The catalytic role of rural and tribal families, particularly women, in the conservation and enhancement of agro-biodiversity is now being widely recognised nationally and internationally, as well be evident from the following recent agreements and legislation.
1. FAO’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture adopted by the FAO General Conference in November 2001.
2 .The Doha Ministerial Declaration of the World Trade Organisation, with reference to Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights.
3. The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act of India, adopted by both Houses of the Indian Parliament in 2001.
MSSRF has taken the following steps during the last 10 years to ensure (a) that the invaluable contributions of tribal and rural women in enriching genetic resources of economic plants get recognition and reward, and (b) that their insitu on-farm conservation traditions are revitalised and strengthened.
In several of the above activities, MSSRF has worked in partnership with the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. The present publication is one example of this partnership. We are indebted to Prof R B Singh, Assistant Director General and Regional Representative and to Dr Revathi Balakrishnan, Leader of FAO’s Gender Programme in the Regional Office at Bangkok, for their active involvement in our collaborative programmes and publications. I hope the present FAO-MSSRF publication will stimulate interest in ensuring that the unique contributions of tribal and rural women do not become "dying art and wisdom", by according social prestige and financial reward for their work. Such a commitment will be in accordance with the ethics and equity principles enshrined in the Convention on Biological Diversity.
M.S. SWAMINATHAN
Chairman
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
