Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (Recognition and Reward from the Gene Fund) Rules,

The Central Government via a notification in the Official Gazette dated July 31, 2012 notified the Protection of Plant varieties and Farmers’ Rights (Recognition and Reward from the Gene Fund) Rules, 2012 that came into force on the date of publication.

These Rules confer recognition and reward to a farmer engaged in the conservation of genetic resources of land races and wild relatives of economic plants, their improvement through methods of selection and preservation and the material so selected and preserved by these farmers has been used as donors of gene in varieties that are registrable under the Act.

As per the rules, a committee shall determine the eligibility and select the awardees for recognition and reward from the Gene Fund. The reward and the recognition are titled the “Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Reward” and “Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Recognition”, respectively.

The farmers can apply only once and such an application shall be made on an annual basis. The reward given is maximum ten in a financial year and it comprises of a citation, memento and cash prize of INR 1,00,000 (approximately USD 1900). The recognition consists of a citation and a memento. A maximum of twenty such recognition certificates in a financial year maybe conferred.