Custodian farmers hold key to agricultural biodiversity conservation

While modern agricultural systems rely on just a limited number of crops and varieties, there are still farmers in every country who actively maintain, adapt, use and share agricultural biodiversity, possessing the knowledge needed for its use and cultivation. These ‘custodian farmers’ maintain portfolios of diverse crop species and varieties, selecting those that are best-adapted to local conditions and promoting the use and conservation of local diversity among their friends and neighbours.

But while ex situ conservation (collecting seeds and plantlets to store in genebanks) is practiced by most countries, global commitments to support on-farm conservation efforts have not yet yielded tangible or comprehensive interventions on the ground.

On February 11 and 12, a workshop in India will bring together 22 tropical fruit tree farmers, from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand, to share common experiences and challenges related to conserving and using biodiversity on the farm, while researchers will present related case studies. One of the farmer attendees will be Dattatreya Hegde, a mango farmer from the western Ghats.

The purpose of the meeting is to:

• develop deeper understanding of the roles of custodian farmers in conservation, use and dissemination of agricultural biodiversity
• to highlight their contribution to the national plant genetic resources system and overall sustainable agriculture development 
• raise the visibility and recognition of custodian farmers in the genetic resource management field.

During the two days, participants will discuss ways to strengthen and support custodian farmers so that they continue to use, conserve and promote agricultural biodiversity. The meeting will produce recommendations to policymakers to support on-farm conservation efforts.

The workshop is being hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bioversity International, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA).

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) together with National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority, UNEP/GEF Tropical Fruits and IFAD-NUS projects partners in India organised this workshop to highlight the contribution of custodian farmers and also strengthen the role of such farmers in on-farm conservation of genetic resources strategies in India and globally.

This workshop will be followed by a 3-day Global Consultation on the Use and Management of Agrobiodiversity for Sustainable Food Security.

For more information contact:
 Bhuwon Sthapit