The Telangana State Biodiversity Board has launched two major projects pertaining to agri-biodivesity in Telangana, and assessment and documentation of threatened taxa of the State respectively, here on Wednesday.
Explaining the first project on agri-biodiversity, scientist S.R.Pandravada from the National Board for Plant Genetic Resources, said the project aimed to inventorise and document the agri-biodiversity with particular reference to crop genetic resources of Telangana.
Passport information of surveys is being prepared about each of the crop varieties here, and exploration results are being documented, he said. Digital atlas of crop genetic resources for the state is being prepared, through geo-mapping and GIS analysis.
Telangana is home to 55 major agri-horticultural crops and at least 100 species of crop wild relatives.
On the threatened species of flora and fauna in Telangana State, assistant professor in the department of Zoology in Osmania University C. Srinivasulu said, the departments of Zoology and Botany have identified up to 100 species of flora and fauna which are facing threat of extinction in the state. The number is expected to cross 174 by the end of the project.
Compilation and database preparation is being done in the first phase, while workshops will be conducted under the aegis of the Board in the subsequent phase, Prof.Srinivasulu said.
Sabyasachi Das from WASSAN explained the progress of the project for conservation of local germplasm of Mannanur cattle.
