India was once a home to more than 200,000 rice varieties but in the last 50 years, it has shrunk to 6000 or less. The indigenous seeds have been replaced by genetically engineered seeds promoted by big companies.

Seed, the first link in the food chain has been monopolized by the companies to dominate the agriculture and society at large. Biodiversity has disappeared due to the monocultures of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The exclusion of farmers from breeding has made them dependent, their knowledge and practices were subdued, the food systems was wrecked and the earth’s biodiversity endangered. It is to be noted that without seed sovereignty, food sovereignty is not possible.

The Green Revolution in India shifted the focus of Indian agriculture away from biodiversity to increase yield. With the modernization of agriculture, agricultural practices and cropping patterns changed and genetic diversity started disappearing. As a result, the genetic base of indigenous seed varieties reduced considerably and several indigenous seed varieties are now facing extinction. These varieties were inherently more compatible with local farming conditions, economically practical and environmentally sustainable than the GM (genetically modified) varieties being used today. They were also more resistant to pests, diseases, droughts, and floods.

Due to Agricultural modernization farmers are also increasingly purchasing more of their seed requirements. As this bought-in seeds replace older, local varieties, these varieties become increasingly unavailable in many communities.

Caritas India with the support of Misereor is taking all the effort to preserve traditional farming practices for bringing sustainable food and nutritional security in North East India. The initiative FARM Northeast II is steered through its 15 local partners to empower community action leading to a revival of traditional socio-economic, governance and health systems.

In Assam, Bongaigaon Gana Seva Society (BGSS) is working hard to generate awareness among farmers on the need to preserve and promote local varieties of seeds and sensitizing them to take collective measures to conserve their seeds and preserve and promote in their villages. Besides storing seeds in their home at a safer place, keeping or storing seeds in the seed banks are also encouraged by the team.

The aim is to preserve and promote agro-biodiversity in the region by conserving seeds of indigenous varieties of food crops. BGSS Coordinator Anthony promoted the concept of community seed banks at the grassroots level with farming communities among small and marginal farmers for conserving, borrowing, lending and multiplying their seeds. Seed banks can also facilitate farmers’ access to markets and give the farmers’ more choice over what they grow. Seed banks enable rural tribal villages to become less dependent on engineered high-yield varieties and on expensive inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.

Women play a major role in the conservation of diversity at the farm level. Therefore, it is women who decide on the amount of seed and selections of varieties to be stored and the various ways of storing in the seed bank.

It is remarkable that farmers from the villages have started constructing seed banks in their villages. Two seeds banks were already constructed in two villages where they can store and exchange the seeds. Some individual farmers are now keenly interested to preserve the local varieties of seeds in their own houses using traditional methods.