The FAQ accords the status of ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)’ to traditional agricultural systems. What is the overall goal of this initiative? 1. To provide modern technology, training in modern farming methods and financial support to local communities of identified GIAHS so as to greatly enhance their agricultural productivity 2. To identify and safeguard eco-friendly traditional farm practices and their associated landscapes, agricultural biodiversity and knowledge systems of the local communities 3. To provide Geographical Indication status to all the varieties of agricultural produce in such identified GIAHS Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

The correct answer is B (only 2). GIAHS is an FAO programme, launched in 2002, that identifies and safeguards traditional farming systems together with their landscapes, agricultural biodiversity and local knowledge. The aim is dynamic conservation: keeping these systems alive and adapting them, not replacing them with modern methods.

• Statement 1 is wrong. The initiative does not aim to push modern technology or training to raise yields. Its purpose is to protect what already works and is eco-friendly, so it is the opposite of a modernisation drive.
• Statement 2 is right. It captures the core objective: identifying and safeguarding eco-friendly practices, landscapes, agro-biodiversity and knowledge systems.
• Statement 3 is wrong. GIAHS status does not confer Geographical Indication. GI is a separate legal protection under the GI Act, 1999, administered by the GI Registry, and it needs a separate application for each product. It is not granted to all produce in a site.

Koraput in Odisha was India's first GIAHS site, recognised in 2012. For Mains, this links to sustainable agriculture, agro-biodiversity conservation and the tension between productivity and ecological preservation.

Trap: Aspirants assume any 'heritage' or 'globally important' tag means a productivity or modernisation push, and wrongly treat GIAHS as an automatic GI registration.