Seeds: the source for our food and it’s troubling future
“Jai Shri Krishna Zaver Bhai, Kem cho”. (How are you Brother Zaver) “Are Sandeep Bhai, hun to khare khar maja ma chun” (Brother Sandeep, I’m am completely fine). And the conversation lasted for an hour.
Dr. Zaver Dhimar, Age 71, residing Bardoli, dist Surat of Gujarat India is a unique person. He is the first PhD from his community of Dhimar (fisherman folks), He is a PhD in Seed Breeding and in his long service with Navsari Agriculture University of Gujarat he has contributed two drought resistant varieties of Paddy to the nation. Gr 5 & Gr 8. Both are successful varieties being practiced by lakhs of farmers across Gujarat. Of course the credit for development of the varieties and dissemination should go to the university and the then government of Gujarat since these are the resource institutions for all these efforts.
Dr. Dhimar is unassumingly simple and on a cursory look no one will be able to identify him as a scientist of vast knowledge. what he said today is noteworthy.
- Uptill about 1950s, we in India had 11,000 or more types of edibles in the form of diverse cereals, grains, coarse grains, millets, fruits, vegetables, shrubs, herbs, tubers, grasses, forest produce etc
- Change in agricultural practices in subsequent decades has drastically reduced this diverse and super healthy food bowl to around 300 edibles
- Much of the original germ plasm will be lost soon if an organised effort is not initiated soon
- The current tribal communities across the country has several unsung heroes (men and women) farmers who still maintain this super rich bowl of diverse edibles
- Government may through its networks of 72 Agriculture Universities and hundreds of Krishi vigyan Kendras and other research establishment may run an agri-preneurs program to recognise these heroes, take charge of this vast pool and regenerate these resources to be brought back to local dietary systems
- In his view it’ll become a huge global seed providing system earning India billions of Pounds & Dollars & Euros & Japanese Yens along with invaluable blessings of the global community for making their food safe, nutritious, healthy, diverse and tasty
To me, it sounds convincing that through the FPCs (Farmer’s producers companies) of NABARD, SFAC and other resource institutions this kind of a program can be run successfully. May be all the retired ( but not tired) teachers, researchers and scientists of Bharat need to look at it in an Army like discipline and work on it as a tribute to our motherland