Preservation of Traditional Seed Varieties in India

General Studies Paper-3

Context

• The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) recently examined community seed banks (CSBs) across India and raised concerns over declining intergenerational transfer of traditional seed conservation knowledge.
• Importance of Traditional Seed Conservation
• Genetic Diversity: These seeds have a broad genetic base, making crops naturally resilient to pests and diseases.
• Unlike monocultures that suffer rapid disease spread, traditional polycultures buffer such risks.
• Climate Resilience: With erratic weather becoming the norm—ranging from cloudbursts to droughts—traditional seeds provide insurance. In mixed cropping systems, even if some varieties fail, others survive and yield well.
• Sustainability: Open-pollinated and reusable, these seeds thrive under organic farming methods, unlike commercial hybrid seeds that demand chemical inputs and must be bought each season.

Challenges in Seed Conservation

• Declining Youth Engagement: Young farmers increasingly prefer hybrid or genetically modified (GM) seeds, lured by perceptions of higher yield.
• Lack of Support for CSBs: Most community seed banks (CSBs) operate with minimal funding, largely run by NGOs or self-help groups.
  • Government schemes often exclude them, offering no formal recognition or incentives.
• Erosion of Cultural Practices: Familial transmission of agricultural knowledge has weakened over generations.
  • Traditional seed-saving customs, like Rotiyaana in Uttarakhand, are vanishing.
• Policy Gaps and Exploitation of Farmers’ Rights: Despite laws like the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPVFRA), documentation of “common knowledge” seed varieties remains poor.
  • This vacuum allows individuals to register age-old community varieties as private property, risking biopiracy.

Preservation Practices on the Ground

• Odisha’s Niyamgiri Foothills: Farmers sow diverse millets, vegetables, and herbs like tulsi and marigold, ensuring ecological balance.
• Barah Anaj System, Uttarakhand: Revived by the Beej Bachao Andolan, it promotes the cultivation of 12 traditional crops together.
• Teeratha Village, Karnataka: Youth are involved in Participatory Variety Selection (PVS) through the Sahaja Samrudha CSB network, testing and selecting the most suitable millet varieties in “diversity blocks”.
• Chizami, Nagaland: A women-led CSB not only conserves seeds but also imparts hands-on training to youth and school students on traditional farming and storage.
  • In many regions women play a central role in storing seeds in mud pots or bamboo baskets with neem leaves, ensuring viability without chemicals.
  • The Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch (BBSM), established in 2014, has revitalised seed-saving through community-led festivals in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and Hyderabad—highlighting seed sovereignty as a people’s movement.

Way Ahead

• Policy Integration and Legal Protection: Fast-track documentation of common knowledge varieties to prevent unjust privatisation.
• Incentivising Young Seed Savers: Offer awards, training, and financial support to youth engaged in seed conservation.
  • Integrate seed-saving in school curricula and rural skill programmes.
• Promoting Decentralised Diversity: Encourage in-situ seed preservation in forests and farms.
  • Cluster-level CSBs (one per 100–200 villages) can ensure localised seed sovereignty.
• Cultural Revitalisation: Leverage festivals, folklore, and family traditions to connect youth with their agrarian heritage.

Concluding remarks

• Traditional seed conservation is not just about biodiversity, it is about ecological security, food sovereignty, and cultural continuity.
• With the right mix of policy, public support, and intergenerational collaboration, India’s seed saviours can help us build a more resilient agricultural future.