Access and Benefit-Sharing in Biodiversity: ₹5.68 Crore NBA | CurrentPulse AI
Access and Benefit-Sharing in Biodiversity: ₹5.68 Crore NBA Disbursal, 1,009 Cucumber Varieties and
📅 Published 1 September 2026•Updated 12 September 2026•⏱ 15 min read•Science & TechnologyGS-3
Kulesh Bhandari Biodiversity Researcher Jharkhand India · KuleshBhandari · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsImage source ↗
the Nagoya Principle
Access and Benefit-Sharing in Biodiversity: ₹5.68 CroreNBA
Disbursal, 1,009 Cucumber Varieties and the Nagoya Principle
Why in News?
The National Biodiversity Authority disbursed ₹5.68 crore under the Access and Benefit-Sharing
mechanism arising from commercial utilisation of biological resources.
The money is being channelled to State Biodiversity Boards, Union Territory Biodiversity Councils and a
national research institution, linking commercial access to biological resources with conservation and
stakeholder benefit.
With this round, cumulative ABS disbursement by the NBA has crossed ₹191 crore, giving the
biodiversity-governance framework a substantial real-world financial dimension.
Numbers and Species at the **Centre
Total current disbursal**: **₹5,68,18,277, **or about ₹5.68 crore.
Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus: 139 varieties and 28 hybrids; ₹3.51 crore released to 32
State/UT biodiversity bodies.
Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus: 662 varieties and 15 hybrids were part of the accessed
biological-resource pool.
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus: 1,009 varieties and 14 hybrids were covered.
Total NBAABS disbursement so far has crossed ₹191 crore.
State-Level Distribution - Use in Mains Answers
Gujarat received ₹88,79,304, the largest listed State share in the current distribution.
West Bengal received ₹78,08,691; Madhya Pradesh ₹64,90,418; Odisha ₹59,01,641; Bihar
₹45,59,602.
Uttar Pradesh received ₹36,90,952; Tamil Nadu ₹34,11,119; Andhra Pradesh ₹30,58,472;
Chhattisgarh ₹24,82,991; Maharashtra ₹17,57,359.
Other recipients together accounted for ₹87,77,728, bringing the total to **₹5,68,18,277.
**- These figures show that can distribute biodiversity-derived commercial benefits across multiple
jurisdictions rather than only at the national level.
What is Access and Benefit-Sharing?
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Access and Benefit-Sharing, or ABS, is the principle that benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic
resources should be shared fairly and equitably with appropriate stakeholders.
Benefits can be monetary, such as fees and royalties, or non-monetary, such as technology transfer, research
collaboration, training and conservation support.
ABS seeks to correct the historical problem in which biological resources or associated knowledge could be
commercially exploited without adequate returns to source countries or communities.
It links conservation with economic incentives: biological diversity gains value not only as raw material but as a
resource whose use creates obligations.
Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, has three core
objectives: conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of
benefits from genetic resources.
India is a party to the CBD and developed domestic biodiversity legislation to operationalise these
principles.
The CBD recognises sovereign rights of states over their biological resources, replacing the older
assumption that genetic resources were simply a common pool open to unrestricted access.
ABS is therefore simultaneously an environmental, equity and sovereignty issue.
Nagoya Protocol
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits is a
supplementary agreement to the CBD.
It was adopted in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered into force in 2014.
It seeks greater legal certainty and transparency for providers and users of genetic resources.
For Prelims, remember the linkage: Nagoya Protocol → CBD → Access and Benefit-Sharing; it is not
a protocol under UNFCCC.
India's Institutional Architecture
The National Biodiversity Authority operates at the national level, State Biodiversity Boards operate at the
State level, and Biodiversity Management Committees function at the local-body level.
People's Biodiversity Registers document local biological resources and associated knowledge and can
strengthen community-level biodiversity governance.
ABS implementation may involve the NBA, SBBs, BMCs, research institutions, companies and
knowledge holders depending on the nature and source of access.
This multi-level architecture reflects India's federal and community-based approach to biodiversity
governance.
Biological Diversity Law
India enacted the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to implement CBD-related obligations; the law was
amended in 2023.
