Case3-March-2014
Preserving the local land races is important in the context of biodiversity and food security. Understanding the dynamics of local seed systems- both formal and informal, importance given by the local people to maintain purity of local land races and the seed exchange and network pattern is important to preserve this diversity. This study conducted in Jawadhu hills, Thiruvanamalai District ,one of the project sites of Revalorizing small millets in South Asia (RESMISA), reveals that there prevails a loose informal network in exchange of seeds like Little millet, Finger millet, Pearl millet, Horse gram and other crops. Farmers usually retain their own seeds for next season and rarely exchange. But no precaution is taken by them to ensure the quality and purity of seeds. The nodal farmers who play a crucial role in a normal informal seeds exchange system are absent in this area and exchange occurs between any two persons in this closely knitted community.
Jawadhu hills are an extension of Eastern ghats, located in northern Tamilnadu. There are eleven panchayat villages under Jawadhu Block, which comes under Kalasapakkam taluk of Thiruvannamalai District. DHAN Foundation has been implementing Revalorizing small millets in south asia project in four panchayats in this block, as this block is an important small millet growing area. The Little Millet (samai) is grown predominantly in this area under rainfed conditions, apart from finger millet (ragi) , Horse gram (kollu), Niger( Payellu), Maize (makka cholam) and other crops. Under irrigated conditions paddy is grown as the main crop. The people living here are Malayali tribes to grow Proso millet ( Pani varagu) and Kodo millet (varagu) also before two decade which are not cultivated at present. Even the area under small millets has come down drastically in the last three decades. Local land races of little millet (Samai) , both short and long duration are grown here generation after generation. Samai which once remained as a staple food in their diet got replaced by rice. However people continue to grow samai because it is easy to cultivate, incur less cultivation cost, suitable under rainfed condition and also has a good market value.
The total of physical, organizational and institutional components, their actions and interactions, that determine seed supply and use, in quantitative and qualitative terms at a closely knitted social structure is called the social seed network. Such localized seed systems differ from formal seed systems subjected to legislation and regulation and often the source of new improved varieties) in that these traditional systems have developed naturally over time in response to the demands for seeds among the farming community. Farmers hence have the practise of using their own seeds for cultivation year after year and exchange seeds if there is a need. Also in the present day context they have the opportunity to source new seeds from elsewhere, which if performs well get distributed among the local community through informal means.
The social seed network study was conducted in Jawadhu block to know how the seed distribution takes place among farmers with respect to little millet (samai) and also in other crops.
The ways that farmers obtain seed are as old as agriculture, and most small-scale farmers in developing countries routinely save their seed from one harvest to the next. Nowadays, some 60-70 per cent of seed used by these farmers is still saved onfarm. Most of the remaining seed is obtained off-farm, from local sources (Louwaars, 1994; Cromwell, 1996a). Local traditional seed systems are characterized by a low level of organization and institutional development.
They lack formal quality control and are not subject to seed trade regulation. Seed is multiplied without any generation control. Other than from their own farm, farmers usually obtain seed from neighbours or from local traders known to them (H.van Amstel et al,1995). A major factor distinguishing formal and local seed supplies is that the former is vertically organized, whereas the latter system can be considered horizontal. Local seed supply consists of basically the same components: selection, production and diffusion, but contrary to the vertically organized formal systems, organized in a horizontal manner. However, much importance is attached to seed production over the selection and diffusion process. The horizontal pattern of local seed supply systems seems to imply that they are most suitable. Local seed systems are generally considered sustainable because they have operated throughout the 10,000 years before formal seed supply systems emerged in the late 19th century. Unfortunately, Local seed supply systems are slow in responding to changes in ecological or social conditions. A local landrace cannot be adapted to the introduction of chemical fertilizers in only a few generations without the introduction of new genes. Similarly, the genetic variation within landraces may not be large enough to cope with declining soil fertility levels due to pressures on the land. The challenge for developing alternative seed systems is thus to optimize system sustainability (Louwaars,1995).
Local seed supply systems may thus significantly contribute to the conservation of crop genetic resources in farmers’ fields. Though genetic conservation in gene banks has saved a lot of genetic variation (genes and gene complexes) from extinction, it is now accepted that such methods of germplasm conservation are not able to solve the global problem of disappearance of crop genetic diversity. In situ germplasm conservation has received considerable attention recently (Brush 1991; Cooper et al. 1992; Friis-Hansen 1993). However controversies do exit over long-term sustainability of such in situ methods. Thus, sustaining and supporting local seed supply systems is one of the major components of in situ conservation of crop genetic resources.
The seed selection and preservation practices among the farming community tend to vary greatly. While some farmers take at most care in ensuring the quality and purity of seeds, there are also evidences were much attention is not paid for ensuring quality and purity of seeds.
