SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2007 Edition

 

Rural Karnataka’s ‘native seed man' is G. Krishna Prasad. Since 15 years, he’s been leading a movement to conserve indigenous varieties of seeds. An important outcome of his movement is the establishment of 34 seed banks in collaboration with 12 NGOs in Karnataka. He has written prolifically on seed conservation. Both Beeja bangara in Prajavani, and Tenegoodiballa in Adike Patrike are avidly read.

Krishna Prasad has brought many seed savers into the limelight. He has organised four conferences of seed-savers in Karnataka and he succeeded in including a seed conservation programme in the state’s organic farming policy. The Green Foundation has backed him fully. Krishna Prasad has built a band of youngsters who are at the forefront of the 'save native seeds' campaign. Krishna Prasad and his friends have rescued many seeds from the brink of extinction. Among them is 'Pichakatti' ragi which is once again popular with farmers.

Another seed is 'Bannada musukina jola', a jowar variety he discovered with the Soliga tribal community. Then, there is a brinjal variety called 'Musukina badane' that lasts five years and 'Gamgadle,' a rice variety that is ideal for making payasa.

 

Want to give feedback on this article

Name Email Subject Feedback (Not more than 250 character)

 

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are strictly personal and civilsocietyonline.com does not necessarily subscribe to them. We shall endeavour to upload/publish as many of the comments that are submitted as possible within a reasonable span of time, but we do not guarantee that all comments that are submitted will be uploaded/published. Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene, unlawful, defamatory, libellous, hateful, or otherwise objectionable content; or have spam, commercial or advertising content or links are liable to be removed by the editors. We also reserve the right to edit the comments that do get published. Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly.

 

About Us | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | ©2007 Civil Society

.
........................................Webmaster Vishwanathan ( vishu4@rediffmail.com )