the indian Council of Agricultural Research ( icar ) has formulated a plant biodiversity management project for exploring, cataloguing and preserving the country's genetic heritage. The project will be funded from the resources available under the World Bank-aided National Agriculture Technology Programme.

The five-year project will be implemented by the newly-created Jai Vigyan National Science and Technology Mission on conservation of agro-biodiversity. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources ( nbpgr ), which runs the world's largest gene bank at the New Delhi-based icar campus, will be the lead institution for the project.

The project will be carried out at 81 selected centres located in the 10 exploration and collection zones throughout the country. The centres involved in the programme belong to nbpgr , the icar institutes, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( csir ), ministries of environment, forests, defence and state agricultural universities and several other organisations.