GI tag for 100 agricultural products a distant dream

Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 20

The government’s claim to bring 100 agricultural products of the state under geographical indication (GI) to avoid misbranding of unique local products has fallen flat as the process is yet to start.

The reason given by the Agriculture Department is the complicated procedure of identifying the genotype level of plants to be bracketed under exclusive slots and producing the foliage with distinct character for particular branding.

“The Agriculture Department alone cannot take up the challenge. Many other departments, particularly the role of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology is important in the process, so that new agricultural species could be produced for branding,” said Chander Mohan Sharma, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, Jammu.

He said the failure of the allied departments like horticulture and the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu, to take up the challenge had made the process a non-starter.

The GI is a mechanism under the intellectual property rights (IPR) by virtue of which a state can bring various agricultural products under the label of the IPR. This registers the product as the property of the state and cannot be pilfered or stolen.

Dismissing it as an impossibility to do manual or technical experimentation on the agricultural produce for geographical indication, Director, Research, SKUAST, Jammu, JP Sharma said Jammu and Kashmir had only 8-10 agricultural products that could be categorised under GI.

“Geographical indication of a particular agricultural produce is by virtue of the climate under which it is cultivated or grown. No plant or its species can be cross-bred or its genotype altered giving it a particular climate for producing a new genus that can be branded under the intellectual property rights for patenting,” said JP Sharma.

He cited RS Pura’s basmati, Bhaderwah’s rajma, Pampore’s saffron and Batote-Ramban’s harlot as the GI crops of the state which could be patented and trademarked.

A geographical indication is a sign that identifies a product as originating from a particular location which gives that product a special quality or reputation or other characteristic, he said, adding that the crop of the region grows traditionally under particular climate for years together and can only show some signs of departure from its originality, but its basic composition remains unaltered.