Why Seeds Are Key to Preserving and Promoting Food Diversity
Meet Sangita Sharma, Founding Trustee and Chairperson of Annadana, a nonprofit organisation that has conserved more than 800 heritage food crop varieties.
Can you give us an introduction to what you do?
Annadana has been working towards seed conservation, sustainable farming and increasing awareness about the need for chemical-free food.
I have always had a great love for food. My journey began with trying to understand where my food came from. In trying to get answers, I travelled across the length and breadth of India, experimenting with different techniques and realised that we can only be truly sustainable by understanding the origin of food. This exposed me to many dilemmas that were plaguing the farming communities in India. It started with knowledge on how to conserve, propagate and create seed exchange networks for indigenous seed to improve the carbon content and moisture retention capacity. Today, we have over 19 publications and 12 films on best practices of sustainable farming . We showcase our expertise in soil rejuvenation and regeneration. We have employed techniques that can actually nurture the soils through organic traditional methods by applying organic principles.
This is a low cost technology. This is what we are demonstrating in our 5 acre Agroecology Knowledge Centre – the last self-sufficient farm in Bangalore city.
Who would be the main beneficiaries of your products / services?
We are basically targeting the whole nation of farmers. Seeds are the origin of our food chain and have been generated over centuries. It is not just about Annadana. It has implications for farmers as well as urban society because there is a need for us to understand that these native seeds are replicable by nature and they are high-yielding varieties. Most indigenous varieties can withstand drought. Time and again, we have demonstrated the importance of conserving these seeds and the efficacy of our farming practices in our projects. Take, for instance, the tsunami rehabilitation project in Tamil Nadu where we transformed 500 acres of saline soil with indigenous varieties of paddy. Contrast this with farmers being encouraged to use hybrid seeds that apply corrosive practices, destroying the soil fertility of not just this country but all across the world. Annadana’s model focuses on reviving traditional, sustainable farming practices that protect the integrity of the soil and the seed. Our model has recently been recognised by the Indian Institute of Social Responsibility on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and will be shortly published in a national report. This is definitely a milestone achievement for Annadana.
Can you elaborate on how Annadana’s agroecology farm in Bengaluru is completely self-sufficient and sustainable?
At Annadana, we are a community of farmers that do not outsource food at all. If people all across the country were following the same model, the incidence of diseases would come down significantly. A healthy agroecology is imperative to help build a healthy ecosystem for us to live in. Today, we grow more than 150 varieties of vegetables, cereals,fruits, flowers and herbs in a single season in just 2 acres to conserve diversity. We don’t outsource anything, we grow our own wheat, rice, millets, corn, and sugarcane along with a diversity of vegetables / fruits / spices. We have our own dairy products that support not just our farm but also our community kitchen. We use renewable energy sources like biogas and solar energy. The source of all life is the seed. Seed is food and the creator of more food. If we do not have organic seeds or if the seeds are contaminated, the whole food chain gets contaminated. The correlation between our health and the food we eat cannot be stressed enough. Food is health. If we go back in time, we boasted of 10,000 years of agriculture that was organic by default. And where are we today? The Green Revolution was a failure but we understand it happened for a reason. But post that, we failed to heed the wakeup call that our agricultural sector was in distress. 6000 varieties of cotton have disappeared and only a handful are left. India was home to over 200,000 varieties of rice of which, less than 5000 varieties remain.
Indigenous varieties of seeds have strong characteristics and traits of nutrition, minerals, all of which are being lost to hybrid seeds, soil degradation, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is the need of the hour to showcase sustainable agricultural models on the ground. Techniques are revived at Annadana, not invented. They are revived because we have proven to governments in India and across the world that we are sustainable. We are so proud to share that our farmers don’t commit suicide. Our farmers have the opportunity to go back to their respective villages during monsoons to till their own fields with no pay cuts. This way, they can retain their lands and earn additional revenue. Knowledge is the key to sustainable agriculture. The variant prices have escalated across India because there is no proper planning and this has turned this sector into an unorganized one. If we can put proper system checks in place at the fundamental level in our education system, and empower horticulture students and farmers to make informed decisions, we can ensure that farmers are aware of the risks at hand. Similarly, people will become more aware of the origins of their food and can demand transparency. Annadana is here to only provide solutions.
