National Advisory Board on Management of Genetic Resources Charts Roadmap for Strengthening India's Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Utilization

The newly reconstituted National Advisory Board on Management of Genetic Resources (NABMGR) held its first meeting on 29 July 2026 at ICAR‑NBPGR, New Delhi. Chaired by Dr R.S. Paroda with co‑chair Dr M.L. Jat, the Board includes senior representatives from NBA, DBT, MoEF&CC, DARE, Animal Husbandry, BSI, NMPB, NSAI and Bioversity International. It emphasized that India’s plant, animal, fish, microbial and insect genetic resources are strategic assets for food, nutrition, climate resilience and sustainable agriculture. The Board recommended strengthening pre‑breeding programmes, systematic germplasm collection (2026‑2031), an integrated management framework, and completion of the National Safety Genebank by the ICAR centenary (2028‑29). It also called for legal reforms for animal and fish genetic resources and enhanced international germplasm exchange, especially with Central and South‑East Asian countries.