pal, Prof M.S. Swaminathan and Prof Harbhajan Singh, Tomar said that they had laid a strong foundation for the conservation of diversity of indigenous crops in the country, a release said.
"We have a glorious past, for the progress of the country, everyone should keep moving forward with a sense of responsibility towards the future. This revamped state-of-the-art National Gene Bank is a powerful step in that direction. The staff working here must have felt satisfaction and happiness that how they are serving the agriculture sector and the country while saving the heritage. Today, the need for bio-fortified crop varieties is being felt, somewhere there is an imbalance, which the government is trying to overcome by taking the farmers along," he added.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kailash Choudhary said that farmers would be greatly benefited by the new gene bank with state-of-the-art facilities for germ-plasm.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research Director General, Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, in his welcome address, explained the activities and progress of the Bureau.
Tomar also released some publications of the Bureau and launched PGR Map App.
The services of the Bureau's recently retired Director Kuldeep Singh for the modernisation of the gene bank were appreciated, the release said.
The National Gene Bank, established in 1996 to preserve the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations, has the capacity to preserve about one million germ-plasms in the form of seeds. Presently it is protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are Indian germ-plasms and the rest have been imported from other countries. It is meeting the need of in-situ and ex-situ germ-plasm conservation through the Delhi HQ and 10 regional stations in the country, the release added.