Difficulties faced:

Collection and curating of seed collections is a task requiring careful attention and must be done within three months of the harvest, from November to January so that fresh seed can be collected. Seed should not be collected after this period since mixtures happen easily when the farmer has put away the harvest. He is not overly concerned about keeping the seed of different varieties strictly separate since traditionally farmers often plant mixtures of varieties so seed collections at this time can be mixed. At this time the farmer is also not very willing to give seed samples since he has packed and sealed the baskets in which seeds are stored and is reluctant to open the baskets.

The rural communities celebrate most of their festivals in this season also so sometimes farmers consider it inauspicious to give away seeds at this time, sometimes they are just busy with the festivities. Because of cultural beliefs, some farmers avoid giving away seed on specific days like Saturday. Collecting teams must keep this in mind and not give offence by asking for seeds on such days. Some farmers do not give seeds of certain varieties because those varieties may be rare or special in some other way, they may be found only with few farmers who are reluctant to give other farmers access to the seed. For the same reason, farmers may be reluctant to share information about the varieties. Sometimes farmers, specially younger farmers are not so familiar with traditional varieties and may give wrong names or distorted names. For instance Panchphore for Pant-4, Suragwan for Saryug-52 etc. Vigilance is needed to double-check the names of the varieties from 3 or 4 other sources.

Gene Campaign is training members of the local community, especially elder women, to form committees to administer the Seed Banks but this appears to be difficult. Administering the Banks is a complex process requiring detailed and accurate record keeping. The seed multiplication has to be done systematically following a specific methodology; in well-designed plots. The low literacy levels are an impediment. Because of the need for scientific accuracy in a collection that must also serve as a source of genes for further breeding work, Gene Campaign’s presence in some form will be required to oversee the administration, even when the committees learn to handle most of the work.

The greatest difficulties we face in in situ conservation are from the government, both at the national level and at the level of the state. Neither pays any attention to conservation of rice agro biodiversity even as it promotes hybrid and high yielding rice. This lapse is particularly grave since Jharkhand is part of the East India region comprising of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh which is considered to be the Center of Origin of Rice and rich in the genetic diversity of rice . In this backdrop there is an even greater need to continue and intensify the work on Gene and Seed Banks in areas like Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa.

II. Awareness and Empowerment Programs on Farmers Rights

The Rights Awareness program is being conducted in villages of Ranchi district. Instead of holding training workshops as in the initial phase,, we have decided to change the approach and have prepared fresh materials and communication strategies using a range of audio-visual materials.

The national legislation related to bioresources and farmers and communities rights have been paraphrased into simple text, and translated into Hindi. The legislation being discussed are the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Act, The Biodiversity Act, The Patent Act and the Geographical Indications Act. The key messages relevant to community rights are extracted and used in different ways. This text has also served as the basis for songs, slogans and banner messages as well as the scripts of Street Plays.     Continue....