Bureau of Indian Standards under Department of Consumer Affairs Releases IS 20201:2026 to Safeguard Indigenous Crop Varieties and Align with Sustainable Development Goal 2

• IS 20201:2026 "Community Seed Bank Management – Requirements" is a new voluntary Indian Standard published by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) under the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution to standardise the running of Community Seed Banks (CSBs).
• It is the country's first management-system standard for on-farm conservation of indigenous/landrace crop varieties, directly operationalising SDG Target 2.5 (genetic diversity of seeds).
• UPSC relevance: intersects GS-III (agriculture, food security, biodiversity) and GS-II (statutory bodies, SDGs) — a single news item that bundles BIS, agrobiodiversity, PPV&FR/Biological Diversity regimes, and SDG-2.