The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released ₹8.22 crore as access and benefit-sharing (ABS) disbursement for rice to three research institutions and 33 State Biodiversity Boards, marking one of the largest single ABS payouts for the crop, an official said on Sunday, 2 August. The funds originate from Pioneer Overseas Corporation, an international seed company, which paid the amount for utilising Indian rice (Oryza sativa) varieties to develop and commercialise hybrid seeds.

Where the Money Comes From

Pioneer Overseas Corporation accessed Indian rice germplasm to breed commercial hybrids and, under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, was required to share benefits with the country of origin. The NBA — a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change — facilitated the collection and now the disbursement of these funds. The authority implements the Nagoya Protocol's principle of fair and equitable benefit-sharing from biological resources.

How the ₹8.22 Crore Is Split

Of the total, ₹2.47 crore has been allocated to research institutions that conserved and shared the rice varieties with the company. The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research in Hyderabad received the largest institutional share of ₹2.43 crore, while Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Uttarakhand received ₹3.26 lakh for its specific varietal contribution.

The remaining ₹5.75 crore has been distributed among 33 State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils, with allocations proportional to each state's rice-growing area as recorded in the Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Uttar Pradesh received the highest state share of over ₹73 lakh, followed by West Bengal with over ₹64 lakh and Telangana with over ₹50 lakh. Smaller rice-growing territories, including Sikkim and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, also received proportionate allocations.

How the Funds Will Be Used

Research institutions are directed to deploy their share toward strengthening germplasm conservation, maintaining seed collections, and supporting research and training programmes. State Biodiversity Boards will channel their allocations into approved conservation activities — including protection of native crop diversity, ecosystem restoration, documentation of traditional knowledge, and direct support for local farmers and traditional knowledge holders.

NBA's Broader ABS Track Record

This disbursement adds to a growing corpus. The NBA has so far collected approximately ₹83 crore in ABS payments from the agriculture and seed sector alone. Across all sectors combined, total ABS disbursements have crossed ₹162 crore. Notably, this is one of the largest single-crop ABS releases the authority has made, underscoring rice's centrality to India's biodiversity economy. The payout also signals that international seed companies operating on Indian genetic material are increasingly being held to benefit-sharing obligations — a trend that could expand as more crop varieties come under ABS scrutiny.