Bhubaneswar, October 11: The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed Rs 2.02 crore among 27 States and 3 Union Territories, including Rs 19.75 lakh for Odisha representing their respective shares of Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) contributions received from seed-sector companies for the utilisation of biological resources, to support biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and strengthening the livelihood of local communities.

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The ABS contributions from the utilisation of agricultural biological resources, including rice, eggplant, cauliflower, cucumber, hot pepper, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, tomato and okra, cover multiple varieties and hybrids. The contributions were received from East West Seeds India Pvt. Ltd., Syngenta India Ltd., Devgen Seeds and Crop Technology Pvt. Ltd., Limagrain India Pvt. Ltd., Bayer Science & Innovation Pvt. Ltd., Nunhems India Pvt. Ltd. and Enza Zaden India Pvt. Ltd.

Of the total ABS amount of Rs 2.02 crore disbursed to 27 SBBs and 3 UTBCs, the top 10 States accounted for Rs 1.43 crore of the total ABS amount.

While Madhya Pradesh received Rs 23,81,072, West Bengal got Rs 23,32,913 followed by Odisha Rs 19,75,559, Bihar Rs 17,28,852, Gujarat Rs 13,29,870, Chhattisgarh Rs 11,37,521, Uttar Pradesh Rs 9,80,038, Andhra Pradesh Rs 9,34,864, Karnataka Rs 7,87,392 and Maharashtra 7,16,971.

Where biological resources procured through markets or traders, and individual benefit claimers could not be identified, the NBA applied the distribution modalities recommended by an expert committee and approved by the Authority.

Accordingly, the beneficiary share was apportioned among the concerned State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs) based on the cultivation area of the respective biological resources, as reflected in the agricultural statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

With this release, the cumulative ABS disbursement by the NBA has reached Rs 202.00 crore, demonstrating India’s commitment to equitable benefit-sharing arising from the utilisation of biological resources and the reinvestment of such benefits in conservation and community welfare.