Shamiran Biswas

For hundreds of years, farmers have been playing the role of guardians of new crop seeds and crops around the world. Policymakers often find it challenging to identify farmers' ancient rights to produce and save their own seeds in the context of commercial varieties. But farmers are becoming increasingly aware of their rights and the importance of their own varieties. Farmers say, “My right, I can say, the local crops that I grow are mine and no one else has control over my seeds. I have the right to decide whether I sell them or not.”

Currently, researchers are multiplying the yield of farmers' local varieties and then selling them back to the farmers themselves. But when farmers grow crops, they are no longer seeds; And researchers say farmers need to buy seeds every year. But in earlier days, farmers could use local seeds over and over again. Farmers are still able to use their local varieties as in the past; They are also useful in the culture and social rituals of farmers' children or the next generation. Apart from their families, there is another thing farmer hold very close to their hearts, and that is seeds.

They are proud to be farmers. Farmers provide food and support to their children. In fact, farmers provide food for the entire world. So readers will surely agree with farmers on how important it is to keep their own seeds to themselves. Farmers now have the right to know how well they can save their seeds. Now we can put the question to the farmers that from where they get these seeds? Do they leave some seeds from the previous crop? Do they exchange some seeds with other farmers; Or do they occasionally buy seeds from the local market? Some of us buy seeds from farmers' organizations or local agricultural representatives. However, the seeds they sell are mainly grown elsewhere and often have to be purchased each season at higher prices.

Local varieties grow well in our country's climate, and we have some good varieties to commend. These breeds need to be preserved to maintain our cultural identity. When your child gets married, or when you invite someone as the chief guest, organize a festival in your village, he must be welcomed with the local variety of rice accompanied by rejoicing and singing. Farmers said, “We are very happy that we have got the seeds back from our ancestors. We elder know that when you cook rice with local rice, it gives off a nice aroma, the jau thickens; And when you eat it, you'll like it.”

Local varieties also play an important role in helping farmers adapt to climate change. The farmers said, “In the past we had no one to look after us, and so we only cultivated paddy; But now we can see how the rainfall varies over the years. We get this information from experts. We also have additional information on different crop varieties, so when we fail in one crop, we benefit in another crop.”

As the climate changes, crop producers are relying on their own local varieties to develop modern varieties to meet new needs. In the farmer's words: “The variety of grain they need, it is not possible for them to get that variety without our local seeds. They rely on seeds collected from local seeds, which are produced by farmers like us. After collecting the seeds from us, they mix the two seeds to improve the quality of the seeds. They keep doing this until they get the seeds they need. So it is not possible for them to work on their own without our help.”

The Seed Act discourages farmers from storing seeds. As a result, it becomes more difficult to save the seeds that seed producers rely on to produce new, modern varieties. Fortunately, the government has understood the rights of farmers. Did you know that our government has signed an international agreement on genetic resources for food and agriculture? They have done this jointly with the governments of 140 countries around the world. This agreement reminds us of our right to share and sell our farm-saved seeds and protect our traditional knowledge. This Agreement also identifies our rights to decision-making and co-benefits arising from the use of seeds.

Farmers say, “Seed growers benefit not only from our seeds, but also from our knowledge or experience, as we, as seed owners, produce seeds locally, they can learn a lot from us. So when they come to us with their varieties, they first check our experience and then apply it. Finally, they seem to have come down to us with a special breed of knowledge. But we can help them. Therefore, we must be sure to learn about our rights and stand up for ourselves. So we must always use government laws to actively save, apply, exchange and sell our own indigenous seeds.”

Farmers say that, “I know that we have some rights like other entrepreneurs; We, the farmers also need help. One way to share our indigenous crops is through seed fairs. Our farmers also come to exchange and sell their local seeds. Thus the scope for crop diversification is truly incredible. Farmers say that, “We discuss traditional crop varieties. To ensure that breeds are not lost, our children will know about these breeds, get them, and not lose them.” Women exchange seeds and knowledge. Not only about growing crops, but also about how to prepare and eat them. Seed fairs give the youth an opportunity to learn from their elders about local varieties and extinct crop varieties. Some even think of commercial opportunities in the production of local varieties.

When I came to know about this seed and food fair, I became interested in producing other diverse foods, such as Ñ potatoes, millets, sweet nuts and beans. This seed fair is very important for me, because I get to see many new varieties. I have seen both young and mature varieties of local barley. But also saw certain varieties of grain, which I had not seen before. We have not lost anything, but we want to ensure the crops that our parents used to grow. We are young, we want to participate."

Community seed banks are another great way to support farmers' rights. Farmers deposit seeds of local varieties in community seed banks to ensure that the time of planting is convenient. The farmer said, “When we keep seeds at home, we think of selling them to buy certain necessities. Or we sometimes see your children using saved seeds for planting. But when we deposit seeds in the seed bank, we can rest assured that we have seeds, because when the rains come, we get these seeds to plant.”

“Government seed laws should allow farmers to use local seeds to sustain community seed banks. We need government support to sustain the indigenous breeds and knowledge resources of the country. “Farmers should work together in groups or clubs to save seeds and make their demands heard by the government, so that what they want is demanded by many at the same time, so that what the farmers want, the government listens. These groups will work together with non-governmental organizations, and talk together. They will emphasize the need to save their own local crop seeds.”

Dear friends, let us make sure that our voices are strong when making the decisions that are so important to us. May we get the most out of the varieties we have improved for ourselves, and the new varieties we have introduced that are beneficial to us. After all, farmers' rights mean our rights. We will stay together for the better future of our family and our country. If farmers stand together and speak with one voice, the government will listen and act on farmers' rights.

The writer is a, Agriculture and Environment Specialist, Dhaka.