President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu Inaugurates ‘First Global Symposium on Farmers’ Rights’ in New Delhi, today

The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu inaugurated first ‘Global Symposium on Farmers’ Rights’ (GSFR) today, in a ceremony held at ICAR Convention Centre, National Agricultural Science Centre, New Delhi. President Murmu conferred the ‘Plant Genome Saviour Communities’ Award (6) and ‘Plant Genome Saviour Farmers Reward’ (16) and ‘Plant Genome Saviour Farmers Recognition’ (4) awards to the invited Indian farmers. These awards are instituted by the PPVFR Authority as per the provisions of the PPVFR Act, 2001. She also inaugurated the newly constructed ‘Plant Authority Bhawan’, the office of the PPVFR Authority, and an online plant variety ‘Registration Portal’. Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, MoS Shri Kailash Chaudhury and Secretary, Shri Manoj Ahuja were also present on the occasion.

In her address, Smt Droupadi Murmu congratulated organizers FAO and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the Treaty) for appropriately choosing India as the country to host the prestigious meeting, given its rich agricultural, cultural and ethnic diversity. She welcomed the delegates in the land of “Vasudhaiv Kutumabakam” (world is one family), a philosophy deeply ingrained in India’s culture and traditions. She said that farmers have toiled and enterprisingly developed or conserved landraces, wild-relatives and traditional varieties of crops, and provided the building blocks for the modern crop breeding programs, thus ensuring food and nutritional security for human beings and live-stocks alike. She said that holding of GFSR was very appropriate, as farmers are primary food producers (‘annadatta’) and only if there is food then there is body, and if there is body then any work gets done. That is why farmers need to be saluted and it is our duty to protect their rights and future.