A unique and exceptional Rural Seed Fair focused on seed diversity and connecting the new generation was held at Tripani Vidyapith Secondary School in Munshiganj Union, Shyamnagar Upazila, Satkhira.
The event was organized by Shobuj Songhoti and SSST, with support from BARSIC on Thursday.
Presided over by Tripani Vidyapith’s headmaster, Abul Kalam Mallik, the fair created a festive atmosphere with the participation of nearly 150 students, teachers, members of Shobuj Songhoti, and officials from BARSIC.
The seed fair showcased local rural seeds suitable for the area, including 162 varieties of indigenous rice, 22 types of beans, 6 varieties of eggplant, 8 types of chili, 8 varieties of datashak (a leafy vegetable), and other crops.
At the beginning of the event, students from grades 6 to 10 demonstrated their conceptual understanding of climate change, climate justice, environment, ecosystem, mangrove forests, local seeds, farmers’ importance, and coastal area challenges through a quiz competition. In the discussion session, student Dipto shared, “We learned about the many types of native seeds in our area and saw them firsthand. We had no idea before that there were so many varieties of rice cultivated here.
” Headmaster Abul Kalam Mallik, the event’s president, said, “Children have little knowledge about local seeds. Due to salinity and natural disasters in the area, many native seeds have been lost. The kinds of local crop varieties grown during our fathers’ and grandfathers’ time are no longer cultivated.” At the closing ceremony, speakers included Ramkrishna Jowardar, regional coordinator of BARSIC; Bhudhar Chandra, member of Shobuj Songhoti; and teachers Nirmal Mondal, Haripada Biswas, and Bishwajit Mondal.
The speakers emphasized that seeds are farmers’ own valuable assets, but now these assets have turned into commodities for businessmen.
They stressed that awareness about seed conservation and its importance will help ordinary farmers escape control by corporate syndicates in the seed market and strengthen the country’s food security.
The students called for more programs like this in the future to highlight coastal region biodiversity and to help students gain accurate knowledge about their local area and improve their adaptive skills.