What are some of the road blocks or barriers when it comes to creating more awareness about native seeds?
At the end of the day, it is all about political will. To put it humbly, we have contributed towards nation-building without chemicals. Unfortunately, if the agenda is commerce, it will boost the profits of a privileged few at the cost of the farmers. If farmers are to benefit, the focus must be on building community seed banks and equipping them with the skills and know-how to be autonomous. We are scaling up but we lack the bandwidth. We know that our models have worked on the ground because we have been working with farmers across the country for 20 years and farmers from across the world follow our models to get better results and chemical-free food. When we have varieties that are native to our country and are best suited to our agro-climatic zones, it’s wise that we conserve our indigenous species for food security and save the exotic for commercial use.
Udupi has a lot of heritage agricultural varieties that are fast disappearing. A Farmer Producer Company had put up a model project at Mattu Village and are also keen to preserve heritage seeds and promote it in their village. They would potentially be interested in collaborating with you to understand how to set up seed banks, your working model, etc.
We would welcome that. The way forward for anyone in this country, I would say, is to gain knowledge. The workshops that happen at Annadana are suitable for a diverse range of people — farmers, cardiologists, bankers, etc. They all come together because soil and seed do not discriminate. Learning takes place in our fields which is your classroom. Over 250,000 visitors have come here; 20,000 urban and farmer groups have attended our workshops. Over 1,50,000 school students have benefitted from our hands-on workshop centered around ‘soil to seed to plate’ to understand the origins of their food. We are happy to explore any collaborations to ensure that awareness is being raised about the need for chemical-free food.
The media has a huge role to play in educating people about the food they eat and agroecology in which their food is grown. The need of the hour is for publications like yours to highlight the importance of encouraging alternatives to corrosive farming practices that impact the food we eat and hold significant implications for our health.
What about our Agricultural Universities?? Do they touch upon this topic of native seeds or is their agenda in total contrast?
There are many more models that are clearly indicative that farmers can become food and seed economists unlike what it is currently being imparted to students, farmers and people at large. If we take steps to ensure that the entire agriculture education system is engineered towards knowledge-bound, practical learning that focuses on sustainable methods of farming instead of what has been imposed on us, our students will be better prepared to use technology to our advantage. The current education system needs to align itself to teaching students what is affordable, cost effective, and sustainable and this is what Annadana is working towards.
How will seed conservation impact farmers’ welfare?
Annadana’s backbone is farmers. Their welfare is our priority. 450 million farmers across the nation produce over 260 million tonnes of food grains to feed all of us. Yet ironically, he who feeds us is going to bed hungry each night. Tragically, our farmers are treated like labourers and beggars. Farmers have the inherent seed saving skills and we don’t. We are entirely dependent on farmers for our food. In today’s day and age, very few of us possess skills necessary for our survival. Most of us don’t even know how to make our own food, let alone know how to grow it. We are dependent on third-party providers who will deliver food to our doorsteps. Farmers are the underprivileged race who get the rough end of the stick. They are underpaid, debt-ridden, struggling to make ends meet and driven to suicide. Why should we not ensure that farmers who are responsible for putting food on our plates, get their fair dues? When progressive farmers are included in framing policies that impact them, they bring their time-tested farming experiences to benefit all. It is a matter of pride for the nation that they will be self-sufficient and profitable and urban society will benefit by getting access to chemical-free food. The deteriorating health of society and an endangered ecosystem is testament to the disastrous effects of enslaving farmers to a system that is not beneficial to them, the land or us. Everything is connected. If the farmers cannot cultivate native seeds and practice organic farming techniques, the food they produce will be laden with chemicals that is in turn, consumed by them and us. This leads to an increase in health concerns, which, in turn, leads to increased hospitalisation. The government should probe the connection between the healthcare burden and the agroecology in which our food is being cultivated. When farmers are recognized for who they are and valued for their contributions to our economy, they stands to escape the cycle of debt and suicide. To that end, Annadana’s core areas of focus have always been:
1. Seed Conservation
2. Sustainable Farming
3. Farm and Food Education
When there is a solid bank of uncontaminated seeds the farmers can depend on, irrespective of the vagaries of climate or business, they can become distributors. When farmers become master trainers and farm educators, they become sustainable and pass on their knowledge and expertise to future generations.
