Assistant Director of Agriculture office, in an press release announced that under the conservation and promotion of indigenous crops program, a community seed bank is expected to be established with the aim of collecting and preserving “disappearing and dying indigenous crops.”
Traditional varieties grown by farmers in a particular area for generations, crops with unique characteristics adapted to the local farming system of the area are called indigenous crops.
Under this program, paddy, millet, jowar, togari, buckwheat, avara, alasande, madakikalu, huchellu, safflower, sesame, navane, sambar, oodalu, korale, haraka, baragu, wheat, chillies and crops recommended by the advisory committee have been included.
Recently disappearing indigenous varieties have been identified and to conserve indigenous varieties through a survey was the aim. To support this, incentives is expected to be provided to those who have been cultivating indigenous varieties since from a long period.
To get incentives under this scheme, farmers must agree to participate in the program and farmers must be willing to provide the required number of indigenous varieties to keep the seeds of the varieties in the seed bank. Livestock management, barnyard manure, vermicompost and other sustainable farming activities must be undertaken. This will help to encourage continuous cultivation of indigenous varieties, support biodiversity and foster sustainable farming practices.
Chandrashekhar, Joint Director of the Agriculture Department, stated that farmers who are growing and conserving indigenous varieties should register with the details of the crops they are growing or conserving before May 31 and avail the benefits of this scheme.
To register under this scheme and for more information, farmers can contact the nearest Raitha Sampark Kendra, informed Assistant Director of Agriculture.
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