Nagaur’s Community of Farmers to get legal rights on Nagauri Methi-first sui generis IP in the world

Nagaur’s “Community of Farmers” to get legal rights on “Nagauri Methi” - first sui generis IP protection in the world
Continuing to help smallholder farmers to secure legal rights for their plant variety, the South Asia Biotechnology Centre has submitted a comprehensive application to register a farmer variety “Nagauri Paan Methi”, also known as Nagauri Methi, belonging to species Trigonella corniculata L., developed and owned by the "Community of Farmers", represented by Mrs Geeta Devi, Pradhan of Panchayat Samiti Mundwa of Nagaur district of Rajasthan. The application along with five packets of seeds, each of 200 gm for registration of farmers’ variety #NagauriMethi was submitted to the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority #PPVFRA of the Government of India on 1st July 2024.
Acknowledging the importance of farmers’ bred plant varieties and extending full support in conservation and utilization of diverse germplasm, the chairperson of PPVFRA Dr T Mohapatra directly received the application of farmer variety “Nagauri Methi” from Bhagirath Choudhary of South Asia Biotechnology Centre in the presence of Dr DK Agarwal, Registrar General; Dr Dipal Roy Choudhury, Joint Registrar General; Dr UK Dubey, Deputy Registrar General and Dr Ravi Prakash, Technology Consultant of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority (PPVFRA) of the Govt of India. Community of Farmers variety “Nagauri Methi” was identified under Department of Biotechnology, India sponsored project “Biotech Kisan Hub for Western Dry Region” implemented jointly by South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur in collaboration with ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer.
Nagauri Methi, a variety of Trigonella corniculata is cultivated for its incessant aromatic and dried green leaves over 9000 hectares exclusively in a specified geographical area covering Mundwa, Nagaur, Merta City, Jayal, Degana, Khinsar tehsils of #Nagaur district of Rajasthan in India. Scientifically not much known about this species, Nagauri Methi is a small-seeded type, bears yellow to orange trifoliate flowers with sickle-shaped pods as deciphered in the field experiment carried out under #BiotechKisan project supported by Department of Biotechnology, India. Moreover, Nagauri Methi also possesses trifoliate type leaves with unique aroma and special fragrance. The incessant fragrance of leaves is the USP of Nagauri paan methi. Fresh as well as dried leaves retain aroma and fragrance, and flavour cuisines and food preparation. The fragrance is a key constituent of the quality of Nagauri paan methi which is attributed to both edaphic as well as micro-climatic factors associated with a particular geography of Nagaur district of Rajasthan, and therefore definitely qualifies as an important geographical indication (GI) under the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999 of the Govt of India.
By registering under the PPVFRA for legal rights to the custodian of the community of farmers, it will ensure troika of benefits, first it will protect the ingenuity of farmers against biopiracy, second it will ensure that farmers receive profit sharing and benefits from the utilization of genetic resources of Nagauri methi and finally, helps in registration of Nagauri methi for the #GeographicalIndication (GI).
The application for the registration of Nagauri methi variety would not have been possible without the support and help from Mrs Geeta Devi, Pradhan of Mundwa tehshil and her husband Sh Rewant Ram Danga; Dr Vinay Bharadwaj, Director and his team of ICAR-NRCSS, Ajmer; Dr Shankar Ram Siyak, Assistant Director Agriculture of Dept of Agriculture, Nagaur; Sh Raghunath Ram, Secretary APMC Nagaur; DrVikash Pawariya, College of Agriculture Nagaur; smallholder farmers of Mundwa tehsil of Nagaur and a painstaking field work carried out by KS Bharadwaj and Dr Naresh Dudi of South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur.
Knowing the importance of the intellectual property IP protection in agriculture, we shall be happy to help farmer or community of farmers or group of farmers to prepare and file application for registration of variety under PPVFRA! You may reach out to us at: [e-mail]
Thank you #BiotechKisan of Department of Biotechnology, India and the Agri Export Facilitation Centre supported by NABARD Online National Bank For Agriculture & Rural Development !

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GI tag will be given??