On-Farm Conservation
Sahaja Samrudha has spearheaded the Seed Movement in Karnataka in the last decade, and more than two thousand and five hundred farmers are growing innumerous local varieties. This has allowed farmers to be less dependent on companies, as they now save their own seeds and share them within the farming community.
On-Farm Conservation of Seed Diversity
Seed Conservation Plots
Assured supply of quality organic seeds is the first step toward incentivizing the preservation of traditional varieties of seeds and organic farming. Sahaja Samrudha has identified and selected good seed growers who can manage the crop properly, such farmers are encouraged to make their own selection of traditional varieties that they want to conserve, to multiply and to sell quality seeds. By centralizing operations and bringing economical incentives to farmers, Sahaja has established quality standards and increase their productivity.
Revival and Multiplication
Numerous traditional varieties were revived and some were almost brought back from extinction as part of the Campaign. Some of the favourite conserved varieties among farmers are: Ratnachoodi, Mysore Mallige, HMT (a farmer bred seed), Salem Sanna and Gandhasale. From its modest beginnings in 2007, the campaign has 122 seed saver farmers conserving around 120 traditional paddy varieties across 12 districts of Karnataka. Every year they produce over 23 tonnes of traditional paddy varieties and distribute to more than 10,000 farmers. The Campaign in Karnataka has resulted in the revival of 34 traditional paddy varieties from near extinction.
The Government of Karnataka initiated the concept of organic villages in 2005, as part of which they decided to use only traditional paddy seeds. The Department of Agriculture instructed farmers and project coordinators to buy traditional paddy seeds from the SOR campaign farmers, thereby recognizing the efforts and the traditional seeds produced by the SOR farmers. This was a significant breakthrough where till then the government has been promoting only high yielding varieties (HYVs) or hybrid paddy.
Save our Rice
Save Our Rice Campaign’ is a people movement to protect our traditional rice culture and wisdom across Asia. Collaborative networks with organizations not only accelerated seed conservation but created movements where Sahaja pioneered campaigns in Karnataka in 2007. Save Our Rice Campaign, built a movement to revive traditional rice heritage through the on-farm conservation of rice diversity, by encouraging participatory crop improvement and popularization of organic rice. With the rice campaign everyday we learnt new varieties, new practices and we were so deep into it that it felt we were in an entirely new world – ‘Rice World’.
Repeated crop failure for 3 consecutive years brought back cultivation of saline tolerant varieties to lands of farmers in Tumkur and Chitradurga regions and 25 saline tolerant varieties has been going on for the past 15 years.
Flooding a common phenomenon every year in the Sagara, Soraba and Sirsi Taluk where farmers had lost their genetic wealth. On-farm participatory trials and conservation efforts helped farmers in the fragile region to conserve 26 submerged rice varieties. Identified and revived the galore of red rice varieties. Different coloured rices ranging from red to dark red to black were collected from different parts of the state. These rices have medicinal value, which were documented and revived and popularized by featuring it in several media publications and scientific analysis of rice varieties was carried.
Today the movement includes 2000 rice-conservers and farmer-breeders, conserving more than 1000 varieties of Scented, Medicinal, Deepwater, Saline-tolerant and Dry land rices. The campaign developed more than 300 rice diversity blocks, established few rice museums, developed farmer bred new varieties that changed the landscape of cultivating native rice varieties. It not only popularized ‘Desi Rice’ but also brought in many farmers, who are prominent seed savers and agricultural institutions took up conserving and experimenting on traditional rice diversity. Today about 75 seed saver are conserving more than 1000 varieties of paddy and seeds are distributed to more than 10,000 farmers.
Reviving Millet Diversity–Millet Network of India (MINI)
campaigned for Revival and Promotion of Millet Diversity, which proved beneficial in dry areas, where 250 millet varieties are being conserved by 2500 farmers. Karnataka is home to an astounding array of millets such as Ragi(Finger millet) , Jola(Sorgum), Sajje(Pearl millet), Navane(Foxtail millet), Saave (Little millet), Udalu (Barnyard Millet), baraga(Proso millet), Korale(Brown top millet) and Haraka (Kodo millet) etc. In recent times these millets are being seen as the future of food and farming especially in the context of the impending climate change crisis.
Spread in millet production area – The success of growing traditional millet varieties by one farmer changed an entire village to growing millets and now the village ‘Kundagol’ is called a ‘Millet Hub’ and millet has spread across an area of 360 acres.