Does cost play a role in cultivating native seeds as opposed to hybrid seeds?
The cost factor is a very relevant one. A large chunk of costs in crop cultivation goes towards fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. The cost of seeds – hybrid, high yielding variety seeds ranges from Rs. 20,000 to Rs 90,000 approximately per kilo. Pesticides and fertilizers will cost another Rs. 40,000 approx. Before the farmer sets out he is already in debt. Enter the middleman who supplies the seeds and controls the whole system. He will charge farmers an additional 5-10% interest rate. The farmer is indebted for a lifetime. When he has to sell the produce, for which a tractor has to be called in, it costs him a further Rs.10,000 / per day. Another Rs.10,000 goes to pay the additional workers during harvest. This means that before a farmer has even started out on a crop, he is in debt of about Rs.1.75 lakhs. We hear about hundreds of farmers committing suicide in Vidarbha, Karnataka, etc. This could be prevented if we can provide them with an alternate road map to sustainable farming that will help them become independent and boost their incomes, whilst also ensuring that they are not coming in touch with harmful chemicals and pesticides. If we can invest in community seed banks with the use of local seeds, farmers will be able to not just sustain, but turn a profit. Unfortunately, subsidies of Rs 80,000 crores are provided for fertilizers. If they were to provide the same subsidy for organic farming, it would be a gamechanger. Sustainable, regenerative organic farming is what will help the future of farming in India. If not, we are looking at a looming health crisis and increasing suicides. Annadana’s mission has always been that if we are seed secure, we are food secure. If we can help our farmers become independent, they will enjoy a greater voice in the work they do to sustain our economy. And most importantly, India as a whole, will have equitable access to a diversity of nutritious food crops, resulting in better health outcomes in the short and long term.
– CONTACT –
Annadana Soil & Seed Savers Network
Contact no – 8277116606
farmrelations@annadana-india.org
http://www.annadana-india.org
Meet Sangita Sharma, Founding Trustee and Chairperson of Annadana, a nonprofit organisation that has conserved more than 800 heritage food crop varieties.
Can you give us an introduction to what you do?
Annadana has been working towards seed conservation, sustainable farming and increasing awareness about the need for chemical-free food.
I have always had a great love for food. My journey began with trying to understand where my food came from. In trying to get answers, I travelled across the length and breadth of India, experimenting with different techniques and realised that we can only be truly sustainable by understanding the origin of food. This exposed me to many dilemmas that were plaguing the farming communities in India. It started with knowledge on how to conserve, propagate and create seed exchange networks for indigenous seed to improve the carbon content and moisture retention capacity. Today, we have over 19 publications and 12 films on best practices of sustainable farming . We showcase our expertise in soil rejuvenation and regeneration. We have employed techniques that can actually nurture the soils through organic traditional methods by applying organic principles.
This is a low cost technology. This is what we are demonstrating in our 5 acre Agroecology Knowledge Centre – the last self-sufficient farm in Bangalore city.
Who would be the main beneficiaries of your products / services?
We are basically targeting the whole nation of farmers. Seeds are the origin of our food chain and have been generated over centuries. It is not just about Annadana. It has implications for farmers as well as urban society because there is a need for us to understand that these native seeds are replicable by nature and they are high-yielding varieties. Most indigenous varieties can withstand drought. Time and again, we have demonstrated the importance of conserving these seeds and the efficacy of our farming practices in our projects. Take, for instance, the tsunami rehabilitation project in Tamil Nadu where we transformed 500 acres of saline soil with indigenous varieties of paddy. Contrast this with farmers being encouraged to use hybrid seeds that apply corrosive practices, destroying the soil fertility of not just this country but all across the world. Annadana’s model focuses on reviving traditional, sustainable farming practices that protect the integrity of the soil and the seed. Our model has recently been recognised by the Indian Institute of Social Responsibility on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and will be shortly published in a national report. This is definitely a milestone achievement for Annadana.
