WHEN A group of 20 farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitharama Raju district ventured into production of seeds of finger millet (ragi) and little millet (samai) in 2019, it had no idea what the future had in store. For the next two years, unusual weather events ensured that the crops did not have grains good enough for use as seeds. "The years 2020 and 2021 saw excess rain in July and August. This did not allow the plants to take nutrition from the soil. The resultant grains were weak and the endosperm-part of a seed that stores food for the development of a plant and is crucial for germination-was absent when the seeds were crushed open for inspection," says M L Sanyasi Rao, programme manager of Watershed Support Services and Activities Network, a non-profit working with tribal farmers in the area. The farmers had estimated 20 tonnes of produce, but the harvest in November 2021 resulted in only 15 tonnes, with the grains unusable as seeds. The harvest was then sold as crop for 25 per kg, while its sale as seed would have fetched 35 per kg.
There is no difference in the cultivation mechanism for producing seeds or for growing crops. Vast majority of farmers in India set aside a part of their field for growing seeds that can be used the next season. But climate change has posed a threat to seeds, which are essential for food security of the country. Grains of wheat and rice, the two staples distributed under the government's public distribution system and crucial to food security, have also seen a shrinkage in recent years, say farmers.
"Usually, the share of light or weak grains is 5-7 per cent. But last year, over 20 per cent of my wheat grains were of poor quality. These cannot be used as seeds," says Vikas Choudhary, a farmer from Karnal district in Haryana. Choudhary works as a participatory farmer with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) under Indian Council of Agricultural Research's (ICAR'S) seed production programme.
This story is from the April 01, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 01, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE ALCHEMY OF EMOTIONS - SL'OTH
As with all personality traits, laziness is a combination of genes and environment
THE AL'CHEMY OF EMOTIONS - WRATH
Anger is an emotional programme, a part of natural selection that helps us bargain for better treatment
THE AL'CHEMY OF EMOTIONS - GLUTTONY
We have been captured by food and it is driving us to do something that is arguably not good for us
THE AL'CHEMY OF EMOTIONS - ENVY
Envy gives people a fundamental desire for a higher social rank
THE AL'CHEMY OF EMOTIONS-L'UST
Love, lust, attachments are basic brain circuits. They are too primitive a system and will never change
THE AL'CHEMY OF EMOTIONS - GREED
Evolutionary biology sees greed as a way to increase your chances of survival
THE AL'CHEMY OF EMOTIONS
I felt for the tormented whirlwinds Damned for their carnal sins Committed when they let their passions rule their reason
INVISIBLE THREAT
Significant presence of microplastics in Puducherry’s agricultural soil raises concerns for soil and crop health
Feeding off each other
VEGETARIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE WEST GREW WITH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND VALIDATION
India's unhealthy patent amendments
Despite strong pleas, the Modi regime has changed the rules to impose a cost on those who challenge faulty patents