Seed Heritage & Conservation

We do traditional farming. We save rain-fed seeds and cultivate crops like sorghum and chickpea.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

We still have traditional seeds like Kodo, Kutki, Maize, Sorghum, Kulthi, Arhar, etc., which we sow using old methods even without irrigation facilities. Even then, our crops ripen.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

We save seeds at our location and keep them for our family. And saving old seeds in a traditional way is our

— Anil Pargi

We cultivate zero-irrigation crops, including pulses and oilseeds, and also conserve them, as they are part of our heritage.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Nature preserves the entire seeds. We also cultivate and sow what our ancestors were sowing, and preserve it as seeds.

— Ram Maravi

Here, we cultivate Sawa, Medon, Mujhri, Kodo, and pulses using the 'Batririri' method. We also store the seeds at home for the following year and then re-sow them in the field; this practice is a legacy from our ancestors.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We will practice traditional farming and save seeds for next year.

— Sathimambalaka · Tado, Rayagada, Odisha

We preserve old seeds for sowing work, which explicitly includes Moong, Kili, and Mustard.

— Vijay Kumar bhardwaj · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh

We preserve the pulse crops that we have received from our ancestors.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

In traditional farming methods, to preserve seeds, we need to conserve the oldest and indigenous varieties of seeds.

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

We have a lack of irrigation resources, due to which we cultivate crops every year using traditional methods and traditional seeds, and even today we have old traditional seeds available.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Yes, we also grow other crops without irrigation using traditional methods, which we call 'unhari' crops. We also store their seeds using traditional methods.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Sawa, Medo, Mijhri are our traditional crops, which our ancestors used to cultivate by plowing with bullocks and a plough. They consumed these crops throughout the year and saved seeds in their homes for the next year's sowing. We still practice farming today.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, pulses are cultivated in this. According to our ancestors, we also preserve seeds.

— Jagannath Baraik · Bayang, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

I cultivate pulse crops without irrigation. We save pulse seeds, among which horse gram, black gram, and pigeon pea are the oldest varieties. We save these seeds for cultivation every year. Our ancestors used to cultivate using manure and traditional ploughs.

— DASHARATH SINGH

Chickpeas and gumbra are our old seeds, which we preserve and then sow.

— Vinita Singh Yadav · Mukasim, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, we save old seeds.

— Kachala Choudhary

Our plows and bullocks till the fields, we sow millet, maize, make furrows, and plant small seeds, and also save seeds for the next year. This is a legacy from our ancestors, which we still have today and which we utilize.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, we grow zero-tillage crops like mustard, gram, barley, and also follow traditional farming methods and seed conservation.

— Laxmanlal

Our ancestors have been cultivating Kodo, Barnyard, Foxtail, Finger millet, Horse gram, and Barley since ancient times, which are very nutritious. We always preserve their seeds and cultivate them every year.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, we conserve traditional seeds using traditional methods and also farm using traditional methods, where, by God's grace, the crop grows even without irrigation.

— Rupesh Maravi · Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh

In our region, zero irrigation crops are sown, mainly pulses and oilseeds, and we practice traditional farming and conserve pulse seeds.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Yes, we grow Sun Na Shishai crops using traditional farming methods, so we practice seed conservation.

— Laxmanlal

Yes, we grow a second crop without irrigation and also maintain old traditional seeds according to customary methods.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

In our region, we save and conserve our local seeds such as indigenous oilseed seeds, indigenous pulse seeds, and paddy seeds.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

We have received our traditional native seeds from our ancestors, which we conserve and protect for the coming generation.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Yes, on zero-irrigation land, we grow a second crop, and the maintenance of traditional seeds and farming methods are still done using our old methods.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

We sow with great effort without irrigation, and cultivate crops by plowing with oxen and a plow. We save seeds for many years, which come in handy.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

From the very beginning, we cultivate a second crop without irrigation using old methods and traditional seeds. The method of storing these seeds is also traditional, and our fields are ploughed using bullocks.

— Rupesh Maravi · Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. And I also cultivate every year using this method, by preserving Urad and Kulthi seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan

We traditionally keep the seeds and cultivate in the coming year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha

Yes, we do a second crop with zero irrigation and follow traditional farming as well as seed preservation.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

Yes, we preserve traditional seeds and sow them. This helps during the harvest season for the Rabi crop. It is also beneficial even without irrigation.

— Santosh Barik · Narala, Kalahandi, Odisha