GreenVertdicta

As per the UPOV press release ( here ).The Government of Panama deposited its instrument ( here ) of accession to the 1991 Act of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants on October 22, 2012. Details about the procedure to become UPOV member can be seen here . The purpose of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection, with the aim of encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society. Panama, which is already one of the seventy members of UPOV, is the fiftieth member to become bound by the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention. The 1991 Act will enter into force for Panama on November 22, 2012, one month after the deposit of its instrument of accession.

As per the new article here , Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) is doing all sorts of preparations to host the Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC) -2012, which will be organized by the State Biodiversity Board under the auspices of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA). The state government has constituted a committee led by chief minister Oommen Chandy to take stock of the preparations. The three-day event will begin from 27 th December, 2012 at Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram city. Participation of leading scientists from across the globe is expected . This will be the first of its kind event to be hosted in the city by the government under NBA. Earlier, a biodiversity congress was organized in the city by the KSBB with the support of an NGO, he said. Organized with the support of the NBA, state biodiversity boards, various government departments, educational institutions, research establishments and social organizations, the focus of the congress will be on t...

As per a news article here , Sharad Pawar minister of agriculture and food processing industries, on Friday, complimented farmers and all those associated with the development of horticulture in the country for achieving an all-time record production of over 240 million tonnes of horticulture produce. He also informed that “India earned   Rs.14, 000 crores foreign exchange from horticulture produce export” while addressing the National Conference on Horticulture Production and Productivity. Pawar further announced the formal launch of 2012 as the "Year of Horticulture " to bring horticulture development in the country to centre stage. " While we have achieved considerable success on the production front, the supply chain issues still need to be addressed. The Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters is an important step in this direction. This was launched during the current year with an outlay of Rs. 300 crores under the aegis of RKVY. To start with, the Scheme is bei...