Preservation of Traditional Seed Varieties in india

Syllabus: GS3/ Agriculture and  Biodiversity

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.

Source: DTE