Youth Revive Traditional Seeds Amid Hybrid Shift

Another reason is the lack of income and recognition for seed-saving work. CSBs usually don’t receive financial support from the government. Most are run by NGOs and self-help groups on small budgets.

Even within farming families, the knowledge once passed from grandmothers to granddaughters, or fathers to sons, is not being transferred with the same intensity. Traditional seed selection rituals like rotiyaana in Uttarakhand, where women select the strongest stalks before harvest, are fading.

Youth in rural areas are drawn to off-farm jobs and associate traditional agriculture with hard labour, low returns and limited mobility.

“Seed work is seen as low-paying and not attractive. Without market support or training, youth are not motivated,” said G Krishna Prasad, founder of Sahaja Samrudha, a Karnataka-based seed-saving network. “But if young people are involved in variety selection, growing and marketing seeds, they start to take ownership.”

There are bright spots too. Other than Teertha village in Karnataka, the Chizami CSB in Nagaland is fully managed by women. They not only conserve seeds but also teach students and youth groups how to select, store and grow these traditional seeds. This keeps the old knowledge alive and a reason to connect with their land and heritage. The Northeast Network supports this effort.

“There is a need to build trust and pass down traditional knowledge,” said Prajeesh Parameswaran from the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. “Most of the seed saving, especially for small millets and vegetables, has always been done by women. We must involve youth now, or we risk losing this knowledge forever.”

What needs to change?

Experts believe seed saving must be made interesting, rewarding and interesting work. This can be done by:

• Education and training: Teach students about seeds and farming traditions. Give awards, training and support to young seed savers

• Official recognition: Including seed savers and CSBs in government farming and rural employement programmes

• Local festivals and stories can make youth proud of their traditions and roots

India has a history of 10,000 years of agriculture, 9,940 of which were chemical-free, seed-sovereign and youth-driven in their own way. The question today is not just whether the seeds will survive climate change, but whether the next generation will value them enough to keep saving and planting. 

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