Seeds and Their Keepers are Key to Preserving India’s Food Diversity – June 30, 2011

Women Farmers' Traditional Knowledge Needs to be Documented and Promoted

Let’s start at the very beginning.  Some might say that it all began with the seeds.

Seeds have long been a part of India’s cultural heritage. In a country where about 70 percent of the population still lives in rural and semi-rural communities, seeds are an integral part of many rituals, ceremonies and festivals that celebrate the cycle of birth, life and death. The practice of seed saving has been a cornerstone of Indian farming traditions that made agriculture, itself, a way of life.

Dr. Vanaja Ramprasad on women's role as seed keepers. Courtesy Rucha Chitnis/WEA.

But much of this changed with… more

by: Rucha Chitnis

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