Sreelatha Menon: Kobragade's food lab

A farmer, who made it to the Forbes list for developing a new seed variety, has a message for the govt...

Heard of HMT? It is a fine variety of rice developed by Dadaji Ramaji Kobragade – a farmer in Maharashtra. He belongs to a village in Chandrapore, bordering Chattisgarh. It is believed the fingers of the 60-year-old can read the mind of each grain of the paddy they touch. By lightly pressing and smelling them, he can make out what qualities the grain possess. And if he feels they are worth nurturing, he breeds them for a few years, cultivates them and then sends them to the market for the ultimate test.

In return he gets nothing. “Anybody telling me that the rice I gave to them was very sweet is a reward enough,” he says.

 

HMT became so popular in Maharashtra that the government had to provide the seeds to other farmers through its outlets. The government released it as its own variety, with Kobragade getting no credit.

Today, the variety of seed is used for sowing in almost two million acres across central India, says Jacob Nellithanam of the Ricaria Foundation in Chattisgarh, which has been promoting traditional seeds.

Kobragade has been trying to register the variety with the Plant Variety Authority to establish the ownership of his creation. Otherwise, there is no patent provision for seeds in India, as farmers are not regarded as breeders, says Nellithanam.

However, last month, Kobragade featured in the Forbes list for innovation by rural Indians, which finally made the government take notice of him. Recently, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra visited Kobragade and promised a reward of Rs 1 lakh.

Vijay Jeywantia, a farmers’ activist from Vidarbha, says Kobragade symbolises what Indian agriculture needs the most today. Straight-line seeds like HMT will ensure farmers sovereignty. But the government has not only stopped developing such seeds, which can be used and re-used by farmers, it has also put the entire responsibility of the development of hybrid varieties on private companies, which makes farmers eternally dependent on them, he says.

The Seed Act, in its present form, as well as in the new avatar that the government is planning to introduce in Parliament, does nothing for seed sovereignty. The entire emphasis is on encouraging hybrid varieties. Hybrids now monopolise cotton and jowar, forcing farmers to buy seeds each time they cultivate. Companies are now developing hybrid varieties of wheat and paddy, too.

Usha S, director of Thanal, a non-government organisation in Kerala that works on sustainable agriculture, says: “In Orissa, trials are already on for hybrid paddy seeds. If edible crops also become dependent on seed companies, then that will mark the end of food security.”

The new Seed Bill has been opposed by many state governments, like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, as it does not empower them to restrict entry of seeds they don’t want within their borders. The new Bill also does not pay any attention to on-farm conservation of traditional seed varieties.

Agriculture is location-specific, and so is bio-diversity in agriculture. Farmers have to generate their own seeds and, thus, protect their legacies, while guaranteeing food security, which is why Kobragade has been honoured.

Says Jaywantia: “We don’t say there should be no hybrids. But, along with hybrid varieties, the government should fund development and popularisation of non-hybrid varieties as well, so that farmers have a choice.”

As for Kobragade, the road he has travelled leads to farmers’ independence and a food-secure future for humanity. He has done what the government-funded farm universities should have been doing night and day.

Will the Forbes listing make the government pay heed to innovation by farmers, as well as to the conservation of agricultural bio-diversity?