Organic Seed Conservation Method by HARIT PRAYAS JCSS-Jhansi team!

Our HARIT PRAYAS team at Jhansi in consultation with agriculture department and project villages farming community has developed “organic seed conservation” method to promote traditional seeds in the HARIT PRAYAS project villages and even in the Bundelkhand region (in consideration with the promotion of nutrient value of seeds and regenerating capacity).

Organic Seed Conservation Method:

Chait (March-April) is known for season of Harvesting for Rabi crops. The farmers are happy to see the crops and they have worked hard for good yield, throughout the country. The general practice is that the farmers will harvest the Rabi crops. They sell some part of their produce in the nearby market or Government’s centers. They get cash in their hand. Some part of agricultural produce they store for the consumption. The house is full of grains. Farmer’s household is full of joy and fun, as they get return of their hard work in the agricultural field. And the villages of Harit Prayas project are no exception to this.

This is also the time for seed conservation. There is a consensus that the farmers of the target area do not sow ‘seeds’, rather they sow ‘grains’. For this the organic method of ‘seed conservation’ is a must, which should be little time consuming, no cost is required, suitable for the small farmers of the project area and which recognizes the traditional knowledge/wisdom of farmers.

Followings are the main points, to be shared with farmers:

• After harvesting the farmer should separate seeds from the grains. It makes seed conservation easy for farmers. E.g. 10 quintals of grain conservation is problematic and 1 quintal of seed can be conserved easily.
• Seed conservation is all about saving seeds from ‘moisture’ and ‘insects’.
• Before harvesting the farmer should observe carefully his/her crops in the field and if he/she finds black grains in wheat crop, it must be chopped off and destroyed. It is a disease named ‘ismat’ (in hindi). If it is not removed then after harvesting/threshing it will be mixed up with all the grains and there are micro-bacteria in that black wheat. Those micro bacteria will spoil the grains as well as seeds.
• Seeds must be dried well into sun light. If sunlight is less, farmers should use black polythene cover for drying seeds well.
• Small and marginalized farmers use either jute bag or plastic bags for storing seeds. Big farmers use trunk and tunnels (bokhari) for the same purpose. The container must not have moisture. The container should also be dried well.
• For the small farmers, who use jute/plastic bags they need to be extra careful. The jute bag must be boiled in water to make it bacteria free. Those who use plastic bags, they should ensure that bags are bacteria free and there is no moisture in it. If any farmer wants to take extra care, he/she can use ‘mailatheium’ medicine powder for the jute/plastic bags. It make bags insect free.
• With leaves of neem (in different layers) seeds should be kept in the bags/container.
• One can also use ‘ash’ and mix it with seeds and then put the seeds, along with neem leaves in the bags/container. Onion can also be kept in the bags.
• The bags should not touch the floor of the room or the walls. It will bring moisture in the bag, during rainy season. The bags should be kept on wooden structure/piece.