New Delhi, Aug 22 — The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed Rs 2.82 crore under the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) mechanism arising from the utilisation of India’s biological resources, said an Environment Ministry official on Saturday.
Of this, Rs 2.80 crore has been released to 27 State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and three Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs), while Rs 2.01 lakh is being released to the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Karnataka.
The NBA received Rs 2.94 crore from Advanta Enterprises Ltd (formerly 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, said an official statement.
Earlier, NBA constituted an Expert Committee (EC) to recommend an appropriate modality for sharing/utilising 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, Rs 2.80 crore was disbursed by the NBA. The allocation has been made by taking into account the cultivation of the concerned horticultural crops across different States and Union Territories. Gujarat (Rs 44.59 lakh), West Bengal (Rs 41.24 lakh) and Madhya Pradesh (Rs 32.73 lakh) are among the major recipient States.
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 they must submit a utilisation certificate and expenditure statement within one year of receipt.
In a separate matter, the NBA received Rs 7.15 lakh from Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd, Mumbai, (formerly Excel Crop Care) as an ABS amount towards access to two microbial strains, namely Pseudomonas fluorescens 1 per cent WP (strain IIHR-Pf-2) and Trichoderma harzianum 1 per cent 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 a public research institution, 30 per cent of the ABS amount or Rs 2.01 lakh, is being disbursed to ICAR-IIHR in accordance with the modalities, and the rest of the fund is to be utilised as per Section 27 of the Biological Diversity Act by the NBA, the statement said.