India’s NBA disburses ₹8.22 Cr from Seed Giant for Rice Varieties

India’s National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed ₹8.22 crore from Pioneer Overseas Corporation, a global seed company, for its commercial use of native Indian rice varieties.

This payment represents one of India’s largest single access and benefit-sharing disbursements for rice varieties. It stems from Pioneer Overseas Corporation’s utilization of Oryza sativa in developing and commercializing hybrid seeds.

The action aligns with India’s Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework. This framework mandates that entities accessing the nation’s biological resources for commercial purposes must share a portion of the resulting benefits with conservators.

Fund Allocation Breakdown

The disbursed funds were allocated into two primary categories, benefiting research institutions and state biodiversity bodies across the country.

Research institutions that conserved and provided specific rice varieties received ₹2.47 crore. The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research in Hyderabad secured the largest share of ₹2.43 crore within this category.

The remaining ₹5.75 crore was distributed among 33 State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils. Uttar Pradesh, as India’s largest rice-growing state, received the highest allocation of ₹73.26 lakh.

Allocation to these state-level bodies was determined using rice-growing area data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. This method ensured that states with larger rice cultivation areas received proportionately higher shares of the funds.

Utilizing the Disbursements

Recipients are expected to utilize these funds for various conservation activities, aimed at preserving India’s rich genetic diversity.

Research institutions will focus on strengthening germplasm conservation, maintaining seed collections, and supporting research and training. These efforts aim to ensure India’s rice genetic diversity remains well-documented and accessible.

State Biodiversity Boards and UT Biodiversity Councils will direct their shares towards approved conservation efforts. These include protecting native crop diversity, restoring ecosystems, and documenting traditional knowledge associated with local varieties.

Further, the funds will support farmers and knowledge holders whose generational practices have fostered this genetic diversity. This highlights the framework’s goal of benefiting those who conserve these resources.

This disbursement is part of a broader pattern of ABS payments. The NBA has accumulated approximately ₹83 crore from the agriculture and seed sector alone.

Across all sectors, the NBA has gathered over ₹162 crore to date. This demonstrates the effectiveness of India’s biodiversity law in generating financial flows for conservation efforts.

Established under the Biological Diversity Act 2002, the NBA implements the Nagoya Protocol. It also contributes to Target 13 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and several Sustainable Development Goals.