Lok Sabha Question No. 3172 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Studies on Wild Plant Resources
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Prataprao  Jadhav, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Sudheer Gupta, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Ravindra Kushawaha, Shrirang Appa Barne, Subrata Pathak, Ravi Kishan Shukla

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3172

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021

## Studies on Wild Plant Resources

## 3172.   SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI SUBRAT PATHAK:

SHRI RAVI KISHAN:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Botanical  Survey  of  India  (BSI)  has  been  undertaking  taxonomic/floristic studies on wild plant resources of the country, if so, the details and theoutcome of the said studies;
- (b) the details of the funds allocated, released andutilized by BSI during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (c) the details of the activities of various centers of  BSI along  with their achievements during the said period;
- (d) whether  BSI  has  been  facing  any  challengeswhile  performing  their  objectives  and mandates during this period particularly during COVID-19 lockdown; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the corrective/remedial action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a)   Yes Sir. Botanical Survey of India (BSI) being an apex scientific research organization in  the  field  of  Plant  taxonomy  is  actively  involved  in  undertaking  the  taxonomic/  floristic studies on wildplant resources of the country. The details of scientific outcomes of BSI under various research projects are enclosed as Annexure I.
- (b)  The  details  of  funds  allocated  andutilized  by  BSI  during  each  of  the  last  three  years andthe current year are as under:
- (c) The details of the activities of various centres ofBSI along with their achievements during the  said  period  are  enclosed  as  Annexure  II.    [Details  of  Projects  available  in  the  Annual Reports uploaded on the website of the BSI (bsi.gov.in)]
- (d)  &  (e)Due  to  prevailing  COVID  situation  and  curtailment  of  funds,  various  research activities have been hampered and proposed field explorations could not be performed. The targeted objectives of externally funded projects and some ex-situ conservation programmes of BSI could not be fully achieveddue to COVID- 19 lockdown.

|   S. No. | Year    |   B.E. (in crores) |   Funds released (in crores) | Fundsutilised (in crores)   |
|----------|---------|--------------------|------------------------------|-----------------------------|
|        1 | 2018-19 |               70.8 |                        70.8  | 67.29                       |
|        2 | 2019-20 |               76   |                        76    | 72.11                       |
|        3 | 2020-21 |               76   |                        63.13 | 61.83                       |
|        4 | 2021-22 |               72   |                        72    | 22.54 (as on 31.07.2021)    |

However, in spite of pandemic, following the COVID protocol, BSI has initiated local field surveys for the year 2020-21. During 2020-21, 15 local field surveys have been carried out till date.

*****

ANNEXURE 1

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  3172  to  be answered on 06.08.2021

## The important achievements of BSI are highlighted here under following areas:

As  per  the  prime  mandate,  BSI  undertakes  research  in  plant  taxonomy  through extensive field surveys, exploration and documentation of floral resources of the country. In this connection, so far BSI has fully explored about 70% of the geographical regions of the country, whereas about 30% of the areas is either underexplored or unexplored.

Towards  documentation  of  floral  information,  BSI  has  so  far  published  about  340 titles  of  books,  63  volumes  of  its  official  Journal  ' Nelumbo '  (containing  more  than  2500 scientific papers), 3 volumes of Flora of India Checklist , (which contains updated, accepted names of 21,756 taxa of angiosperms belonging to 269 families and 2868 genera. Besides, 4 volumes of Algae of India checklist containing 4425 algal species, 1232 cyanobacteria, 865 macro algae and 2777 diatoms; documented 15447 taxa of Fungi,2 volumes of Lichens of India, containing 2917 taxa of Lichens; one volume of Macro lichens of Sikkim, Hornworts of  India  -An  Annotated  checklist,  containing  2786  taxa  of  Bryophytes;  Checklist  of  the Gymnosperms containing 82 taxa of Gymnosperms. BSI has also published 30 fascicles on various  plant  families  and  plant  groups.  Besides,  towards  completion  of  Flora  of  India project, BSI has already published 10 volumes of Flora of India and also compiled another 15 volumes.

Besides,  BSI  has  also  documented  1671  legumes,  1256  orchids,  endemic  vascular plants with 4395 taxa, Islands with 2436 species, north-eastern states with more than 7500 species, Fragile ecosystems such as cold deserts contribute 1615 taxa while hot deserts 682 taxa have been published.

Out of the 28 States and 9 UTs, BSI has documented and published flora of 28 states and 3 UTs in 49 volumes. Floristic survey of 114 protected areas including national parks and biosphere  reserves  have  also  been  completed.  A  pictorial  guide  of  Himalayan  plants containing 10,289 taxa, belonging to 2256 genera and 238 families, is also published by BSI.

