Karnataka's seed saviours plant agri hopes

Bengaluru: The agriculture department of the Karnataka government has formalised a framework to protect the state’s vanishing wealth of indigenous seed varieties. 

Under the ‘Beeja Parampara’ initiative, the state has identified and incentivised over 490 farmers who have been preserving thousands of indigenous landraces ranging from salt-tolerant coastal paddy to drought-resistant dryland millets. 

The initiative follows a SEED-5C Model; Conservation, Cultivation, Consumption, Commerce and Collaboration of indigenous seed (desi) varieties that can contribute to food sufficiency, better nutrition and improved health outcomes. 

“Unlike modern hybrid seeds that require heavy chemicals, these indigenous landraces are naturally tough. They survive droughts, resist local pests and are packed with more nutrition than commercial rice,” a senior official said. 

Financial incentives ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 10 lakh have been distributed based on the number and rarity of varieties conserved. So far, nearly Rs 1.3 crore has been disbursed to farmers. 

Syed Ghani Khan of Mandya has conserved over 1,350 paddy varieties and 116 mango cultivars. Similarly, 84-year-old B K Devarao from Dakshina Kannada has spent six decades protecting 240 paddy varieties. 

In addition, he maintains a rich diversity of crops, including 5–6 varieties of arecanut, 50 types of jackfruit, 5 varieties of nutmeg, 4 types of pepper, 25 varieties of Indian yam, 6 varieties of cassava, and over 100 medicinal plants.

Minister for Agriculture N Chaluvaraya Swamy said he was deeply inspired by Khan’s extraordinary effort to preserve thousands of traditional paddy landraces.

“His dedication to protecting our agricultural heritage for future generations immediately convinced me that such initiatives deserved institutional support and recognition. I conveyed this to the commissioner and stressed the need to encourage and reward farmers who are carrying out this invaluable work selflessly, without expecting anything in return,” he told DH. 

The department has partnered with the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, to scientifically validate these landraces. Researchers are conducting nutritional profiling and assessing agronomic performance to ensure these traditional seeds can compete in modern markets, and aim to integrate these crops into public food systems and develop high-value markets for organic and medicinal produce. 

To ensure accountability, the department has deployed a digital platform featuring geo-tagging and mobile apps to track seed purity and disbursement. The impact is already visible on the ground, in the Aghanashini River delta, where farmer Nagaraj Mohan Naik’s efforts to preserve ‘Kagga’ rice variety that thrives in saline, flooded waters have led to a proposal for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. 

Despite the success, the report identifies certain hurdles.

Current regulatory frameworks and seed laws prioritise uniformity, which often clashes with the genetic diversity of landraces. Also, there is a need to bridge the intergenerational gap to ensure the youth take up the mantle of seed conservation.