PRESERVING INDIA’S TRADITIONAL SEED VARIETIES

UPSC Relevance

GS-3: Agriculture – Indigenous Knowledge, Seed Diversity, MSP Frameworks

GS-3: Food Security – Crop Diversification, Sustainable Practices

GS-3: Environment – Climate Adaptation, Soil Conservation

Key Highlights

Decline of Traditional Seeds

India’s traditional seed varieties, once vital for food security and biodiversity, are disappearing.

Causes include:

• Market preference for high-yield hybrids.
• Government procurement favoring rice and wheat, marginalizing millets, pulses, and native seeds.
• Seed industry focus on mass-produced hybrids, discouraging local preservation.
• Drawbacks of Hybrid Seeds

Hybrids deliver high yields but:

• Rely heavily on chemical fertilizers.
• Require more water and are less resilient to climate shocks.
• Compromise food quality and nutrition.
• Traditional seeds, however, are climate-resilient, drought/flood-tolerant, and enhance soil health.

Policy Gaps

• India’s agricultural policies prioritize productivity over diversity.
• Initiatives like the Odisha Millet Mission show potential but lack national scale.
• Research focuses on yield improvement, not diversity conservation.

Conservation Efforts

NGOs and conservatories like MSSRF’s Tribal Agro-biodiversity Centre in Odisha are:

• Reviving traditional crops through community seed banks.
• Engaging farmers in developing improved varieties.
• Promoting climate-resilient farming systems.

Roadmap for Action

Government must:

• Establish regional seed conservation centres.
• Provide financial incentives and MSPs for traditional crops.
• Integrate traditional varieties into midday meals, ration shops, and hospitals.
• Support branding, processing, and marketing of indigenous produce.

Urgent Need

1. Rising inputs, degrading soils, and frequent climate shocks demand action.
2. Future food systems must prioritize:
3. Diversity, climate resilience, and local roots.
4. Nutrition, environmental health, and cultural preservation.
5. A shift from high-yield to high-resilience agriculture is critical.