Fed up of being at the mercy of MNCs, farmers in Karnataka are democratising seed production Premium

In most cases, such endeavours began as an effort to minimise the cost of agricultural production, and were supported by NGOs. But along the way, farmers were consumed by the fire of conserving crop diversity around them, which was disappearing under the onslaught of hybrid monoculture.

On an acre of plot at Siddanahundi in T. Narsipur taluk of Mysuru district, Srinivasmurthy S.R. is busy preparing the land and nursery for paddy seed production. The demand for Jeerige Sanna variety and a few other desi, or indigenous varieties, has soared. Srinivasmurthy has to boost production to meet the growing demand for paddy seeds.

In the neighbouring district of Mandya, Syed Ghani Khan has cultivated 1,350 varieties of paddy on his plot in Kirugavalu in Malavalli taluk to cater to demand from local farmers for indigenous paddy varieties. Apart from meeting the requirements of farmers, Ghani Khan also has to ensure supplies to a seed producing company. He has reserved five acres exclusively for paddy seed cultivation.

These are just two instances of farmers switching to seed production of indigenous crop varieties, be it paddy, vegetables, millets, or pulses. Such efforts from farmers have gained traction in recent years in what could be billed as a silent revolution in the making.

At a time when multinational companies with deep pockets have patented technologies and monopolise the market with hybrid seeds of various crops, a section of farmers has broken free from the clutches of the market, and are ploughing a lonely furrow by producing heirloom seeds and propagating them among fellow cultivators.

These are not one-off or isolated initiatives. The number of farmers and farmer seed producers’ collectives is on the rise in the Mysuru-Mandya-Chamarajanagar belt, as also the rest of Karnataka.

In most cases, such endeavours began as an effort to minimise the cost of agricultural production, and were supported by NGOs. But along the way, farmers were consumed by the fire of conserving crop diversity around them, which was disappearing under the onslaught of hybrid monoculture.

‘’Paddy varieties that were cultivated locally, which we grew up consuming, were increasingly difficult to come by, and were on the verge of extinction due to the onslaught of the hybrid seeds,’’ says Srinivasmurthy.