Seed Sovereignty: Conservation Challenges & Future Possibilities

 

Webinar on Seed Sovereignty: Conservation Challenges & Future Possibilities

Webinar Series

 

Date: 01.08.2020 (Saturday, 4 – 6 pm)

Speakers:

Mr Arachalur Selvam, Organic Farming Expert, ASHA Network

Seed Sovereignty in the Current Scenario

Mr Parameshwaran, Aadhiyagai

Preserving, Saving and Sharing of genetically Pure Traditional Seeds & its challenges

Mr. Ramasubramanian, Samanvaya, Senior Consultant, SLI

Avenues that exist and the Future Possibilities’ for Seed Conservation

Moderator:

Mr Marudham Kumar, Vaanagam

Participants: More than 90 people attended the session comprising of Seed savers, Farmers and members of CBOs

Summary of the Session

Mr Ramasubramanian and Mr Raja Ganesh of SLI shared the purpose of this meeting and explained how Seed Festivals across state and Auroville help to organize seed savers in the past years and stressed the need of a network to take such efforts forward.

The Introductory Speech by Mr Kumar threw light on the politics of food. He urged the participants to learn, understand and observe the seeds for obtaining knowledge and insisted on analysing and not trusting everything that is thrust upon the farmers by the government or industries. To understand the history of a crop and its characteristics are mandatory in ensuring a healthy ecology, he added. He introduced the concept of Seed Sovereignty by saying “Seed is a farmer’s right while it is also his/ her freedom and source of life”

Mr Parameshwaran then brought the ethical aspect of rights over seeds by emphasizing on how a traditional farmer is frowned upon or even looked at through a criminalizing lens, when they incorporate their indigenous practices of preserving and sharing seeds. “While the demand for genetically pure traditionally saved and preserved seeds have increased, it has also resulted in more farmers turning merchants falling prey to the just economic interests and thus diluting the cause and ethical perspective of these practices. Since there are very few genuine seed preserving and sharing communities and individuals, and increasing market influences and illegitimate sellers; there is a need to have a community that is authoritative and accountable over the authenticity and genuineness of the seeds that can be certified. This authority must also ensure that the farmers practising such indigenous farming and seed collection are protected legally and legitimated by law. To be able to share knowledge boldly and to have a community that is rooted and unified through its ideology and values, while authenticated through research, can be the start to a beautiful the organization”, he added.

The participants later shared their experiences on seed preserving and sharing techniques, the challenges faced during the lockdown, the issues regarding accessibility and shortcomings in testing the authenticity of seeds sold in the market.  A member of the Tamilnadu Kalanjiyam Pen Vivasayam Sangam, Madurai’s question about the seed saving method since they faced issues of seeds which not grown led Mr Ram to acknowledge and post it to the forum and Mr Selvam on “How can traditional seed savers guarantee that the seeds are efficient and productive?”

The keynote speech by Mr Selvam was filled with perspective building questions. Being an Organic Farming Practitioner and Expert, his ideas on seed sovereignty and his arguments on why the right over seeds must rest with the farmer, invoked action with every word. He began with an explanation of how the dependency on seeds for food leads to greater attention from markets towards them and thus how food politics is revolving around power over the seed.  Tending to the questions from the forum and Mr Ram, he said “as seed preservers, we must understand the science and the limitations in preserving their genetic purity. The natural pollination that happens in nature makes it impossible to have genetically pure seeds in the current times, especially when adjacent farms are planted with genetically modified crops. We cannot curtail what happens naturally and saying ‘no’ to these naturally pollinated hybrids means that we are against evolution itself. Seed breeding/ Selective Breeding of seeds is something we farmers have practised for generations and we need to harness this existing knowledge and combine it with meticulously observed and documented research in order to create better seeds that are resilient to the newer climatic challenges and pest epidemics faced. Therefore we must begin from a place of acknowledging the truth, that there could be no genetically pure naturally farmed traditional seeds unless cultivated in isolation. Diversity is important to ensure resilience and being open to the natural processes of evolution/ change, documenting and analyzing these changes are all important stepping stones, when we are looking at certifying and legitimizing our indigenous practices.”

Answering to a question posted by Ms.Vagayshri on the ethical stands of institutions extracting the medicinal properties of native Indian crops for research and more, Mr Ram echoed the opinion of a woman from the United Kingdom, who commented that consuming the plant/produce with all its host nutrients is always more efficient than the consumption of just a few of its extracted compounds. This led to Mr. Kumar urging and educating the participants on the new threat to farmers and their markets and resources that could/ would be stemming from the (phytochemical extraction) the emergency of the food supplement industry. ‘To be weary of these advances in the food sector is important when the farmer wants to upgrade oneself to fight the war as equals’, he added

Mr Ram summarised and later concluded by provoking action from the participants and proposed a three step approach towards taking the efforts forward, viz.

1.         Documentation and Education on techniques to preserve, collect and share authentic traditional seeds.

2.          Better Networking within seed conservation communities and farmers and Institutionalization of practices backed by research. Formation of Institutions to certify genuine seeds.

3.          Emphasize on Policy level / Advocacy bases Education & Communication.

With all the participants agreeing to these prospects, Mr Selvam added to the conclusion of the meeting by emphasizing on a Gender Equal role in all farms and integration of Urban Women Terrace / Kitchen Gardener’s involvement in helping preserve genetically pure traditional seeds.