Correct Answer : New Delhi
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Pusa, New Delhi, 16-08-2021.
The National Gene Bank will work towards preserving the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations, and has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar appreciated the services of visionary experts like Prof. B. P. Pal, Prof. M.S. Swaminathan & Prof. Harbhajan Singh and said,” They had laid a strong foundation for the conservation of diversity of indigenous crops in India. We have a glorious past, for the progress of the country, everyone should keep moving forward with a sense of responsibility towards the future.”
Further, the Union Minister asserted that the revamped state-of-the-art National Gene Bank is a powerful step in that direction of conservation of indigenous crops. He added that the need for biofortified crop varieties is being felt and the Indian government is working towards it.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary also mentioned the imperativeness of the new gene bank with state-of-the-art facilities for germplasm – a living genetic tissue from which new plants can be grown. It can be a seed or another plant part – a leaf, a piece of stem, pollen or even just a few cells that can be turned into a whole plant. It can be used for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses as well.
