Plant breeding was another area that was stressed on as we found that varieties bred and released by national scientific institutions were almost not adopted by small land holding farmers especially in the tribal and fragile environments as they poorly adapt to local conditions. So breeding programmes was taken up with farmers and formal researchers jointly holding field experiments. So far more than 50 varieties were used as trials and about 15 farmers preferred, farmer selected and bred varieties have been developed. The varieties have exhibited agronomic traits, yield and good palatability and moreover are best suited to local Environment.
Crop improvement techniques adapted increased productivity with simple selection methods and conservation blocks established in growing environment completely analyze the vairety’s adaptability to local conditions and its flexibility to climate changes, also its taste, yield and its unique qualities are considered.
Concept of diversity blocks for characterization and participatory varietal selection trials of rice, millets, wheat and vegetables was adapted by many farmers and also in other organisations across India. Farmers setup 150 experimental plots in Karnataka and about 8 Participatory Varietal Selection plots.
Farmer Field Days
After the diversity blocks (RDBs) were planted in a farmer’s field, maintained and is ready for harvest, a day will be designated where other farmers, scientists, students or anybody interested in the diverse varieties could visit, see the plants and talk to the farmer. The field day displayed to the visitors the specialities of each variety.
Farmers and other experts are asked to choose good, sturdy plants and the farmer owner of the diversity block was appreciated for his effort. These provided the visiting farmer with a live demonstration of what he would get if he cultivated these varieties.
Ragi Guli
Diversity Blocks
Diversity blocks were introduced to inspire farmers and would keep alive seeds; grown out season after season acclimatized to changing weather/climatic patterns and providing a live gene bank.
One of the main pillars of the traditional seed revival campaign was to respect and revive farmers wisdom and indigenous seed culture. When farmers started cultivating these seeds one could see the rejuvenation of knowledge and the resurgence of confidence in many farmers. Farmers who came to see the seed caravan were looking for that elusive something that would take away the pain of neglected seeds.
A small patch of land is selected and the different varieties of particular seeds are planted in small plots adjacent to each other with care taken to demarcate each plot. The position of the varieties is plotted on paper in advance taking into account duration and flowering asynchronicity. The farmer /researcher maintaining the field maintains the traceability of the varieties right from the time he/she receives or harvests the seed all the way through treating it (with herbal preparations), sowing it and transplanting it, right upto harvesting, threshing and again using or storing it for the next season.
Expert seed conservers also document plant and seed characterization during the life cycle and it is continued with the seed post-harvest. Various traits like plant growth, flowering period, and numerous other features are recorded at predetermined intervals. Post-harvest various traits associated with the seed including the seed size, the number of seeds, sterile seeds and germination are assessed and recorded. This is quite a time consuming and tedious process that requires skill, patience and time. Maintaining diversity blocks requires scientific rigour and skill, which many farmers are displaying, proving the belief that farmers are the best seed conservers and our heritage is secure in their hands.
Diversity blocks Motivate Farmers
The diversity blocks have become a gathering point for farmers who come to check out the varieties, for scientists and lay public to learn more and a recognition of the effort of the seed saver farmer. Rice diversity blocks are an absolutely vital, yet expensive component and the whole seed saving effort. These seeds evolved with the climate, they change according to soils and they also throw up new varieties leading to farmer bred varieties. However, they require committed seed savers, land, time and money to maintain season after season. This is a necessity, in a way to safeguard our indigenous seeds that are neglected, rare and at the edge of extinction to pass to the next generation.
Through diversity plots it has also been seen that many of these varieties can compete with the HYVs, they show better resistance to pests and diseases, and most importantly adapt well to local climatic conditions. Some of them have excellent stress tolerance properties, and are highly suitable for changing climate conditions.
We have seen a lot of farmers reviving seed culture based on their situation and needs. And here they depend on other farmers and seed savers for seeds and knowledge, which is easily accessible. In parallel, the organisation also realised the need to develop markets to bring indigenous varieties to the consumers. It is essential for them to understand seed culture, food and nutritional security through agro-biodiversity and the livelihood issues of farmers.
Farmer Field Days
After the diversity blocks were planted in a farmer’s field plots, a day was designated when other farmers, local panchayat leaders, department officials, scientists, students or anybody interested in the diverse varieties could visit, see the plants and talk to the farmer. The field day displayed to the visitors the specialities of each variety. Farmers and other experts will choose good, sturdy plants and the farmer owner of the diversity block will be appreciated and honoured for his effort. These provide the visiting farmer with a live demonstration of what he would get if he cultivated these varieties.
