- Anitha Pailoor

Another sowing season is approaching. Farmers are worried about the required seed, its quality, productivity and tolerance to varying weather condition. Agriculture departments are getting ready for another chaos with limited varieties of improved and hybrid seeds and inadequate stock. But there are farmers who are least bothered. They are planning for multiple crops in their farms. Achieving seed sovereignty has helped them to be self-reliant and sustain through various problems.
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“Seventy five percent of the seeds I buy at the Agriculture Department yield well. Still I have not been able to be debt-free,” Mahadev, a farmer in Madanabhavi in Dharwad Taluk pauses for a while. He knows where the calculation has gone wrong. As the yield of these improved varieties increased, the production cost has blown out of proportion. Use of fertilisers and pesticides are increasing every year which eats up major part of the yield. They have to live in debt. Still he cannot think of stepping back by using local varieties.

Mahadev grows paddy, peanut, pulses, maize and Soyabean in his 12-acre farm. He purchases all variety seeds from the department except peanut. But month of May is a nightmare for him. As he waits anxiously for monsoon, his would be thinking of agriculture department crowded with farmers rushing to get the seeds of their choice. The chances are always fifty fifty.

As the month of May approaches, even agriculture departments get ready for another chaos with limited varieties of improved and hybrid seeds and limited stock. Seed distribution has become tedious owing to many reasons. According to agriculture officer Raghavendra Bammigatti, “Farmers buy seeds only after the initial rains. Depending on the rainfall they decide the crop. We also have staff shortage. When hundreds of farmers approach together, four to five officers at the outlet don’t even get time to crosscheck their eligibility to avail subsidised seeds. We are supposed to give preference to farmers with less than five acres land.” Many times the department’s estimation goes wrong in procuring seeds varieties. Farmers don’t get the variety they ask for. Eventually they can’t grow the crop of their desire and the one that suits their environment.

Subsidised farming

Mahadev says, “Even if agriculture is subsidised we are not reaping any profit. We get seeds and fertilisers at financially supported by the government. In some cases, bus charge and one day’s wage, when added, crosses the price of the seed,” Farmers depend on agriculture department and seed outlets of Karnataka State Seed Corporation for seeds.

Conserving seeds is no more a prime activity in agriculture. Mahesh Hiremath, another farmer in the same village says, “After government channels and private companies started distributing/selling seeds the tradition of storing seeds has vanished in our village. The key role of women in agriculture has disappeared. Even fertilisers and pesticides are bought from outside. Use of more chemicals degraded the soil. New varieties were water intensive. This has resulted in continuous drilling of bore wells, which eventually dries up the ground water. These developments have lowered our attachment with agriculture.”

R.B. Hiremath, agriculture officer in the office of the Joint Director of Agriculture, Dharwad gives an instance, “To avoid havoc, in 2005 the government gave directive to the department to take requisition from the farmers by paying a token fee of Rs. 10. We thought this would help to mobilise seeds in advance. But our plans went upside down. After rainfall, they changed their mind, and demanded for some other variety. They didn’t mind loosing Rs. 10 when compared to the crop. All this increased tension during distribution.”

From hybrid to native

But farmers like Mookappa Pujar, Gangamma, Shrenikaraju, Mangamma and Papamma do not wait anxiously for the government’s seed supply. They have shifted from hybrid to native seeds. Seeds which they can conserve and use. Seeds that have a reversible equation with the local climate. They have their own seed collectives in their villages.

Sixty-year old Mookappa Pujar explains the beginning of their transformation, “Karimunduga changed the pace of agriculture in our village. This drought resistant paddy prompted us take many other local seeds out of dusted sacks.” In 2002, Mookappa Poojar broadcast one kilo Karimunduga in 5-gunte (1/8th of an acre) of his 2-acre land and grew improved variety IR 64 in 15 guntes. Monsoon failed that year. IR-64 didn’t even sprout. Karimunduga did its best yielding 20 Kgs. After twenty five years of dependency on improved variety seeds, Pujar turned towards indigenous seeds. Farmers who had his bent of mind joined him, while few others observed curiously.

When the entire district of Haveri was busy in hybrid seed production through artificial pollination, this village in Byadagi Taluk started searching for Byadagi chilli, a unique variety of the region. Gangamma, a seed conserver in the village says, “Though certain varieties are marketed in the name of Byadagi, taste and colour differ. We have also lost many original varieties with the entry of hybrid seeds and improved varieties. Now we realise that they are not as sturdy and healthy as local varieties. For us hybrid varieties mean loss of money, health, biodiversity and freedom at the cost of high yield.” She recalls that mixed cropping at the farm met the food requirement of a family before they opted for mono cropping with high yielding varieties.

Hybrid varieties – For whose benefit?

Short period, high yielding varieties stimulated farmers to dream of elevated income. Their dream has not come true says Dr. Prakash, Assistant Director of Agriculture. “There is no improvement in the lifestyle of farmers. In fact the suicide rate has increased. If a technology or research aims at assisting a farmer why should he resort to death? We have not heard of farmer deaths due to crop failure or debt in the sixties.” He points that with the introduction of new varieties farmers have lost control over their seeds. Even if they are the ones who produce commercial seeds for the companies, they don’t own the seeds. Agriculture is no more dependent on farmer’s wisdom and understanding of the local natural resources. It is driven by set formula and proportions of NPK.

Shrenikaraju a farmer in Chinnikatte has the same experience. “Whether we need or not we are encouraged to use fertilisers and pesticides. Since last one decade I am growing IR 64, an improved variety without chemical fertilisers and pesticides. We use organic manure. The yield has not come down. By participating in seed conservation movement, we have learnt to manage native seeds and maintain varietal purity.” Women farmers are on par with scientific community when it comes to select and conserve seeds and maintain varietal purity.

