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Offers huge collection of indigenous vegetable seeds collected directly from 45-50 countries
“Animals or birds getting extinct people are concerned but numerous vegetables going off from our planet no one cares! It is not only happening in India but situation is same around the world. It bothered me quite a lot hence I started collecting vegetables seeds directly from farmers while travelling across the globe. At the moment I have 560 varieties vegetable seeds in my seed bank out of which 140 seeds are retrieved and suitable for growing in Indian climatic and soil conditions,” says a passionate agriculturist Mr. Prabhakar Rao, 60, Founder, Hariyalee Seeds.
Mr. Prabhakar Rao
Hariyalee Seeds is Bangalore, Karnataka based company supplying heirloom varieties of vegetable seeds. It was set up in 2014 but Mr. Rao began working on seed multiplication in 2011. At his 2.5-acre farm at Kanakpura, on the outskrits of Bangalore he practices only natural farming where there is absolutely no use of chemicals. 25-30 varieties are Indian origin vegetable seeds in the collection of 140 while rest is exotic vegetable seeds.
Mr. Rao claims, “All these seeds including the exotic varieties are apt for growing in urban vegetable gardens as well as in commercial farms. I give limited number of seeds to the buyers for first and last time because for the next season they are able to multiply and develop their own seeds. This is the whole and sole objective behind establishing Hariyalee Seeds, I want to revive these endangered vegetable seeds and want the farmers to re-inculcate the practice of storing the seeds themselves. I have travelled to nearly 50 countries to build this seed bank with the only passion to safeguard the native vegetable varieties for our coming generations to relish else it would all be lost in the hands of multi-national seed manufacturing companies. They have made the farmers all over the world dependent on them so much that every new season farmer is back on their door step for buying seeds at sky-high prices. Besides with hybrid and GMO seeds the soil fertility is deteriorating rapidly,” he adds.
Speaking about the reviving the vegetable varieties, he highlights, “Amaranthus, a leafy plant what we see in the market is only having the leaves while the stem is very thin. 25-30 years back we used to get amaranthus leaves with a thick stem. It is not seen in India anymore. On my visit to a farm in Peru while searching for red quinoa seeds, to my surprise I found amaranthus with thick stem. I carried the seeds with me and today it is slowly making a comeback!” Similarly he restored Bangladeshi eggplant. It is an exclusive variety of brinjal known for its unique flavour and taste. Mr. Rao collected the seeds from a farmer in Purulia, a border district in West Bengal. In exotic vegetable varieties he has collection of 19 kinds of tomatoes, many salad leaves, Tuleo Strawberry Corn, Blauhilde Beans from Germany and so on.
When asked about the guidance on seed restoring and multiplication, he says, “Every seed has a different process for seed multiplication. For reference we have provided detailed information on the same on our website. If any of our buyers requires more details we are happy to share it anytime.”
Dr. Prabhakar Rao did his PhD in plant breeding and genetics at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Hebbal, India in early 80’s. He belonged to the period of green revolution but he never believed in it questioning its sustainability. Having lived professional live in the field of architecture he travelled in many countries and continued to stay connected to his roots of agriculture by visiting the farms and collecting the seeds. He returned to India in 2011 and since then he is working with farmers and urban home gardeners to revive the lost treasure of vegetables.
Contact details:
Hariyalee Seeds
Kanakpura Road, Bangalore, Karnataka
Phone: 09611922480
Email: farmer@hariyaleeseeds.com
Web: http://hariyaleeseeds.com/
“Animals or birds getting extinct people are concerned but numerous vegetables going off from our planet no one cares! It is not only happening in India but situation is same around the world. It bothered me quite a lot hence I started collecting vegetables seeds directly from farmers while travelling across the globe. At the moment I have 560 varieties vegetable seeds in my seed bank out of which 140 seeds are retrieved and suitable for growing in Indian climatic and soil conditions,” says a passionate agriculturist Mr. Prabhakar Rao, 60, Founder, Hariyalee Seeds.
Mr. Prabhakar Rao
Hariyalee Seeds is Bangalore, Karnataka based company supplying heirloom varieties of vegetable seeds. It was set up in 2014 but Mr. Rao began working on seed multiplication in 2011. At his 2.5-acre farm at Kanakpura, on the outskrits of Bangalore he practices only natural farming where there is absolutely no use of chemicals. 25-30 varieties are Indian origin vegetable seeds in the collection of 140 while rest is exotic vegetable seeds.
Mr. Rao claims, “All these seeds including the exotic varieties are apt for growing in urban vegetable gardens as well as in commercial farms. I give limited number of seeds to the buyers for first and last time because for the next season they are able to multiply and develop their own seeds. This is the whole and sole objective behind establishing Hariyalee Seeds, I want to revive these endangered vegetable seeds and want the farmers to re-inculcate the practice of storing the seeds themselves. I have travelled to nearly 50 countries to build this seed bank with the only passion to safeguard the native vegetable varieties for our coming generations to relish else it would all be lost in the hands of multi-national seed manufacturing companies. They have made the farmers all over the world dependent on them so much that every new season farmer is back on their door step for buying seeds at sky-high prices. Besides with hybrid and GMO seeds the soil fertility is deteriorating rapidly,” he adds.
Speaking about the reviving the vegetable varieties, he highlights, “Amaranthus, a leafy plant what we see in the market is only having the leaves while the stem is very thin. 25-30 years back we used to get amaranthus leaves with a thick stem. It is not seen in India anymore. On my visit to a farm in Peru while searching for red quinoa seeds, to my surprise I found amaranthus with thick stem. I carried the seeds with me and today it is slowly making a comeback!” Similarly he restored Bangladeshi eggplant. It is an exclusive variety of brinjal known for its unique flavour and taste. Mr. Rao collected the seeds from a farmer in Purulia, a border district in West Bengal. In exotic vegetable varieties he has collection of 19 kinds of tomatoes, many salad leaves, Tuleo Strawberry Corn, Blauhilde Beans from Germany and so on.
When asked about the guidance on seed restoring and multiplication, he says, “Every seed has a different process for seed multiplication. For reference we have provided detailed information on the same on our website. If any of our buyers requires more details we are happy to share it anytime.”
Dr. Prabhakar Rao did his PhD in plant breeding and genetics at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Hebbal, India in early 80’s. He belonged to the period of green revolution but he never believed in it questioning its sustainability. Having lived professional live in the field of architecture he travelled in many countries and continued to stay connected to his roots of agriculture by visiting the farms and collecting the seeds. He returned to India in 2011 and since then he is working with farmers and urban home gardeners to revive the lost treasure of vegetables.
Contact details:
Hariyalee Seeds
Kanakpura Road, Bangalore, Karnataka
Phone: 09611922480
Email: farmer@hariyaleeseeds.com
Web: http://hariyaleeseeds.com/
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