Natural Seed Preservation

In rain-fed land, we cultivate horse gram and green gram, and we store their seeds safely by using neem and karanja leaves.

— Sita Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

In rain-fed land, we cultivate horse gram and green gram, and we store the seeds safely in the village using neem leaves and karada leaves.

— Sita Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

In our region, even without rain, we cultivate crops like moong, urad, and horse gram. We also preserve their seeds by mixing them with neem leaves.

— Kunakanta Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

Here, we preserve pulse seeds like black gram (urad) and pigeon pea (arhar) for planting in the next season. We mix them with ash or powdered dry neem leaves, which prevents insects. Then, in the next year, we sow those same seeds in the field. This is how we preserve them.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We cultivate seeds such as chickpea, lentil, mustard, and horse gram using traditional, possibly rain-fed, farming methods. We preserve these seeds and cultivate them using this traditional agricultural practice.

— Laxmi Sahu

When there was no rain, I cultivated green gram, black gram, and horse gram. I store the seeds by mixing them with neem leaves.

— Sushama Digal · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

Even without rain, I cultivate moong (green gram). And I preserve the seeds by using eggplant leaves and neem leaves.

— Kunakanta Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

We do farming. We save some seeds beforehand and then cultivate. This way, we get many crops, including green gram, black gram, and pigeon pea.

— Ulapi Sahu · Balangir, Odisha

We do traditional farming. We save rain-fed seeds and cultivate crops like sorghum and chickpea.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

We mix the seeds with neem leaves and store them in earthen pots, and we use them the following year.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

We have cultivated moong and urad this rainy season. We will keep the seeds and cultivate again next rainy season.

— Gitanjali Bhoi

We keep green gram, black gram, and horse gram seeds, and cultivate them in the second crop.

— Puspanjali Nag

Here, rain-fed crops are barley, green gram, and maize, and their seeds are stored.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We store moong pulse seeds using traditional methods and sow the seeds as a Rabi crop with zero irrigation after the Kharif season crop harvest.

— Ahalya Sahu · Kalahandi, Odisha

We cultivated rainfed crops like pigeon pea, mung bean, and black gram, and will continue to cultivate and preserve them for the future.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

My name is Dillip Kumar, from Mahulpada village. After the rice cultivation is finished, we cultivate green gram and black gram. We dry the seeds in the sun, mix them with neem leaves, tie them tightly, and sow those stored seeds the following year.

— RUDRA PRASAD BAG · Mahulpāra, Nuapada, Odisha

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation. I also cultivate every year using this method by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

Yes, we grow other crops and also preserve seeds like black gram, pigeon pea, and green gram.

— Jagannath Baraik · Ranchi, Jharkhand

We plough the field and sow horse gram. It grows with dew drops. We sterilize the seeds with ash from a wood stove and then store them.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation, and I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

Here, we cultivate paddy, sawa, medon, and mijhri. We store sawa, medon, and mijhri at home for sowing in the next year. Additionally, among pulses, we have kurthi and baturi, which we also store and sow the following year.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

After Anukuta, we observe the soil moisture, plow the field, and sow green gram and black gram. We keep these seeds stored at home.

— Bharati Khandapatra · Mayurbhanj, Odisha

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also store black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this method.

— Kumudini Chhanchan

Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

This year, we have cultivated green gram, black gram, and chickpeas. We will save the seeds to cultivate them again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha

In our region, rain-fed crops like black gram, green gram, oilseeds, etc., are grown, which need protection.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, pulses are cultivated in this. According to our ancestors, we also preserve seeds.

— Jagannath Baraik · Bayang, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

My name is Netrananda Bag, village Mahul Pada. Traditionally, we dry moong, masoor, and chana seeds in the sun for four to five days. We also dry neem leaves. Then we mix them all together, tie them up completely, and store them, and sow these seeds the next year.

— RUDRA PRASAD BAG · Dongargaon, Nuapada, Odisha

I, Sukhlal Parkhi from Rampur Mewara, cultivate pigeon pea, chickpea, flaxseed, and mustard in these hilly regions using zero-irrigation farming. We collect seeds using traditional methods. We put neem leaves in seed storage.

— narayanlalbaranda5@gmail.com · Jhapa, Dungarpur, Rajasthan

We disinfect the seeds with neem leaves, store them in a pot, and then use them.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

After harvesting the paddy, we plough the land by observing the leaves, and then cultivate green gram and black gram. We use those seeds along with brinjal leaves and lemon leaves.

— Bharati Khandapatra

For the second crop, we cultivate seeds such as moong, urad, and arhar. We save those seeds to cultivate them again the following year.

— RINA BEHERA · Hemagiri, Sundargarh, Odisha

I cultivate pulse crops without irrigation. We save pulse seeds, among which horse gram, black gram, and pigeon pea are the oldest varieties. We save these seeds for cultivation every year. Our ancestors used to cultivate using manure and traditional ploughs.

— DASHARATH SINGH

Name: Purnachandra Pradhan. Village: Gatamaha, G.P. Bondaguda, block Nuagaon, District Kandhamal. We are cultivating green gram, mustard, and black gram as a second crop without irrigation, and we are also saving seeds.

— Sidheswar Nayak · Kandhamal, Odisha

After harvesting the paddy, we cultivate crops like moong, urad, chana, and masoor in that field without irrigation. We save these for our home. We then prepare the soil there for further cultivation.

— swornalata nayak · Patnāgarh, Balangir, Odisha

We are cultivating moong and urad beans. We have kept seeds and will cultivate again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha

We have traditional seeds here like Saadia, paddy, pigeon pea, semi-native gourds, Karaiguta, Chipra, etc. We preserve these every year and cultivate them using old traditional methods without irrigation.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

We farm at our home and manage our household with it. We cultivate pigeon pea and other pulses with low water, and also sow barley. These require less water, and we also save them for the next year. This way, we preserve the seeds.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We will cultivate mustard, green gram, and other crops, store their seeds, and cultivate them again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha

After harvesting the paddy, we sow green gram, black gram, and chickpeas in this field without water. We harvest them and store them in our house, ensuring no pests infest them.

— Parikshit Majhi · Balangir, Odisha