Can you elaborate on how Annadana’s agroecology farm in Bengaluru is completely self-sufficient and sustainable?
At Annadana, we are a community of farmers that do not outsource food at all. If people all across the country were following the same model, the incidence of diseases would come down significantly. A healthy agroecology is imperative to help build a healthy ecosystem for us to live in. Today, we grow more than 150 varieties of vegetables, cereals,fruits, flowers and herbs in a single season in just 2 acres to conserve diversity. We don’t outsource anything, we grow our own wheat, rice, millets, corn, and sugarcane along with a diversity of vegetables / fruits / spices. We have our own dairy products that support not just our farm but also our community kitchen. We use renewable energy sources like biogas and solar energy. The source of all life is the seed. Seed is food and the creator of more food. If we do not have organic seeds or if the seeds are contaminated, the whole food chain gets contaminated. The correlation between our health and the food we eat cannot be stressed enough. Food is health. If we go back in time, we boasted of 10,000 years of agriculture that was organic by default. And where are we today? The Green Revolution was a failure but we understand it happened for a reason. But post that, we failed to heed the wakeup call that our agricultural sector was in distress. 6000 varieties of cotton have disappeared and only a handful are left. India was home to over 200,000 varieties of rice of which, less than 5000 varieties remain.
Indigenous varieties of seeds have strong characteristics and traits of nutrition, minerals, all of which are being lost to hybrid seeds, soil degradation, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is the need of the hour to showcase sustainable agricultural models on the ground. Techniques are revived at Annadana, not invented. They are revived because we have proven to governments in India and across the world that we are sustainable. We are so proud to share that our farmers don’t commit suicide. Our farmers have the opportunity to go back to their respective villages during monsoons to till their own fields with no pay cuts. This way, they can retain their lands and earn additional revenue. Knowledge is the key to sustainable agriculture. The variant prices have escalated across India because there is no proper planning and this has turned this sector into an unorganized one. If we can put proper system checks in place at the fundamental level in our education system, and empower horticulture students and farmers to make informed decisions, we can ensure that farmers are aware of the risks at hand. Similarly, people will become more aware of the origins of their food and can demand transparency. Annadana is here to only provide solutions.
What are some of the road blocks or barriers when it comes to creating more awareness about native seeds?
At the end of the day, it is all about political will. To put it humbly, we have contributed towards nation-building without chemicals. Unfortunately, if the agenda is commerce, it will boost the profits of a privileged few at the cost of the farmers. If farmers are to benefit, the focus must be on building community seed banks and equipping them with the skills and know-how to be autonomous. We are scaling up but we lack the bandwidth. We know that our models have worked on the ground because we have been working with farmers across the country for 20 years and farmers from across the world follow our models to get better results and chemical-free food. When we have varieties that are native to our country and are best suited to our agro-climatic zones, it’s wise that we conserve our indigenous species for food security and save the exotic for commercial use.
Udupi has a lot of heritage agricultural varieties that are fast disappearing. A Farmer Producer Company had put up a model project at Mattu Village and are also keen to preserve heritage seeds and promote it in their village. They would potentially be interested in collaborating with you to understand how to set up seed banks, your working model, etc.
We would welcome that. The way forward for anyone in this country, I would say, is to gain knowledge. The workshops that happen at Annadana are suitable for a diverse range of people — farmers, cardiologists, bankers, etc. They all come together because soil and seed do not discriminate. Learning takes place in our fields which is your classroom. Over 250,000 visitors have come here; 20,000 urban and farmer groups have attended our workshops. Over 1,50,000 school students have benefitted from our hands-on workshop centered around ‘soil to seed to plate’ to understand the origins of their food. We are happy to explore any collaborations to ensure that awareness is being raised about the need for chemical-free food.
The media has a huge role to play in educating people about the food they eat and agroecology in which their food is grown. The need of the hour is for publications like yours to highlight the importance of encouraging alternatives to corrosive farming practices that impact the food we eat and hold significant implications for our health.
What about our Agricultural Universities?? Do they touch upon this topic of native seeds or is their agenda in total contrast?