The legal framework regulates access to biological resources and associated knowledge, benefit-sharing and
institutional responsibilities.
Policy must balance conservation and community rights with research, traditional medicine, agriculture and
legitimate commercial innovation.
Overly complex compliance can discourage research, while weak compliance can enable biopiracy; effective
ABS requires calibrated regulation.
Why Markets and Traders Complicate Benefit Sharing
In the present cases, some biological resources were obtained through markets and traders rather than from
one identifiable farmer, community or geographic source.
When provenance cannot be traced to a single provider, direct payment to one individual would be arbitrary.
The approved modality therefore distributes beneficiary shares among States and Union Territories where the
relevant biological resource is cultivated.
This is an important governance innovation because supply chains often separate commercial users from the
original ecological or farming source.
Crop Diversity and Genetic Resources
One species can contain enormous genetic diversity. The 1,009 cucumber varieties and 662
watermelon varieties in the current case illustrate why biodiversity cannot be measured only by counting
species.
Crop genetic diversity provides traits for yield, taste, disease resistance, drought tolerance, heat tolerance and
nutritional quality.
Climate change increases the strategic value of diverse germplasm because breeders need a wide genetic pool
to develop resilient crops.
Conservation therefore requires in-situ diversity on farms as well as ex-situ seed banks, repositories and
research collections.
In-situ vs Ex-situ Conservation
In-situ conservation protects species and genetic diversity within natural ecosystems or traditional agricultural
landscapes.
Ex-situ conservation maintains biodiversity outside its natural habitat through seed banks, botanical gardens,
gene banks, microbial repositories and captive conservation.
ABS funds can support both approaches; the current disbursal includes support for repositories,
bio-surveys, taxonomy and conservation.
Neither method is sufficient alone: in-situ systems allow continuing evolution, while ex-situ collections provide
backup and research access.
Biopiracy
Biopiracy refers broadly to unauthorised or inequitable commercial use or patenting of biological resources or
traditional knowledge without appropriate recognition or benefit-sharing.
India's well-known policy experience with turmeric, neem and basmati-related intellectual-property disputes
helped shape stronger awareness of traditional-knowledge protection.
The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library is one mechanism used to prevent erroneous patents based on
already-known Indian traditional knowledge.
ABS complements defensive knowledge protection by creating a framework for lawful access and
benefit-sharing.
Research and Innovation Dimension
ABS funds can finance taxonomy, repositories and bio-surveys, areas often underfunded despite being
foundational to conservation science.
Microbial genetic resources are increasingly important for pharmaceuticals, industrial biotechnology,
agriculture and enzymes.
Clear access rules can improve legal certainty for researchers and companies while ensuring that commercial
value contributes to conservation.
India must avoid a false choice between biodiversity protection and biotechnology; predictable rules can
support both.
Equity and Local Communities
Local and indigenous communities often conserve biological resources and knowledge over generations but
may have weak bargaining power in commercial markets.
Benefit-sharing can recognise this stewardship economically and institutionally.
However, money reaching a State board does not automatically guarantee community-level conservation
outcomes; transparent utilisation and local participation are necessary.
Monitoring should therefore track where ABS money goes, what conservation activity it finances and who
ultimately benefits.
Way Forward
Improve traceability of biological-resource supply chains without imposing unrealistic burdens on small farmers
and traders.
Strengthen People's Biodiversity Registers and local Biodiversity Management Committees as living
governance institutions rather than one-time documentation exercises.
CBD adopted in 1992; Nagoya Protocol adopted in 2010 and entered into force in 2014.
NBA → national; State Biodiversity Boards → State; Biodiversity Management Committees → local.
ABS = fair and equitable sharing of benefits from utilisation of genetic resources.
Probable Prelims Question
With reference to biodiversity governance, consider the following statements: the Nagoya
Protocol** is linked to the Convention on Biological Diversity; **ABS may include monetary
and non-monetary benefits; and Biodiversity Management Committees operate at the local
level. Which statements are correct?
Probable Mains Question
Access and Benefit-Sharing converts biodiversity from a passive conservation concern into an
equity and economic-governance issue. Examine India's ABS framework in light of the
National Biodiversity Authority's 2026 disbursal.
