Summary:
Indigenous varieties could withstand climate change and required little or no manure. Nagpur: Most farmers from Gadchiroli’s Etapalli block talk about huge diversity in rice , the major crop of the area, grown in the good old days. Started in 2014, priority crops covered in this area are paddy and hyacinth bean.Selecting villages and conducting participatory survey are the initial steps in this community-led seed conservation programme. Next, seed sample collected from seed savers are preserved in a central seed bank at cluster level. But that was before many farmers were tricked into believing that genetically modified (GM) seeds sold by private companies would ensure better yield.Chinna Durva of Todsa village remembers indigenous varieties like Gadel, Pitris, Dubraj, Badge, Sudi among others sowed in the farm of his father and grandfather..