Rain failure in the Cauvery and Thungabadra basins left hundreds of farmers with fallow lands. The organisation created millet cropping models that helped farmers shift from water-intensive crops to drought-tolerant varieties. Seeing the positive result, the Government of Karnataka initiated a millet popularization programme. More than 25 tons of millet seeds were distributed to distress farmers. The revival of millet in dry lands has proved beneficial, where 9 millet crops are being cultivated by 10,500 farmers.
Revival of Traditional Maize
Maize is one of the most versatile emerging crops having wider adaptability under varied agro-climatic conditions. Globally, maize is known as queen of cereals because it has the highest genetic yield potential among the cereals.
In India, maize is the third most important food crops after rice and wheat. It is cultivated in 8.7 m ha (2010-11) mainly during Kharif season which covers 80% area. In addition to staple food for human being and quality feed for animals, maize serves as a basic raw material as an ingredient to thousands of industrial products that includes starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, film, textile, gum, package and paper industries etc.
In the advent of Green revolution, native cultivars have been replaced by hybrid maize.seed companies selling 65000 MT of hybrid seed every year. Traditional varieties are in the edge of extinction.
Sahaja Samrudha has closely working with tribal communities in 8 Indian states namely – Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab & Uttarakand. More than 50 types of traditional Maize varieties in spectacular colors like Red, Cherry, Orange, Purple, White apart from the common Yellow are collected and conserved. Many of these unique grains and Maize based food product recipes are developed and made available organic consumers.
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.
Conservation of about 24 varieties of Desi Cotton in 2states – Karnataka and Tamilnadu, where about 500acres are dedicated to it, involving 2000 farmers. ‘Kaskom’ emerged as an entrepreneurial venture with exceptional work in the area of conservation. This social enterprise works from seed to fabric, along with Ghandhigram Khadi, Dindugal and Gram Seva Mandal, Wardha.
TULA
Tula works from farm till clothing all the way ethically & ecofriendly. Thus saving the almost lost traditional/desi/landrace seeds, Indian(desi) cottons organically grown by smallholder, rainfed farmers and the skill of hand spinning to make yarns that are then hand woven, naturally coloured with plant material and finished by manually tailoring. Thus each product ends up touching more than 6 livelihoods!
Tula had procured indigenous cotton grown in 30 acres by 25 small and marginal farmers and produced garment. Paid fair price to all players- farmers, weavers, dyers and tailors.
Revival and Conservation of Roots and Tubers
Sahaja Samrudha working with tribals understood the lack of nutrition in their food and that the community had lost most of its seeds a few short decades. Root and tuber crops are important part of staple diet of many tribal communities that we are working with. Nutritionally, roots and tubers have a great potential to provide economical sources of dietary energy in the form of carbohydrates. Though not much research has been conducted not only on its climate change adaptation but tubers are still the neglected crops, apart from Potato. Farmers growing them recount that growing more than 3 to 4 types of varieties of root crops on the same piece of land has improved varietal performance and they are nutrient efficient and drought tolerant.
Sahaja Samrudha is studying the vulnerability and adaptation of root and tuber crops production and its significant role in food security, nutrition and climate change adaptation. Also the community learning and reviving their traditional food habits that included roots and tubers and making these more accessible to all their community members by women who have collected the diversity of seeds roots ad tubers from other places and form their own regions and planting them in their backyards and also setting up nurseries for further multiplication.
Tubers are common food, medicine and make substantial contribution towards the food security of the tribal people. Therefore, the importance of this was analyzed and as it was not readily available due to habitat destruction, the organization and the tribals made complete efforts to revive its cultivation and conserve these plants. Also this community exhibited tremendous knowledge of these tubers, so documentation of the different roots, tubers and its benefits were done. Their knowledge plays a great role in the sustainable management of biodiversity. Documentation on different roots and tubers, crop management, harvesting practices as unsustainable harvesting causes concerns for its survival.
Root and tuber crops have traditional place in the daily diet of the tribes who are fond of tuber crops. Documentation was made onbiodiversity of tuber crops such as Colocasia sp.,Dioscorea sp., Traditional methods of cultivation of tubers crop and storage methods of the crops, also the processing and preparation of ethnic foods.
Popularization of Roots and Tubers
These crops are important traditional food sources among the people of tribal communities of Periyapatna taluk. It has been their staple food providing much of their energy requirements. They have the knowledge on cultivation and utilization of these crops. Cultural practices are very important for enhancing yield of these crops.
Realising the potential of root and tubers for contributing to socioeconomic development of these tribal communities a combination of efficient and sustainable crop production with improved market facility and value addition has been stressed on. Several experimenting on processing and product development of these crops has been planned so that it improves the welfare of small farmers.