The government on Monday launched an e-filing system for registration of new crop varieties to protect the rights of farmers, researchers and breeders from infringement.

Unveiling the e-filing system, Minister of State for Agriculture Charan Das Mahant said, "The online system will help faster review of application and issue of registration of certificates to farmers, breeders and researchers."

The online registration with the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority under the Agriculture Ministry aims to increase speed of filing of application with accurate information unlike the manual system.

So far, the authority has received 3,711 applications for registration of different varieties through manual process. Of which, 361 certificates have been issued.

The certificates issued would be valid for 15 years in case of crops and 18 years for trees/vines. This mean the authority would protect the new variety from being infringed for up to 18 years.

The minister also gave away 'Plant Genome Saviour Community Award' with cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and citation to four farming communities for their contribution in saving traditional crop varieties like rice and banana.

These four farming communities include: Shyamsunder Sister Nivedita Sangha from West Bengal, Pokkali Rice Farming Community and Wayanad District Development Action Council from Kerala and Tamil Nadu Hill Banana Growers' Federation from Tamil Nadu.

Besides, seven farming communities were given Plant Genome Saviour Recognition Certificates.