The world is grappling with triple planetary crises—climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution—which are harming the economy, society and nature, ultimately posing an existential threat to humanity and life on Earth. While these crises interweave in one way or another, rapid biodiversity loss caused by climate change has been a serious global concern in recent decades.

Agrobiodiversity (ABD) is the most important subset of biodiversity. It covers the variety and variability of animals, plants and microorganisms important to agriculture. ABD serves as the foundation of life on earth and is the fundamental source of food and nutrition.

Nepal is rich in biodiversity, occupying the 49th position in the world. The country harbours 3.2 percent and 1.1 percent of the world’s known flora and fauna, respectively. About 28 percent of the over 24,000 estimated species in Nepal are agricultural genetic resources or agricultural biodiversity. As per one estimate, 40 percent of native agricultural genetic resources might have already been lost from Nepal. Some of the major reasons for their rapid loss include climate change, modern farming practices characterised by mono-cropping of modern varieties, rapid urbanisation and land use changes, wildfires and encroachment of invasive species.

Importance of ABD

A myriad of crops and livestock provide diversified foods with essential nutrients required to maintain good health and well-being. ABD is also a source of various medicines used in the treatment of several diseases. Likewise, maintaining agricultural biodiversity with various crops and plant species in the crop field can reduce 10-16 percent potential loss caused by various diseases and insect pests. Maintaining agrobiodiversity keeps crops from harmful diseases and pests, and it helps increase the population of beneficial insects, predating the harmful ones. Similarly, maintaining mixed cropping of diverse crops and plant species in farming can minimise the spread of diseases and pests and help reduce crop loss without using chemical pesticides. This will not only reduce production costs but also contribute to human health and environmental well-being.

Agrobiodiversity maintains healthy soil and regenerates degraded soil. Covering soil with different types of crops and plants and following crop rotation help conserve soil moisture and support the life cycle of soil microbes, which in turn build soil organic matter and result in good soil health and quality. It also supports crop production by providing the habitat and food for pollinators like honey bees, bumble bees and butterflies. In addition, ABD opens avenues for small and marginal farmers to maintain crop diversity, which provides them a buffer in case of main crop failure due to unfavourable and extreme weather events. Moreover, ABD plays a vital role in carbon sequestration, pollution control and filtering polluted water and chemicals. Overall, ABD provides various ecosystem services and helps balance the ecosystem.

Furthering the national commitment to ABD conservation, the Government of Nepal has declared January 15 (Magh 1 of the Nepali calendar year) the National Agrobiodiversity Day starting the fiscal year 2022-23. Recently, the country observed the second agrobiodiversity day with the theme “Our commitment to conservation and sustainable utilisation of agrobiodiversity as our precious resource”. It is celebrated as a week-long event in the involvement and active participation of the three tiers of government, non-government organisations, private sectors, farmers’ representative organisations, academic institutions and other stakeholders.

Areas needing urgent attention

Addressing the pressing concerns related to agrobiodiversity requires a multifaceted and strategic approach. Red zoning of agricultural land emerges as a critical step, ensuring that areas of high importance for agrobiodiversity are identified and protected. This zoning strategy safeguards the diverse genetic resources found in specific regions and also contributes to the overall resilience and sustainability of agricultural systems.

Simultaneously, a red listing of agricultural genetic resources is essential for systematically cataloguing and identifying endangered species/landraces, providing a basis for targeted conservation efforts. Likewise, integrating Agricultural Impact Assessments (AIAs) into any development project implementation processes and conducting AIA ensures that potential threats to agrobiodiversity are thoroughly evaluated before the commencement of any major development initiative, preventing adverse impacts on native genetic resources.

The establishment of agro-gene sanctuaries in the three distinct agro eco-zones of mountains, hills and Tarai could help conserve agrobiodiversity. Similar to national parks, these sanctuaries dedicated to crops, forage, livestock, agro-insects, agro-microbes and aquatic agricultural genetic resources create dedicated spaces for the natural preservation of these invaluable genetic assets. Moreover, integrating gene banks into educational institutions, such as school field gene banks and college agro-gene sanctuaries, can promote awareness and actively involve the younger generation in conservation efforts. This approach ensures a sustainable future where the importance of agrobiodiversity is understood, appreciated and safeguarded.

Complementing these on-the-ground efforts, formulating and implementing a National Agrobiodiversity Strategy and Action Plan provides a structured framework for coordinated conservation initiatives. By mainstreaming red zoning, red listing and the agrobiodiversity impact assessment system into the regulatory framework for mega projects, the country can ensure that economic development aligns harmoniously with biodiversity conservation. Moreover, initiatives like the estimation of agrobiodiversity indices at various administrative levels and the organisation of national-level workshops contribute to the systematic documentation and management of agricultural genetic resources. Overall, these proactive measures protect Nepal’s rich agrobiodiversity while paving the way for sustainable and resilient agricultural practices.

Moreover, a nationwide campaign for the exploration, identification, characterisation, documentation, conservation and promotion of economically important native agricultural genetic resources (AGR) is urgently needed. System and arrangement of domestication of crop wild relatives and wild edible plants should be introduced locally to avoid the potential food crisis. Likewise, documentation and scaling up traditional knowledge, wisdom and technology pertinent to AGR conservation and utilisation are equally important. Also, government agricultural farms and research stations should be mandated to conserve endangered species and breeds and act as field gene banks.

Institutional development of capacity building of community seed banks and providing financial and technical support to them for the effective implementation of in-situ and on-farm crop landraces will be instrumental for ABD’s conservation and sustainable use. Further, introducing ABD conservation-related curricula at school and university education is another important area needing urgent attention. Similarly, promoting agroecology and other nature-positive farming in the country will aid AGR's conservation and sustainable use.