Discuss the significance of in-situ conservation of wild crop relatives for India's food and climate security, with reference to recent initiatives in Assam.

Q. Discuss the significance of in-situ conservation of wild crop relatives for India's food and climate security, with reference to recent initiatives in Assam. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Wild crop relatives (WCRs) are the uncultivated ancestors of domesticated crops that retain the genetic diversity bred out of modern high-yielding varieties. In-situ conservation — protecting them within their natural habitat — is therefore not merely an ecological exercise but a strategic investment in India's food and climate security, as the recent notification of Assam's Borjuli site illustrates.

Genetic insurance for food security - Oryza rufipogon, the wild progenitor of cultivated Oryza sativa, carries genes for resistance to pests and diseases and tolerance of flooding and saline conditions [1][3]. - Such genepools are the raw material for future rice breeding; narrowing varietal diversity leaves the crop vulnerable to a single pathogen outbreak. - In-situ sites let species keep co-evolving with pests and pathogens — an advantage gene banks (ex-situ) cannot replicate.

Climate resilience - Flood- and drought-tolerant traits from wild rice directly feed climate-resilient cultivar development, critical as erratic monsoons hit rainfed farming [1]. - This explains why the project is funded by the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) — constituted in 2006 under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, with a mandate spanning holistic development of rainfed and dryland areas [2].

The Assam initiative — a working model - The project "In-situ Conservation and Management of Wild Rice in Sonitpur District of Assam" has run since 2022, implemented by ICAR-NBPGR with the Assam State Biodiversity Board [1]. - In 2026 the Borjuli wetland was notified as a Biodiversity Heritage Site, a designation made by State Governments under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 for areas holding wild ancestors of cultivated species [1][4]. - It demonstrates convergence: central funder, central research institute and state biodiversity body acting together.

In-situ conservation thus converts biodiversity into an operational tool of agricultural policy. Replicating the Borjuli model across India's crop-diversity hotspots, with community stewardship and benefit-sharing under the Biological Diversity Act, would strengthen both farmer livelihoods and national food security — advancing SDG-2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG-13 (Climate Action) together.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. NRAA-Funded Wild Rice Conservation Project Secures Major Milestone in Assam, PIB (2 July 2026) — project details, implementing agencies, Borjuli BHS notification, wild rice traits 2. National Rainfed Area Authority, PIB — NRAA constitution (2006), parent ministry and rainfed-development mandate 3. Assam's Borjuli wetland notified as Biodiversity Heritage Site for wild rice conservation, DD News — O. rufipogon as progenitor of cultivated rice; pest, disease, flood and salinity tolerance 4. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, India Code — Section 37 empowering State Governments to notify Biodiversity Heritage Sites