19-21 October 2023 | Shimla, India
Asia Agrobiodiversity Conference will bring together various stakeholders – including farmers – from different Asian countries to better understand everyone’s role in agrobiodiversity management and the conservation of genetic resources, and prepare future action plans.
Agricultural biodiversity – or agrobiodiversity – is the foundation of sustainable agricultural development and is an essential natural resource to ensure current and future food and nutrition security. As the world faces challenges, such as global malnutrition, climate change, increasing agricultural productivity, reducing risk and increasing shrinking food security, we need everyone’s attention and concern for the conservation and use of these precious resources because they provide essential raw materials for our agricultural systems and peoples’ livelihoods. India is the perfect venue for Asia Agrobiodiversity Conference, as it is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It takes up only 2.4% of the world's land area, and yet it harbours 7-8% of all recorded species, including over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals (CBD, 2014).
The Conference will provoke discussion and knowledge-sharing on issues for the effective and efficient management of community seed banks; germplasm conservation and management; science-led innovations in the field of genetic resources; livelihood, food and nutrition security through lesser known crops; role of crop wild relatives in crop improvement; biosafety and biosecurity issues; and Intellectual Property Rights and Access and Benefit Sharing in the context of exchange of germplasm.
The Grassroots Institute proposes the Asia Agrobiodiversity Conference to take place in collaboration and partnership of various academic, non-profit, international and government institutions. Collaborations and partnerships are invited. |
