A source at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) said the seed bank is to be established for creating a buffer stock of seeds of mainly cereal crops, which are commonly found in all SAARC member countries. [break]
"The SAARC Seed Bank will keep stock of endemic varieties of crops so that they can be farmed in any country," said the source.
The proposal was first introduced in a meeting of SAARC agriculture scientists and SAARC standing committee meeting held in Bangladesh last year. The source said seeds amounting to at least one percent of the total food grain in the member countries will be stocked under the SAARC Seed Bank.
The upcoming SAARC summit is also scheduled to decide the agenda on bringing into force the Food Bank, strengthened connectivity and people-to-people contact, and reviewing of the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme for its effective implementation.
The SAARC Charter envisages setting up of a SAARC Seed Bank to ensure food security in the region by preserving sufficient stock of crop seeds required in the region.
Keeping in view the rising population and growing threat of natural disasters, SAARC countries have already agreed to double the food reserve in SAARC Food Bank to ensure food security in the region.
The third meeting of the SAARC Food Board that concluded in Afghan capital Kabul two years back decided to double the existing food stock of 243,000 tons to 486,000 tons across the SAARC region.
Before the augmentation of buffer stock level of food, India was contributing 152,000 tons whereas Pakistan and Bangladesh were contributing 40,000 tons each.
Similarly, Nepal and Sri Lanka were stocking 4,000 tons each, followed by Afghanistan (1,420 tons), Bhutan (180 tons) and the Maldives (200 tons) for Food Bank.
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