ANNEXURE-II

Statement referred to in reply to part (c) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 3172 to be answered on 06.08.2021

Scientific  achievements  of  various  Regional  Centres  of  Botanical  Survey  of India (BSI)during the period 2018-21 (till date)

| S.No.   | Area          | Name of Centre                             | Number of work done   |
|---------|---------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 1.      | Exploration   | AJC Bose IBBG, Howrah                      | 11                    |
|         |               | A&N Regional Centre                        | 16                    |
|         |               | AP Regional Centre, Itanagar               | 17                    |
|         |               | ARID Zone, RC, Jodhpur                     | 07                    |
|         |               | CNH, Howrah                                | 25                    |
|         |               | CRC, Allahabad                             | 12                    |
|         |               | DRC, Hyderabad                             | 29                    |
|         |               | ERC, Shillong                              | 35                    |
|         |               | HAWHimalayan RC, Solan                     | 15                    |
|         |               | NRC, Dehradun                              | 23                    |
|         |               | Sikkim HRC, Gangtok                        | 13                    |
|         |               | SRC, Coimbatore                            | 38                    |
|         |               | WRC, Pune                                  | 21                    |
|         |               | Industrial Section India Museum, Kolkata   | Nil                   |
|         |               | Publication/Technical Division, HQ Kolkata | 03                    |
|         |               | *Externally funded projects                | 58                    |
| 2.      | Documentation | AJC Bose IBBG, Howrah                      | 364                   |
|         |               | A&N Regional Centre                        | 231                   |
|         |               | AP Regional Centre, Itanagar               | 4180                  |
|         |               | ARID Zone, RC, Jodhpur                     | 561                   |
|         |               | CNH, Howrah                                | Nil                   |
|         |               | CRC, Allahabad                             | 1051                  |
|         |               | DRC, Hyderabad                             | 178                   |
|         |               | ERC, Shillong                              | 710                   |

|    |                      | HAWHimalayan RC, Solan                     | 576   |
|----|----------------------|--------------------------------------------|-------|
|    |                      | NRC, Dehradun                              | 1970  |
|    |                      | Sikkim HRC, Gangtok                        | 7193  |
|    |                      | SRC, Coimbatore                            | 5734  |
|    |                      | WRC, Pune                                  | 4355  |
|    |                      | Industrial Section India Museum, Kolkata   | Nil   |
|    |                      | Publication/Technical Division, HQ Kolkata | 400   |
|    |                      | *Externally funded projects                | 4050  |
| 3. | New Species recorded | AJC Bose IBBG, Howrah                      | 24    |
|    |                      | A&N Regional Centre                        | 11    |
|    |                      | AP Regional Centre, Itanagar               | 05    |
|    |                      | ARID Zone, RC, Jodhpur                     | 01    |
|    |                      | CNH, Howrah                                | 05    |
|    |                      | CRC, Allahabad                             | 03    |
|    |                      | DRC, Hyderabad                             | 04    |
|    |                      | ERC, Shillong                              | 13    |
|    |                      | HAWHimalayan RC, Solan                     | Nil   |
|    |                      | NRC, Dehradun                              | Nil   |
|    |                      | Sikkim HRC, Gangtok                        | 02    |
|    |                      | SRC, Coimbatore                            | 09    |
|    |                      | WRC, Pune                                  | 07    |
|    |                      | Industrial Section India Museum, Kolkata   | Nil   |
|    |                      | Publication/Technical Division, HQ Kolkata | Nil   |
|    |                      | *Externally funded projects                | 10    |
| 4. | Publication          | AJC Bose IBBG, Howrah                      | 13    |
|    |                      | A&N Regional Centre                        | 41    |
|    |                      | AP Regional Centre, Itanagar               | 23    |
|    |                      | ARID Zone, RC, Jodhpur                     | 29    |
|    |                      | CNH, Howrah                                | 1     |
|    |                      | CRC, Allahabad                             | 15    |
|    |                      | DRC, Hyderabad                             | 28    |
|    |                      | ERC, Shillong                              | 89    |
|    |                      | HAWHimalayan RC, Solan                     | 06    |
|    |                      | NRC, Dehradun                              | 13    |
|    |                      | Sikkim HRC, Gangtok                        | 17    |
|    |                      | SRC, Coimbatore                            | 28    |
|    |                      | WRC, Pune                                  | 54    |
|    |                      | Industrial Section India Museum, Kolkata   | nil   |
|    |                      | Publication/Technical Division, HQ Kolkata | 05    |
|    |                      | *Externally funded projects                | 22    |

Besides Ex-situ conservation of 164 plants carried out at AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah.