Profit-driven motives have overtaken traditional, natural agricultural practices, leaving farmers confused and disempowered.
Published Apr 04, 2025 | 5:00 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 04, 2025 | 5:00 PM
Seeds. (iStock)
Synopsis: The Seed Festival in Telangana, organized by the Council for Green Revolution, aims to revive traditional seed knowledge, promote eco-friendly farming, and empower farmers, especially women, in seed management. The event will showcase diverse seed varieties, foster cooperation, and raise awareness about sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and farmers’ rights, creating a platform for cultural exchange and collective action.
The seed is the cornerstone of life, essential to creation’s survival and legacy. It nourishes the health and sustains the existence of all living beings. Yet, the control, knowledge, and freedom over seeds have gradually slipped away from the hands of farmers, falling into the grasp of powerful corporate entities.
This shift has disrupted the entire agricultural process, becoming a key factor in the decline of farming and the growing struggles of farmers. Despite the promises of scientific and technological progress, it has veered off course, giving way to market forces that dominate the seed industry.
Profit-driven motives have overtaken traditional, natural agricultural practices, leaving farmers confused and disempowered.
Once the master of every stage of food production, the farmer today stands helplessly at the doorstep of market-driven illusions, accepting whatever seeds are handed to him and carrying them to his fields with uncertainty how much will grow, how much will wither? This situation must change. We must return to the ways of the past.
Hailed as the backbone of the country, farmers toil with their hands, tilling the soil and cultivating fields through backbreaking labor to grow crops that sustain the nation’s survival.
From Valmiki and Vyasa to Iqbal, Duvvuri Ramireddy, Joshua, and Sri Sri, countless poets over the ages have crowned the farmer with their literary creations. Yet, today, in the priorities of rulers and policymakers, the farmer always finds himself at the very bottom. He is deliberately kept there. Governments offer promises but rarely deliver true justice to the farming community. Policy flaws are compounded by implementation failures and execution lapses. As a result, no immediate response is forthcoming for any of the farmer’s problems.
From the seed that begins the cropping process to the sale of the harvest achieved through relentless effort under sun and rain, the farmer faces hardships and struggles at every step.
However, it is unfair for us to perpetually shift the blame onto nature or governments and remain passive. Civil society, too, bears a responsibility. We must stand by the farmer in every possible way, offering support, providing whatever assistance we can, creating opportunities for cooperation among farmers, and establishing platforms to facilitate this.
One such effort is the initiative by the Council for Green Revolution (CGR), in collaboration with Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch and sixteen other organizations, to design the first “Seed Festival” in Telangana.
Yogi Vemana once said, “Even a small amount of virtue done with a pure heart is never in vain, just as a tiny seed gives rise to the mighty banyan tree.” The seed of a banyan tree may be minuscule, but it is the foundation of that majestic giant. Such is the greatness of a seed.
For thousands of years across the world and in our own country, farmers alone handled the understanding, collection, preservation, sharing, and use of seeds. Times have changed, and the situation has slipped away. Due to the machinations of market-dominating forces, the traditional knowledge, self-sufficiency, and collective benefit that farmers inherited over generations are gradually fading into the shadows of neglect.
Until yesterday, the farmer’s word was law, his seeds a hereditary treasure, and mutual cooperation a model of coexistence. This innate seed culture, once thriving in the hands and actions of farmers, has slowly been alienated.
Just as food is the source of health, crops are the source of food, and seeds are the source of crops. They must remain in the hands and control of farmers. Awareness of this must grow among them. They need to recognize what they are losing in their pursuit of short-term gains. Civil society must create such an opportunity.
Local seeds, nature-friendly natural seeds, traditional knowledge, cooperation, and culture must be mutually utilized. This wisdom and knowledge must flow from farmer to farmer like lightning. The past glory of our rural landscapes must sprout anew.
With this purpose and goal, the first “Seed Festival” of Telangana is being organized on 4, 5, and 6 April at Anmaspalli village, Kadthal mandal, Rangareddy district.
Farmers, farmer representatives, and seed and agriculture experts from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, and other states will participate, setting up over fifty stalls for this three-day celebration. The farmer must once again become the uncrowned king of a natural agricultural empire.
We must tear away the temporary darkness with resolute hands and lay the foundation for tomorrow’s light. We must honor the brilliance of seeds and salute the farmer.
Women play a vital and more fitting role than men in identifying, collecting, and preserving seeds, thanks to their dedication and skill.
If seed management—vital for health security and food protection—remains in the hands of farmers, women in farming families will have greater opportunities to take on this important work, earning the recognition and respect it deserves. Before the advent of genetically modified seeds and corporate monopolies over them, this was the prevailing culture.
The upcoming three-day Seed Festival has outlined all these aspects as its objectives. Collecting, preserving, sharing, and using seeds will be transformed into a movement. Enhancing the skills of local communities in identifying, storing, and nurturing seeds is one stated goal.
Alongside protecting our plant and animal species, this platform will be used to honor their associated natural and cultural practices and traditions. The festival aims to safeguard the seed rights of farmers, indigenous people, hill and forest-dwelling communities, fisherfolk, and others reliant on traditional livelihoods, as well as those of future generations.
It seeks to support holistic, natural, and eco-friendly agriculture tailored to the needs of local communities—particularly their livelihoods and health while also contributing to the conservation of forests, natural resources, and biodiversity.
Another strong objective is to raise awareness about preserving nature’s wealth, promoting sustainability, ensuring stable livelihoods, and continuing traditional knowledge. The festival also aims to encourage a network where farmers extract nature-friendly seeds from their produce and exchange them at local, regional, national, and international levels, fostering collective action.
Seed festivals and seed fairs are already a tradition in southern states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, as well as in Maharashtra and Odisha. However, such a comprehensive seed festival culture has not existed in the Telugu states until now.
For this reason, experts and experienced individuals from these states have been specially invited to this event. The event aims to cultivate the process of giving, receiving, freely sharing, and purchasing seeds, which will foster camaraderie among farmers and, over time, encourage mutual cooperation in other areas as well.
Making indigenous, local, forest-derived, organic, and chemical-free food and their by-products accessible is another unique feature.
Thousands of traditional seed varieties related to various crops will be showcased during the festival. By providing opportunities for media representatives to interact with farmers, seed conservators, experts, indigenous people, and activists in this field, the organizers aim to spread these messages to a wider audience.
Beyond books, posters, photographs, and documents, the platform will be maximally utilized to inspire farmers through film screenings, music, dance, and other cultural programs. Speeches, discussions, seminars, workshops, and training programs on specific topics are being designed to make the Seed Festival a blend of entertainment and enlightenment.
Farmers aspiring to adopt natural, eco-friendly, and organic farming methods will gain confidence, realizing that such events are happening in many places. The understanding that they are not alone and that this is a nationwide movement will instill new courage in them.
In recent times, the phrase “the farmer is king” has been reduced to a mere slogan. The seed is the strength and the new path to truly making the farmer a king!
(Views expressed here are personal, edited by Sumavarsha)
