Four farmers have bagged the prestigious Plant Genome Saviour Rewards.
The awards were declared by the Registrar, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority (PPV&FRA), Government of India. The award consists of certificate and cash prize of ₹1.5 lakh each.
The Plant Genome Saviour awardees for 2020-21 are Praseed Kumar Thayyil and Sunil Kumar M. of Wayanad district while John Joseph of Kozhikode district and Vinod E.R. of Thrissur district won the award for 2021-22.
KAU support
The IPR Cell of Kerala Agricultural University played a key role in facilitating these farmers to get due recognition for their biodiversity conservation efforts.
Praseed Kumar Thayyil is conserving traditional rice varieties collected from diverse rice growing regions of the country and has collections of different types of plantain, jackfruit, mango, tuber crops and vegetables in his farm.
Sunil Kumar M. sets a model for young farmers by conserving traditional rice varieties from across the country and has collections of different types of banana, pepper, betel vine, tuber crops, vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants.
John Joseph conserves different types of nutmeg, fruit trees and tuber crops in his farm.
Vinod E.R. has a large collection of tuber crops, and conserves different varieties of ginger, turmeric, banana, mango, jackfruit, sweet potato, black pepper and medicinal plants.
