Protecting Agro-Biodiversity: India's seed mother fights against hybrid seeds

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An uneducated farmer in India has launched a campaign to save indigenous seeds and protect her family from diseases caused by chemicals and fertilisers. Known as the seed mother of India, Rahibai Popere has protected about 116 varieties of local seeds of 54 different crops. CGTN's Ravinder Bawa met with her in India's western state of Maharashtra.

"Oh rain! Oh rain! fall on our land, Oh Rain! refresh our weary land Oh Rain!"

At day break about twenty years back, Rahibai Popere decided to change the way she farmed. Popere and her family stopped using hybrid seeds, chemicals and fertilizers in their field. And that's how she started her journey to conserve and collect indigenous seeds.

RAHIBAI POPERE FARMER, AHMEDNAGAR "I told my children that crop from hybrid seeds is making our family weak so we should stop sowing them. We then stopped using hybrid seeds and started using the local varieties which did not require any chemicals or fertilisers and we got a good yield."

Today Popere is an inspiration for many farmers in the western state of Maharashtra. About 116 landraces of 54 crops are under conservation in her seed bank. She works with hundreds of farmers sharing her knowledge and experiments. Popere also facilitates establishing seed banks in other nearby villages.

NAMDEV NARAYAN FARMER, AHMEDNAGAR "The organisms in the soil, which are friends of farmers get destroyed due to the use of chemicals and fertilisers. For indigenous seeds we don't need to use any chemicals and that helps organisms enrich our soil."

RAVINDER BAWA AHMEDNAGAR, MAHARASHTRA "The traditional techniques of saving indigenous variety of seeds are being replicated in many parts of this region. The list of seed savers is becoming longer and more and more local varieties of vegetables and grains are finding their way into the fields."

Women farmers are taking a lead in the revival of crop diversity and wild food resources. Taking forward Popere's idea, various organisations are working with farmers to promote traditional technologies to conserve seeds.

JITIN SATHE, AGRONOMIST BAIF, AHMEDNAGAR "Women farmers work in the fields from morning till night and they contribute greatly to farming. We decided to train them and involve them in the process of improving traditional techniques."

Popere as the harbinger of this idea, creates awareness among women to save seeds. While they wait for monsoons to arrive, they are no more worried about a bad crop as the local seeds can grow on residual moisture. RAVINDER BAWA, CGTN, Ahmednagar, India.