The visitors, experts and non-experts, will go around the fields admiring the panicles, the number of tillers, the vigour of the plants, the colour of the leaves, the length of straw and the potential yield. Expert visitors were also asked to tag their choice of plants which are harvested separately. The varieties that attracted the highest number of tags are multiplied in larger quantities to be later shared with other interested farmers.
For the plot farmer it‘s a day to bask in appreciation when his/her fellow farmers, scientists and many others admire his field with diverse varieties swaying in the wind, each shining golden in the sun or glistening black or brown, ready to be harvested. The seed conservation activity got considerable fillip from the coverage given by the local language newspaper, TV channel and social media that published many stories featuring the farmers, the traditional rice varieties and their unique properties, and wrote about the importance of seed conservation.
Field days in Karnataka are the turning points, bringing in new farmers and getting the agriculture establishment interested in traditional varieties and seed conservation on the fields. It triggered memories in farmers of varieties their elders used to cultivate. The beauty of certain varieties called to the visiting farmers and many of them later turned into prominent seed savers maintaining their own diversity blocks. We are proud to proclaim that this process along with few prominent seed savers effort many seeds are restored and rejuvenated.
Brinjal Diversity Block
Seed movement has made great strides at Mayasandra, a village near Bangalore, a model to emulate as it has showcased sustainability in organic farming using local varieties.
Kanthraju and Suchitra, seed saving couple maintained seed plot to study the genetic divergence among 13 brinjal varieties and characteristics of cultivars.
“These seed plots are maintained with for high genetic purity. They help secure seeds for the future and increases accessibility for my fellow farmers”, says Kantharaj. From seed production, selection, enhancement, storage and marketing the couple continue to play a critical role. Infact every organic vegetable grower in the cluster villages of Mayasandra is a seed producer. Most of the seeds produced are sold to Desi Seed Producer Company.
OKRA Diversity Block
Once Tobacco Farmer turns Diversity Conserver Shankar and Roopa, were among the countless farmers in the region shackled to the upending demands of the tobacco industry. However, four years ago, the lives of about 30 farmers changed forever with adapting to sustainable agriculture practices and reviving native crop varieties.
The farmer couple have maintained and harvested a rich yield of 14 Okra varieties on their half acre plot in Hittnehebbagilu village in Periyapatna taluk. Conservation block had a wide range of pods in different size, shape and the colourful stalks made the whole field look beautiful with different hues of green, burgundy and red.
“We’d planted 30 seeds of each type in single beds and managed a good yield. In comparison to other vegetable crops, cultivating ladies finger and that too native variety did not require a lot of money and best suited to variable weather conditions. We are saving seeds of best-performing varieties and will re-grow them again and again” says Shankar.
Coloured Carrot Varieties
Sahaja Samrudha in collaboration with Mayasandra Community seed Bank carried out On-farm Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) of carrot varieties. The Varietal selection of four different coloured carrots was conducted during the 2nd week of April 2018. It was organized in a simple way to learn which variety performs well on-farm, identify varieties farmers prefer, including the reasons for their needs and preference.
The programme brought about 30 women and 35 men that included farmers, consumers, technical experts and production facilitators together. Knowledgeable farmers from different areas, who have been growing carrots for generations as they have the understanding of what grows best on their soils were invited to select the best variety, also associated with the end users ‘Consumer’ to provide the best variety depending on their choice.
Farmers selected Black carrot as the best variety followed by Orange carrot as second best, while women pointed out that Yellow carrot was also a preferred variety. Black carrot is grown low scale and being tried out in the markets.
Demonstration Plot – Finger Millet
The return of native ragi varieties was showcased on a demonstration plot set up by Farmers – Eshwar Gouda Patil at Mttighatta village in Kundagol taluk of Dhrwad. The Demonstration was as many as 72 varieties cultivated on half an acre of land.
Actually 80 varieties were collected from different parts of India – about 39 from Sahaja Samrudha gene pool and 40 accessions from Indian Institute of Millet Research ( IIMR), Hyderabad and one variety from National Gene Bank, New Delhi. A diversity block was set up to evaluate the genetic diversity. A field day was organised that brought in Scientists, Knowledgeable farmers, women and surrounding villages.
Jowar Demo Plot
Praveen Hebballi, who has grown 44 varieties of jowar in the kharif season; students visiting Hebballi’s field in Belagavi district. I had seen these jowar varieties long ago, during my childhood, and now I am seeing them here again,” says Hanumantappa, an elderly farmer from Marakumbi village in Belagavi district. “We must at least conserve these indigenous varieties in our fields,” he adds.
