'Renew lease period of forest land for research centre'

A delegation has requested for that the CPCRI Research Centre, Kidu, be retained in its present location by renewing the lease agreement by waiving the net present value.

The delegation led by Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation D V Sadananda Gowda met Union Minister for Environment, Forest, Climate Change Dr Harsha Vardhan and put across the request.

The Forest Minister has responded positively. The delegation comprised MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and CPCRI, Kasargod, Director Dr P Chowdappa.
Gowda stressed the need to safeguard the interests of the farming community for doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

The Minister said that coconut, arecanut and cocoa sectors generate direct and indirect employment, besides providing security to more than 25 million people in the country.

The Research Centre under ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute at Kidu, Karnataka, was established in 1972.

“It has irreplaceable genetic resources and elite parental lines of coconut, arecanut and cocoa, including the world’s largest collection of coconut genetic resources. The Centre also hosts the International Coconut Gene Bank for South Asia and the Middle East (ICG-SAME) in 1998 based on a tripartite agreement between Government of India (signed by the then Director General ICAR), FAO (on behalf of the ITPGRFA) and, IPGRI (Bioversity International),” Gowda explained.

“The Centre at Kidu has been designated as National Active Germplasm Site for plantation crops. The Centre also houses Dwarf arecanut mother block, which is unique in the world,” Gowda told Harsha Vardhan.

This research centre has mother blocks of released varieties of coconut, arecanut and cocoa to produce quality planting materials.

Approximately 25 lakh seed nuts/seedlings of quality planting material of improved varieties and parental lines have been produced during the last five years.

In fact, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Bengaluru, Government of Karnataka had requested to comply the conditions of the Government of India in 2006 by paying net present value to the tune of Rs 19.26 crore for getting the lease period of Research Centre, Kidu to be renewed.

As per the provisions, certain categories are exempted from making payment of NPV for the renewal of the lease of leased forest land.

On the exemption category, Professor Kanchan Chopra Committee recommendations states: “If the user of the diverted land is public good provider or producer and if the diversion provides the same kind of services as forests provide at the same location (carbon sequestration, retention of soil moisture, protection of biodiversity etc), such diversions do not attract any NPV.”

In the present case, the user agency (ICAR-CPCRI) is a public goods provider and producer and the diverted land is used for bonafide research purpose catering to the needs of farming community in the country engaged in activities of carbon sequestration, soil and water conservation and conservation of biodiversity in the land,” the Minister told the delegation.