Indigenous Seed Heritage

Our task of storing seeds involved keeping them in our mud granaries. We kept other seeds separately for eating. These were traditional mud granaries made of mud from our ancestors' time, and they were used for farming.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Vijayanagar, Sabarkantha, Gujarat

We used to keep indigenous seeds in a mud storage. Then we would sow them.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Our ancestors first used to keep their homes in bungalows, then they used to keep seeds, the old seeds that were processed in the furnace.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan

And they keep the seeds safe in their old earthen storage.

— Kekti Tekam · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

We also preserve seeds in a traditional way.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

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

— Anil Pargi

In our past, we used to bundle seeds like Kulthi, Biri, Moong, and Dhudung in Sialpata leaves and store them, and these seeds would remain insect-proof.

— Parikshit Majhi

These native seeds were inherited by us from our ancestors.

— Sunil oraon · Verno, Gumla, Jharkhand

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

— Vinita Singh Yadav · Mukasim, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our ancestors were cultivating. They grew urad and moong. The soil gave them a different kind of produce, and they nurtured the seeds for it.

— Mukunda Majhi · Udulibeda, Malkangiri, Odisha

We save our traditional seeds that we have inherited.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

Earlier, our ancestors used to store grains in mud granaries at home, and there used to be good yields. But now, when we store them in steel granaries, the crops don't grow.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan

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

These seeds are inherited, given by our ancestors.

— Kachala Choudhary

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

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

— Vijay Kumar bhardwaj · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh

My name is Mutiy Pradhan. My Gram Panchayat is Pikorodi. My Block is Tikabali. My District is Kandhamal. Our mothers used to store seeds in the olden days. They would keep seeds in pots near the fire in 'Putra Jakore'. Nothing would happen to them. Today, in today's date, farming is done with fertilizer and pesticides, which is why this year, the seeds cannot last even for a year. That's why we want to live like before.

— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha

We save stable seeds and kuluth seeds are valuable for our family. We have old seeds like millet, kuluth, moong. We sell them and use them as food.

— Basanti · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

They keep wheat and barley seeds.

— अमर जीत · Kota, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

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

— Jagannath Baraik · Bayang, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

For seed preservation, we store the seeds in bamboo storage.

— Kachala Choudhary

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

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

Our ancestors used to cultivate Bhadi kodra, jowar, pulses, and oilseed crops.

— Kachala Choudhary

This seed was received from our ancestors, which we save.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Earlier, we used to store our grains in traditional bins. At that time, the crop used to grow well. But now, if we keep the seeds in steel bins, they are not sprouting. So, we want to return to our old ways.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan

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

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

We keep the seeds in a pot with stove ash.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

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 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

My family uses traditional sorghum seeds which I inherited, and we preserve them and sow them in rocky soil.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

Yes, we save old seeds.

— Kachala Choudhary

We have inherited the seeds of Bhaadi, Kodra, Bati, Jowar.

— Kachala Choudhary

In the clay granary at our first grandparents' house, there was grain that was preserved well. Now, what about keeping it in a steel granary?

— Jayanti Bhagora · Malmatha, Dungarpur, Rajasthan

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

We conserve paddy seeds.

— Vinita Singh Yadav · Dharura, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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

Then we dry those seeds, and after drying, we keep them in rice straw as seeds. My seeds remain inside that straw.

— pinku sunani · Karangamāl, Nuapada, Odisha