There are many more models that are clearly indicative that farmers can become food and seed economists unlike what it is currently being imparted to students, farmers and people at large. If we take steps to ensure that the entire agriculture education system is engineered towards knowledge-bound, practical learning that focuses on sustainable methods of farming instead of what has been imposed on us, our students will be better prepared to use technology to our advantage. The current education system needs to align itself to teaching students what is affordable, cost effective, and sustainable and this is what Annadana is working towards.
How will seed conservation impact farmers’ welfare?
Annadana’s backbone is farmers. Their welfare is our priority. 450 million farmers across the nation produce over 260 million tonnes of food grains to feed all of us. Yet ironically, he who feeds us is going to bed hungry each night. Tragically, our farmers are treated like labourers and beggars. Farmers have the inherent seed saving skills and we don’t. We are entirely dependent on farmers for our food. In today’s day and age, very few of us possess skills necessary for our survival. Most of us don’t even know how to make our own food, let alone know how to grow it. We are dependent on third-party providers who will deliver food to our doorsteps. Farmers are the underprivileged race who get the rough end of the stick. They are underpaid, debt-ridden, struggling to make ends meet and driven to suicide. Why should we not ensure that farmers who are responsible for putting food on our plates, get their fair dues? When progressive farmers are included in framing policies that impact them, they bring their time-tested farming experiences to benefit all. It is a matter of pride for the nation that they will be self-sufficient and profitable and urban society will benefit by getting access to chemical-free food. The deteriorating health of society and an endangered ecosystem is testament to the disastrous effects of enslaving farmers to a system that is not beneficial to them, the land or us. Everything is connected. If the farmers cannot cultivate native seeds and practice organic farming techniques, the food they produce will be laden with chemicals that is in turn, consumed by them and us. This leads to an increase in health concerns, which, in turn, leads to increased hospitalisation. The government should probe the connection between the healthcare burden and the agroecology in which our food is being cultivated. When farmers are recognized for who they are and valued for their contributions to our economy, they stands to escape the cycle of debt and suicide. To that end, Annadana’s core areas of focus have always been:
1. Seed Conservation
2. Sustainable Farming
3. Farm and Food Education
When there is a solid bank of uncontaminated seeds the farmers can depend on, irrespective of the vagaries of climate or business, they can become distributors. When farmers become master trainers and farm educators, they become sustainable and pass on their knowledge and expertise to future generations.
Does cost play a role in cultivating native seeds as opposed to hybrid seeds?
The cost factor is a very relevant one. A large chunk of costs in crop cultivation goes towards fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. The cost of seeds – hybrid, high yielding variety seeds ranges from Rs. 20,000 to Rs 90,000 approximately per kilo. Pesticides and fertilizers will cost another Rs. 40,000 approx. Before the farmer sets out he is already in debt. Enter the middleman who supplies the seeds and controls the whole system. He will charge farmers an additional 5-10% interest rate. The farmer is indebted for a lifetime. When he has to sell the produce, for which a tractor has to be called in, it costs him a further Rs.10,000 / per day. Another Rs.10,000 goes to pay the additional workers during harvest. This means that before a farmer has even started out on a crop, he is in debt of about Rs.1.75 lakhs. We hear about hundreds of farmers committing suicide in Vidarbha, Karnataka, etc. This could be prevented if we can provide them with an alternate road map to sustainable farming that will help them become independent and boost their incomes, whilst also ensuring that they are not coming in touch with harmful chemicals and pesticides. If we can invest in community seed banks with the use of local seeds, farmers will be able to not just sustain, but turn a profit. Unfortunately, subsidies of Rs 80,000 crores are provided for fertilizers. If they were to provide the same subsidy for organic farming, it would be a gamechanger. Sustainable, regenerative organic farming is what will help the future of farming in India. If not, we are looking at a looming health crisis and increasing suicides. Annadana’s mission has always been that if we are seed secure, we are food secure. If we can help our farmers become independent, they will enjoy a greater voice in the work they do to sustain our economy. And most importantly, India as a whole, will have equitable access to a diversity of nutritious food crops, resulting in better health outcomes in the short and long term.
– CONTACT –
Annadana Soil & Seed Savers Network
Contact no – 8277116606
farmrelations@annadana-india.org
http://www.annadana-india.org
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