Two-day seed exhibition showcasing an array of seeds of various crops and cereals got underway in the city on Saturday, June 3, with seed-savers and progressive farmers calling for conserving the agricultural heritage and crop diversity of the country.
Organised by Sahaja Samruddha — Organic Farmers association, Karnataka with Swiss Aid, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, FiBIL and Sahaja Seeds, over 30 farmers’ groups and seed-savers are taking part in the event being held at Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry.
Ms. Bibijan known in the farmers’ circle as ‘’Beejamate’’ for her pioneering works in seed conservation, said that women play an important role in the conservation of local seed diversity and their contribution needs to be recognised and respected. Hundreds of indigenous seeds that were on the verge of extinction have survived because of women’s care and their love for indigenous seeds, she said and called for community seed banks to be established under the leadership of women associations.
‘’Our indigenous seeds can adapt well to climate change and are dependable, I urge all farmers to opt for them in times of increasing extreme weather conditions,” said Bibijan.
Women farmers are sowing and cultivating various seeds through Akkadi system. They are growing various vegetables in the backyard and maintaining diversity. They preserve seeds in mud pots, bins to pass it on to the next generation. It’s the immense work of seed savers like Bibijan, which should be recognised and their contribution to preserving diversity that has still kept our heritage with us.
The Chief Guest at the event, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, Dean of College of Horticulture, Mysuru said that women farmers are sowing and cultivating various seeds through the traditional diverse cropping farming system. Shankar Guru, a farmer from T. Narsipur known for seed diversification and conservation said such practices were part of the farming culture but was going out of vogue in the present times as farmers rush to the market to purchase seeds which was not the case earlier.
He said farmers should take up seed production and use it themselves so as to reduce the cultivation cost and make agriculture more profitable. ‘’Now, there is a huge demand for organically grown seeds and plants and attention should be to increase its production,’’ he added.
G. Krishnaprasad of Sahaja Samrudha said that the impact of climate change was being borne by the agricultural sector the most and farmers were among the worst affected. He said the traditional and indigenous variety of seeds and natural farming were effective to withstand the vagaries of nature and hence should be promoted.
In the seed mela, 30 seed-savers groups from all over Karnataka have showcased varieties of rice, millets, pulses, cereals, vegetables and many varieties of fruits apart from seeds and grains of Little millet, Foxtail millet, Barnyard millet, Kodo millet, Browntop millet etc.