A IFPRI report “ Local Market, Local Varieties” says that liberalization of the Indian seed sector in the 1990s favored dryland cereals and legumes, with little impact on research and formal distribution channels for minor millets. Currently, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu lead in crop improvement research on minor millets. However, the range of improved varieties is narrow. Private companies show little interest in developing new varieties, due to their lack of commercial importance and the limited scope for developing new hybrids ( Melinda Smale et al, 2009). Seed systems in minor millets are mostly autarkic, farmers depend on their own seeds or other farmers in their community for seed (Latha Nagarajan, 2009) . The studies by the Centre for Indian Knowledge systems in its initiative of Revalorizing rainfed agriculture in Jawadhu hills has observed that in the last decade there has been a decline in diversity of millets grown in the area, while the crops like red, black and green gram lost their importance and not cultivated. Groundnut and gingelly cultivation has decreased by 50%. Livestocks such as cattle, goat and sheep have declined by 10% whereas buffaloes by 90% (CIKS,2012) . The detailed survey done on small millets has led to identification of 30 local varieties of small millets in Jawadhu hills (CIKS,2013). Another survey on uses, constraints and opportunities for small millets by MSSRF in Kolli Hills (Tamil Nadu), hosts a large genetic diversity of nutritious millets, farmers have been conserving about 21 landraces of these three millets for a long time. However the cultivation of these crops had been under increasing threat from tapioca, which was promoted as a cash crop by the local starch industry through a kind of contract farming ( Bhag Mal et al, 2010).
To study the social seed network currently prevailing among tribes of Jawadhu hills with respect to small millets and other crops for ensuring sustainable farming by preservation of land races and supply of quality seeds Objectives of the study
The research study was carried out in three selected panchayats of Jawadhu block, Kalasapakkam taluk, Thiruvannamalai district as a part of RESMISA (Revalorizing Small Millets In South Asia) project implemented in this site. A semi structured questionnaire was designed for the study to understand the seed distribution pattern among the farmers, specific seed selection practices if any and the terms under which the seeds get exchanged. The sample size was sixty with twenty samples for each panchayat. Both the random and snow ball sampling techniques were followed. The seed distribution pattern of major crops grown in the area was studied. The focus was more on Little millet Panicum sumatrense ( locally known as Samai) which was the predominant crop in the area followed by other crops like Finger millet Eleusine coracana (locally known as Kevuru) , Niger Guizotia abyssinica (payellu), Paddy Oriza sativa ( Nellu), Maize Zea mays ( makka cholam), Horse gram Macrotyloma uniflorum ( Kollu), Pearl millet Pennisetum glaucum( Cumbu) and other crops.
| S.No | Panchayat | Villages covered | Number of Samples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuttakarai | Kuttakarai Pattaraikadu |
20 |
| 2 | Nambiyampattu | Chinnaveerapattu Periyaveerapattu Nambiyampattu Pattarayan Kudisai Melkupusanur Pattanur |
20 |
| 3 | Kovillur | Kovillur Thombareddi Perungattur |
20 |
| Total | 11 | 60 |
Coleus crop (a medicinal tuber crop) and Cotton ( for hybrid seed production) are the two new crops introduced in the area as contract farming. The seeds are supplied by the private players who provide technical assistance and also buy back the product.
The local seed system prevailing in Jawadhu hills is highly informal in nature, the exchange of major crops grown in the area occurring rarely that too between neighbours, friends and relatives. Most of the little millet and finger millet varieties are indigenous in nature with their unique characteristic feature. Yet, since the farmers exert less concern with respect to maintaining the purity of such varieties, there is a risk of these varieties losing their individuality in long run. However a different pattern is observed in case of paddy crop, where the farmer’s source seeds of improved varieties from formal sources. With respect to paddy both informal and formal means of seed exchange occurs.
Another interesting feature is even in the informal system, no single farmer could be identified as a nodal farmer. The seed network structure is as such very loose and in fact there no formal network structure exists. The reason is the farmers retain their own seeds for sowing in the next season and rarely exchange.
The farmer’s treat the farm output for consumption/ trade and for seeds equally with no special attention to maintain purity. Lot of awareness and trainings are needed to these farmers to make them understand the genetic diversity of the local land races and to maintain their purity in the context of preserving biodiversity of small millets and thereby ensuring future food security. The local land races of small millets identified should also be subjected to scientific analysis to characterize them and those which excel in their performance and productivity can be introduced to other areas through participatory varietal trial.
If proper intervention is not done to preserve the purity of local land races in Jawadhu, imminent threat is there to the diversity of millets grown in the area.