What's the National Mechanism and what information does it focus on?
The government of India is among one of the seven Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) signed agreement with the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) to participate in the regional cooperative project "Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in Asia and the Pacific Region", GCP/RAS/186/JPN Project. The project aims to promote the implementation of the GPA and to contribute to establishing a continuing monitoring framework of the GPA implementation at national and regional levels and a mechanism for gathering and sharing information, as well as for priority setting for the GPA implementation. The project office is based at FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. It is funded by the Government of Japan. For further details about this project, please contact the Chief Technical Advisor of the project ([email protected]).

One of the main immediate objectives of this project is to establish a National Information Sharing Mechanism on the implementation of GPA (NISM-GPA) in each of the participating country for enhancing coordination of plans and activities on conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA amongst stakeholders and for sharing information, as well as for priority setting for the GPA implementation. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the Department of Agriculture and Co-operative, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India signed a letter of agreement during January 2005 to implement the activities for establishing a NISM-GPA in India. The NISM-GPA databases put online for sharing with the stakeholders and other interested parties are the culmination of hard work made during the past 18 months by the national focus point of the project and numerous national stakeholders in India, with some technical support from the FAO and the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project. A modest funding support has been provided by the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project and FAO, with the majority of the actual and in kind contributions are from the Government of India.  

It is a network of 114 public and private institutions which conserve and/or use plant genetic resources in India. Its objective is to share information related to Indian plant genetic resources and, in particular, to the implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in India.
What is the Mechanism useful for?
The Mechanism is used in a transparent way to facilitate access to and analysis of information, to assist decision-making processes, and to conserve the country's historical memory on PGRFA. It also offers an opportunity to the participating institutions to highlight their efforts, contribute to decision-making processes and to widen their visibility at national and international levels.

Based on the information gathered through this Mechanism, national programs can assess the current status of PGRFA in the country, which will assist them in identification of needs and setting priority for the work. It could also be used for coordinating and planning the PGR activities in the country. An immediate output from establishing the NISM-GPA will include a strategic report on the state of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in the country, which is being prepared by the national focal point, in collaboration with the stakeholders. The report will be submitted to the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project, the Government of Japan and FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to share the information, as well as the Indian contribution to the preparation of the Second Report on the State for he World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
What instruments does the Mechanism use?
A set of tools agreed by the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture:

  • a list of indicators and a reporting format to monitor the implementation of the Global Plan of Action; and

  • an information system including a database and a search engine.

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    How does it operate?
    Through the voluntary contribution of national institutions, private institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations, coordinated by the GPA National Focal Point in collaboration under the supervision of National Co-ordination and Monitoring Committee.
    Who can participate into the Mechanism and how?
    All stakeholders, specifically, public or private institutions, organizations, enterprises which contribute to the conservation and sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in the country can be part of the Mechanism by contacting the National Focal Point:

    Dr. S.K. Sharma
    Director,
    National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources,
    Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012, India
    Email: [email protected]
    Telephone: 91-11-25843697 Facsimile: 91-11-25842495