Hanumantappa is only one of the many who take delight in looking at the panicles of desi varieties of jowar growing in the fields of Praveen Hebballi, a young farmer from Betasuru village of Savadatti taluk in Belagavi district. He has grown 44 varieties of jowar during the kharif season in one-and-a-half acres of land. The crop is now ready to harvest. For Praveen, conservation of indigenous varieties involves a lot more than just growing crops. His efforts were instrumental in ensuring that black foxtail millet, once a rare variety, is now available easily to farmers. He was inspired by the many seed savers in Karnataka. After learning about the techniques of conservation, Praveen started to grow indigenous crops. Four years ago, he grew 15 varieties of foxtail millets in his field. He selected good-quality seeds and distributed them to interested farmers. For this effort, he was recognised as the ‘Pioneer Millet Farmer’ by the Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Hyderabad.
Focus on jowar
Like other millets, jowar or sorghum is central to the local cuisine. In fact, jowar is considered the staple food of North Karnataka. Locals, especially those from the farming community, consume jowar in various forms. This crop grows well with less water, and even in barren land. The cultivation of native varieties of jowar and other grains is a strategy employed by farmers, to adapt to climate change. ‘Sahaja Samrudha’, began working with the Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture (RRA) Network, to start a project aimed at cultivating jowar using the rainfed method. When this activity of searching for and conserving rainfed kharif jowar was initiated in Karnataka, Sahaja Samrudha selected Praveen to implement the efforts. The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad, offered indigenous varieties of seeds to support the initiative. Farmers from various states also sent seeds.
Due to insufficient rains this kharif season, there was a concern that the crops would dry up. “But surprisingly, the plants grew well and sprouted panicles accordingly. This proves the resilience of indigenous varieties in the context of the climate change crisis,” says Bhagyalaxmi, convenor of RRA Network, who is researching traditional varieties systematically in this area. Out of 58 varieties, 44 germinated and grew. The characteristics of each variety were unique. Some varieties stood up to 12 feet and others were only four feet in height. The panicles were also appealing to the eye.
Versatility of varieties G Krishna Prasad, director of Sahaja Samrudha explains the uses of different varieties: ‘Sakkari mukri’ is used to prepare sweet dishes and ‘aralu jola’ is perfect for popcorn. ‘Nandyal jowar’ is well-suited to make dry roti and ‘Jharkhand jowar’ is best for high yields.
Praveen has taken measures to protect the genetic purity of each variety. “Out of 44 varieties, some are long duration crops which have now started yielding, after four months of sowing. Some of the jowar varieties started yielding within two-and-a-half months. Since jowar is predominantly self-pollinated, it should be handled carefully. So, I covered the panicles with paper bags to maintain genetic purity,” Praveen says, explaining his methods of seed conservation.
Participatory Varietal Selection workshop was organised at Praveen’s field, where experienced farmers were invited to discuss various issues relating to kharif jowar cultivation. At the end of the workshop, many farmers showed interest in growing jowar and requested seeds.
Dantu Demo Plot
Reviving cultivation of a traditional crop, spotlight on economic benefits of Amaranthus Farmer Srinivas of Ramenahalli in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysuru district with a variety of amaranth plants cultivated by him on his land.
Efforts are underway to popularise the inclusion of Amaranthus – a wide variety of leafy vegetables – as part of mixed cropping among farmers in the region. Though known to be highly nutritious and still consumed but in a limited quantity it has economic benefits too and farmers can have multiple harvest to supplement their income. But cultivation was gradually on the wane and with it a slice of culinary culture.
“A wide range of green vegetables, such as Kirkire Soppu and Dantina Soppu, are referred to as amaranthus and are used in limited quantity. Additionally, its cultivation and growth are steadily declining, and we want to reintroduce it to society,” said Krishna Prasad, Director of Sahaja Samruddha, an organization that promotes the production of indigenous crops as well as maps the diversity of crops in Karnataka.
He also said that Danttu and stem amaranth used to be cultivated in household gardens and hilly places and once cultivated, farmers harvest it and increase their income
In an effort to popularise Amaranthus, Sahaja Samruddha purchased 30 kinds of the indigenous crop from various regions of the nation, and all of them were experimentally grown on Srinivas’ farm in Ramenahalli, H.D.Kote taluk of Mysuru district.
Field Visit
According to Sahaja Samruddha, in order to discover which varieties, work best on farms and to get input from possible end-users, a group of experts including scientists, visited the farm last week for Participatory Varietal Selection Training.
