Context: Recently, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).

About National Gene Bank

• It was established in the year 1996 to preserve the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations.
• This is the world’s second largest gene bank located in the national capital.
• It has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.
• Presently, it is protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are Indian germplasm and the rest have been imported from other countries.
• The bank now consists of one medium-term and 12 long-term storage modules with an enhanced storage capacity of 1 million seed accessions.

National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources

• The Bureau draws guidelines from the Crop Science Division of ICAR, Institute Management Committee, Research Advisory Committee, Institute Research Council and Germplasm Advisory Committees.
• It has four Divisions, two units, four cells and an experimental farm at its Headquarters in New Delhi and 10 Regional Stations located in different phyto-geographical zones of the country.
• Besides, a National Research Centre on DNA Fingerprinting and an All India Coordinated Research Network Project on Under-utilized Crops are located in the Bureau.

Establishment

• The need for establishment of an organization to undertake activities of plant introduction and germplasm augmentation for use in crop improvement was felt as early as 1935 by the ‘Crops and Soil Wing’ of the then ‘Board of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry’.
• The unit was expanded and strengthened as ‘Plant Introduction and Exploration Organization’ in the Botany Division in 1956, and later developed as a separate ‘Division of Plant Introduction’ in IARI in 1961.
• It was later upgraded to an independent institute ‘National Bureau of Plant Introduction’ in August 1976 which was rechristened as ‘National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources’ (NBPGR) in January 1977.

Mandates

• To plan, organize, conduct and coordinate plant explorations for collection of genetic diversity.
• To undertake introduction, distribution, exchange and quarantine of plant germplasm for research purposes.
• To characterize, evaluate and document germplasm collections of agri-horticultural crops and their wild relatives.
• To promote safe conservation of plant genetic resources on a long-term basis using ex- situ methods and in-situ on farm conservation of landrace diversity.
• To undertake teaching and training on plant genetic resources for postgraduate students linked with PG School.
• To act as sole repository of all notified/released varieties along with herbarium specimens.