Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurates the first International Agro bio-diversity Congress in the national capital where 900 delegates from 60 countries will discuss conservation of genetic resources. The conference, to be held on November 6-9, is being organised by the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources and Biodiversity International, a CGIAR Research Centre headquartered in Rome, Italy.

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Deputy Director General (crop sciences) J S Sandhu said the Congress will provide a platform for knowledge sharing as well as exchange of germplasm, a collective union of germ cells.
• The conference will also deliberate on the issue of efficient management of gene banks at low cost with the use of new innovative technology.
• Agrobiodiversity is defined as the variety and variability of animals, plant and micro-organism that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture.
• It includes all species that are closely inter-woven in an agricultural ecosystem.
• The Congress will lead to discussion and knowledge sharing on issues for efficient management of gene banks, science-led innovations in genetic resources, crop diversification, issues relating to quarantine, biosafety and biosecurity and intellectual property rights.
• In the Congress, a road map will be prepared to enhance food, nutrition and health security by optimal utilisation of agrobiodiversity while protecting agro-ecosystems. The Congress is expected to adopt ‘Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity management and use’.
• It seeks to develop a network of partnerships to strengthen biodiversity management system at national, regional and global levels.