New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday inaugurated a revamped state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in the Pusa complex.

This is the world's second largest gene bank located in the national capital. It was set up in 1996 to preserve the seeds of plant genetic resources for future generations.

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It has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds. Presently, it is protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are Indian germplasm and the rest have been imported from other countries.

On this occasion, Tomar recalled the contributions by visionary experts like B P Pal, M S Swaminathan and Harbhajan Singh and said that they had laid a strong foundation for the conservation of diversity of indigenous crops in the country.

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"We have a glorious past. For the progress of the country, everyone should keep moving forward with a sense of responsibility towards the future," he said, adding that this revamped state-of-the-art National Gene Bank is a powerful signature in that direction.

Stating that Indian farmers are skilled human resources even without any major educational degree, the Minister said that they are fully capable of accepting the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and conquering them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly concerned about the welfare of the farmers and concrete steps have been taken by the government through several schemes to increase their income, said a statement quoting Tomar at the event.

Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said that agri-farmers would be greatly benefited by the new gene bank with state-of-the-art facilities for germplasm.

NBPGR is meeting the need of in-situ and ex-situ germplasm conservation through Delhi Headquarters and 10 regional stations in the country.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)