Seed Preservation Practices

We cultivate seeds such as chickpea, lentil, mustard, and horse gram using traditional, possibly rain-fed, farming methods. We preserve these seeds and cultivate them using this traditional agricultural practice.

— Laxmi Sahu

In rain-fed land, we cultivate horse gram and green gram, and we store their seeds safely by using neem and karanja leaves.

— Sita Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

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

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

In rain-fed land, we cultivate horse gram and green gram, and we store the seeds safely in the village using neem leaves and karada leaves.

— Sita Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

In our region, even without rain, we cultivate crops like moong, urad, and horse gram. We also preserve their seeds by mixing them with neem leaves.

— Kunakanta Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

We do farming. We save some seeds beforehand and then cultivate. This way, we get many crops, including green gram, black gram, and pigeon pea.

— Ulapi Sahu · Balangir, Odisha

We save and sow our traditional seeds. Such as chickpea, sorghum, Bhadi, pearl millet, etc.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

We cultivated rainfed crops like pigeon pea, mung bean, and black gram, and will continue to cultivate and preserve them for the future.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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

We have traditional seeds here like Saadia, paddy, pigeon pea, semi-native gourds, Karaiguta, Chipra, etc. We preserve these every year and cultivate them using old traditional methods without irrigation.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

We cultivate zero-input crops like chickpeas, flaxseed, and pigeon pea. Even with less water, the crops ripen, and their seeds are also collected. Narayan Lal Baranda.

— narayanlalbaranda5@gmail.com · Jhapa, Dungarpur, Rajasthan

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

In our region, we all cultivate rain-fed crops like pigeon pea and maize, and this is our heritage.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We farm at our home and manage our household with it. We cultivate pigeon pea and other pulses with low water, and also sow barley. These require less water, and we also save them for the next year. This way, we preserve the seeds.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar 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

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also store black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this method.

— Kumudini Chhanchan

We store moong pulse seeds using traditional methods and sow the seeds as a Rabi crop with zero irrigation after the Kharif season crop harvest.

— Ahalya Sahu · Kalahandi, Odisha

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

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation. I also cultivate every year using this method by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

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

— Jagannath Baraik · Bayang, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

We have cultivated moong and urad this rainy season. We will keep the seeds and cultivate again next rainy season.

— Gitanjali Bhoi

Here, we preserve pulse seeds like black gram (urad) and pigeon pea (arhar) for planting in the next season. We mix them with ash or powdered dry neem leaves, which prevents insects. Then, in the next year, we sow those same seeds in the field. This is how we preserve them.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, we cultivate dryland crops such as madiya, kodo, and kutki in our region, and we also conserve seeds for every year.

— Sukhdas Mandavi · Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Chhattisgarh

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

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 saving black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

We are a tribal community, we farm using ploughs and bullocks, and we sustain our lives. We clear forests and bushes to make fields, and we cultivate sawa, medo, mijhri, and maize, which were grown by our ancestors, and we also preserve their seeds.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation, and I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

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

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also cultivate every year using this method by saving black gram and horse gram seeds.

— DASHARATH SINGH · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha

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

Here, we cultivate paddy, sawa, medon, and mijhri. We store sawa, medon, and mijhri at home for sowing in the next year. Additionally, among pulses, we have kurthi and baturi, which we also store and sow the following year.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar 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

After harvesting the paddy, we cultivate crops like moong, urad, chana, and masoor in that field without irrigation. We save these for our home. We then prepare the soil there for further cultivation.

— swornalata nayak · Patnāgarh, Balangir, Odisha

We are cultivating a second crop. In our second crop, we are farming by saving seeds of chickpeas, lentils, and mustard, and applying manure using our traditional farming methods.

— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha

Yes, we practice zero-irrigation farming and also conserve seeds. For example, horse gram, Kodo millet, little millet, finger millet, and black gram are zero-irrigation crops.

— Sukhdas Mandavi · Mohla, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Chhattisgarh

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

— Laxmanlal

I, Sukhlal Parkhi from Rampur Mewara, cultivate pigeon pea, chickpea, flaxseed, and mustard in these hilly regions using zero-irrigation farming. We collect seeds using traditional methods. We put neem leaves in seed storage.

— narayanlalbaranda5@gmail.com · Jhapa, Dungarpur, Rajasthan

Yes, we grow other crops and also preserve seeds like black gram, pigeon pea, and green gram.

— Jagannath Baraik · Ranchi, Jharkhand

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

We keep green gram, black gram, and horse gram seeds, and cultivate them in the second crop.

— Puspanjali Nag