WDTDAC gets a chance to exhibit the crop diversity of Western Ghats at the Event.
Members of the Wayanad District Tribal Development Action Council (WDTDAC) are overjoyed because they have been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to exhibit the crop diversity of the Western Ghats at the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which is currently taking place in Delhi.
WDTDAC is a grassroots organisation that works with the Community Agro-biodiversity Centre (CABC) of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) to support tribal conservation initiatives by ensuring their livelihoods.
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WDTDAC got the coveted Plant Genome Saviour Community Award in 2011 in appreciation of the persistent work of the Kurichiya and Mullukuruma tribal communities to protect Wayanad’s traditional rice varieties.
Using the interest from the cash prize, the council later established the Regional Adivasi Genome Savior Award. So far, the council has granted 15 tribal on-farm conservators, enabling the protection of diverse agricultural plant and animal genetic resources in the region.
Prior to the event, the council also took part in a preliminary dialogue on ‘Plant Genome Resources of India.’
‘We are really delighted to be there, and it is a wonderful honour for our organisation,’ WDTDAC president A. Devaki told The Hindu. ‘We see this as appreciation for our efforts to preserve traditional crop varieties, and it motivates us to do even more,’ she added.
MSSRF views the council’s participation in the programme as a tremendous opportunity because the treaty seeks ways to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture, according to V. Shakeela, director of the foundation.
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There are 22 traditional Wayanad rice varieties on display, including aromatic, drought tolerant, and flood tolerant kinds, as well as 40 species of pulses and legumes, 11 varieties of spices, and 10 varieties of roots and tubers from the region.
The show is scheduled to wrap off on Saturday.
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