“In order to encourage its production among the local farmers, the organization also wanted to determine which traditional varieties were amenable to the local climatic circumstances. The goal was to encourage farmers to preserve the traditional varieties in addition to increasing agricultural diversity”, Mr. Krishna Prasad added.
The crop provided the most nutrition per calorie compared to most foods, according to Aravinda Kumar, Assistant Professor at the College of Horticulture in Mysuru, who also noted that Amaranthus was a fantastic source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, B, and C and a fantastic source of vitamin K.
For the participants, the field trip was also intended to help farmers understand how to include Amaranthus into their mixed-cropping plan, encourage crop diversification, and provide rural communities with the tools they need to build on indigenous and traditional knowledge, skills, and traditions.
Participants, including those who know what grows well in their soil, were asked to choose the best variety among the 30 cultivars at the farm that will be pest and disease-tolerant, climate-adaptable, and good for cooking. According to Mr. Krishna Prasad around 10 varieties have been chosen for future replication and distribution to a larger area.
Aware Demo Plot
Revival of Traditional Cotton
The almost extinct varieties of desi cotton back was with a multi-pronged approach of collecting local varieties of cotton seeds, preparing a gene bank, promoting cultivation among farmers, organizing farmers obtain organic certification, providing market opportunities by including several partners and conducting cotton fairs and melas. ‘Revival of Desi Cotton and Contemporary Khadi’; were a series of workshops conducted in different states, brining stakeholders working along the cotton value chain.
ZARC, Brahmavar, Udupi: TheZonal Agricultural Research Centre, Brahmavar, Udupi District began to conserve traditional paddy since ….. They have …varieties in their conservation plot. This centre has also released a brochure of traditional rice along with the RDB.
University of Agricultural Science, Raichur: An effort to popularize traditional paddy varieties has been undertaken in the University of Agricultural Sciences at Raichur. This RDB was established in 2017 with ten traditional paddy varieties.
The Farmer Breeders
One of the groups of farmers that been involved with is a different type of seed scientist- farmer breeders. Their passion is to breed new varieties. Farmer bred varieties are selected from landraces and/or improved varieties. Landraces have sufficient admixtures (genetic diversity due to mixing) to provide a range of desirable traits. The farmer breeder identifies the variety in his field. This usually happens when the farmer goes around the field during grain formation stage looking at the quality, appearance and growth. Sometimes he/she may locate a plant or few plants displaying different but interesting traits. The farmer usually harvests these chosen plants separately and grows them out across the next few seasons to stabilize the traits. After they are certain of the stability of traits, they share it with neighbouring farmers. If the variety shows positive results (yield, pest resistance, water requirement, fodder quality, rice taste and cooking quality) the farmers distribute it for large scale production.”
Farmer breeders make an important contribution to conservation in developing new varieties suited to the locale and climate. It would be very important for these talented men and women to get recognized and supported by the agriculture establishment.
The farmer bred varieties mainly are season agnostic, more adapted to different climatic zones within the same geographic area, able to withstand some amount of change in rainfall, and disease and pest menace is low. These also have better yields and shorter duration. This could follow from the fact that farmers are looking for these traits and select plants that display these favourable traits.
Yes, our breeder farmers are scientists in the field. They observe the varieties during the entire life cycle and are very clear about the traits they are looking for, which include a range of attributes. They look for plants that do not lodge easily, have healthy panicles and large number of grains in the ear heads. Farmers are keen on getting plants with tasty straw that is favourably long so that there is sufficient fodder for cattle. As regards grain they are looking for rice that can be used for everyday cooking (that has greater demand in the market), which has good cooking quality and taste. Farmers are also looking for pest and disease resistant traits so that they can grow these varieties organically without external chemical inputs.
Usually the farmers take three to four years to grow out and stabilize a variety to their satisfaction. This is done without any support, financial, physical or scientific from any establishment. Sahaja Samrudha has nourished and encouraged many farmer breeders and provided them with support and linkages. We help with characterization of the varieties and documentation of the traits. We also provide financial assistance and guidance to organize field days, which provide visibility to the farmers and the variety.
Apparently, this has encouraged seed saving, conservation and recognised seed sovereignty as the cornerstone of ecologically and economically sustainable agriculture. Our farmers have become seed savers, seed breeders and many have also become seed producers, that is they produce large quantity of seeds of indigenous varieties. We salute every farmer who has adopted traditional seeds and taken ownership for conserving this heritage for our future generations.
Our Seed Guardians
