Bhubaneswar: The National Biodiversity Authority has allocated over Rs 48 lakh to the Odisha State Biodiversity Board as part of a landmark nationwide benefit-sharing disbursement derived from the commercial use of Indian rice genetic resources.
Under the Access and Benefit-Sharing mechanism, Odisha will receive Rs 48,09,040. This places the state fourth among all states and union territories in terms of funding received, trailing only Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Telangana.
The funds stem from a major disbursement totaling Rs 8.22 crore collected from Pioneer Overseas Corporation, an international seed firm that utilized native Indian rice varieties to develop and commercialize hybrid seeds. From this total, Rs 5.75 crore is being distributed across 33 State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils based on the respective rice-growing areas recorded in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare agricultural statistics portal.
The Odisha State Biodiversity Board will utilize these financial resources to carry out targeted local conservation initiatives. Planned efforts include preserving native crop diversity, restoring damaged ecosystems, documenting traditional agricultural knowledge, and offering direct support to local farmers and traditional knowledge holders across the state.
Overall, the distribution aligns with national biological diversity regulations and international targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, ensuring that revenues generated from commercial applications of Indian biological wealth are equitably shared with the regions that sustain them.