Towards seed sovereignty

Farmers in Chinnikatte were early enough to realise the lack of sustainability in chemical farming with hybrid seeds. Green Foundation an NGO based in Bangalore helped them through out the process. Community Seed Bank Network (CSBN) Project which was also implemented in Chinnikatte for three years helped sustain the indigenous seed conservation activities. Minchu Community Seed Bank was formed under the project. Along with local varieties there are also farmer-friendly varieties from other places which suit to the agro-climatic conditions of the region. Under the CSBN project as many as 34 community seed banks are formed in 14 districts in Karnataka with the help of voluntary organisations and farmers’ collectives. Even after the project (2002 – 2005) was over, farmer groups in the villages are taking these seed banks forward.

A woman seed conserver takes responsibility of distribution and procurement in a seed bank. A bank caters to four or five neighbouring villages. Still there is no boundary for exchanging seeds. Anyone who requires has to register her name. Next year after harvest, she has to restore double the quantity of seeds. If the farmer is from a distant place, she can buy it. Seed fairs and seed exchange programmes organised as an extension of the seed banks, helps farmers to get richer by procuring few more native seeds. Here they can obtain the seeds of their choice!

Women select the seeds depending on its keeping quality, resistance to drought, pest and diseases, taste, nutrition value, yield and fodder. Mangamma, a farmer in D. Madenahalli, Kolar has a different theory, “When we consider yield we should look at the production cost. We can never dream of mixed cropping with hybrid varieties. We use locally adapted varieties to manage the risk of crop failure. Intercropping provides the balance in food consumption while agro forestry takes care of the needs of fodder and fuel.”
Mookappa Pujar still remembers Dodda Bhatta, a sorghum variety which was popular three decades ago in Chinnikatte. The entire village is now searching for this variety which is considered to be very nutritious. Cropping pattern has changed in his 2-acre farm with the new trend. When he used to grow IR 64 and cotton with maize he had to bring all the kitchen needs from the market. Fluctuation in the market price was common. When there was a bumper crop, suddenly the rate would come down and the situation would be disastrous.

Subsistence farming

Now grains, millets, pulses and vegetables grown in his field meet the needs of kitchen and fodder, fuel. Ragi (finger millet) has replaced rice as staple diet, while gouri jola (jowar variety) is grown for fodder. Cowdung manure and vermicompost have replaced chemical fertilizers, bio controllers are used to repel pests and insects. Mookappa Pujar has observed that diseases have reduced after he left chemical farming. More than anything else, these varieties are not water intensive.

Farmers in these villages no more sit in the dry farm facing the sky. They are equipped with various crops each with a unique quality. Yield of paddy varieties like salem sanna, thooya malli, jeerige sanna match with that of high yield varieties. Piccha kaddi ragi, and bairnellu paddy are drought resistant. Nereguli is deepwater paddy. Toke paddy seen mostly in coastal is salt tolerant. Finger millet grown in Nettiragi method yields 18 to 20 quinatls which is much more than the yield of improved variety. Dodda ragi and Honnekathu paddy are pest resistant. Halluballu paddy is rat resistant, mullu sajje, a pearl millet variety protects the field from birds. All these varieties sustain even in extreme conditions. Contradictory to this, KRH2 a high yielding variety will yield twice the normal yield under good rainfall. Otherwise, it will be a total failure.

Papamma, a dynamic farmer in Kolar has thoughtfully chosen her crops. Her cultivation process is a perfect example for subsistence farming. She grows pulses with ragi under rainfed farming. Ragi comes to harvest in three months while pulses will not be ready till the seventh month. If there is a scarcity of rainfall, then she is sure that pulses which can survive with the help of autumn dews will bring some returns. She has a beautiful kitchen garden which supplies vegetables to her kitchen throughout the year. Jasmine plants in the farm take care of her savings. She always makes sure that she grows everything she needs in her farm and then concentrates on the market. According to her proper management of natural resources is an extension of growing native varieties.

Daring drought

There are little-millets like navane, saave, sajje, aarka each with high nutrition value and can survive without rain for months. Their quick growing nature with available rainfall is an advantage. Husking these millets is very laborious and there are no separate mills allotted for has dominated the meal plates. At this outset, Shrenikaraju’s observation brings some hope, “The price of ragi has shot up from Rs. 300 per quintal to Rs. 650 per quintal. Saave is supposed to be the best diet for diabetic persons. This millet which was priced Rs. 400 per quintal two years back, now sells at Rs. 1500.” He feels that farmers should come out of fictitious hybrid seed network, to look at the growing opportunities in eco-friendly farming.

Individuals like B.K. Devarao who has more than 50 varieties of native paddy with him and Papamma whose farm is model for subsistence farming are strengthening the seed conservation movement in Karnataka. Voluntary organizations and women’s collectives have

joined hands to achieve seed sovereignty. Complementary to these efforts Karnataka Government has introduced Seed Village concept in its Organic Farming Policy. Under this the government wishes to support one village in one hobali (cluster of five to six villages) to accomplish self-reliance in seed production. Thoughtful planning and practical implementation would reduce the external dependency of farmers.

(This feature is written as part of NFI Media Fellowship.)

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Contacts:

- Shrenikaraju
Minchu Akshyaya Krishikara Balaga
Post: Chinnikatte – 581106
Byadagi Taluk
Haveri District
Phone: 08375 290994

- Papamma Papulappa
Grama Vikas
Honnsetthahalli
Post: Yalagondahalli 563 127
Mulbagal Taluk
Kolar District

Photos by : Anitha Pailoor

Anitha Pailoor, Krishnalaya, 1st main, 4th cross, Narayanapura, Dharwad – 580 008
Phone: 0836 – 2748277 Email: anithapailoor@gmail.com