LUCKNOW: The Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), a Lucknowbased ICAR lab, has taken up the registration of at least 25 Malihabadi mango varieties with the Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPV & FRA). The institute is helping the farmers in getting their varieties registered.
There may be hundreds of varieties of Indian mangoes spread throughout the world. “In this era of intellectual property rights, it is critical to establish our ownership of these indigenous mangoes. Indian varieties developed by farmers or breeders should be registered and documented, as this information may be useful in resolving IPR issues related to variety ownership,” said director Shailendra Rajan.
The institute has also launched an awareness campaign for mango variety registration and conservation in Murshidabad (West Bengal), one of the richest hotspots for mango varieties.
“Farmers still have good mango collections in their orchards despite a lot of genetic erosion,” said the director. As a result, 50 registration applications have been submitted to the PPV&FRA Authority. “Murshidabad and Malihabad have a lot in common with mango varieties because during the Nawab period, mango lovers used to exchange mango grafts of different varieties,” said Rajan.
