Every time you go vegetable shopping, you may have noticed that some vegetables you used to buy are rarely available or not available at all. The astounding truth is that the absence of these vegetables is not seasonal, but they are going extinct.
Realising the gravity of this problem, a 60-year-old man from Bengaluru has started a mission to curate indigenous seeds of endangered vegetables.An architect by profession and a farmer by passion, Prabhakar Rao, who holds a PhD in plant breeding and genetics, says, “People are aware of endangered birds and animals. However, when they find that some vegetables are not available in the market, they do not realise that so many vegetables are extinct.”
A walk into Hariyalee—a family-run farm set up by him in 2011—introduces you to a whole new dimension of farming, incorporating Vedic agricultural practices; making use of natural pesticides and manure. The 2.5-acre natural farm provides a complacent habitat to over 560 varieties of endangered seeds.
From purple, white, pink ladyfingers to Tuleo Strawberry Corn to red Quinoa, Cinnamon basil and Giant Aconcagua Pepper, the setting is such that it feels like you stepped into a vibrant rainforest. The names may seem fancy and foreign, but Rao says, he names them after the place of its origin or just by their appearance. Quiz him about his favourite variety, and he says it is the Violet Sparkling Capsicum—conveniently named because it is violet and sparkly.
The interest to curate seeds was not just a hobby. “I spent several years travelling around the world, curating these indigenous seeds. I joined the International Seed Savers Exchange, an international body of like-minded people, who aim at preserving the indigenous seeds, 20 years ago and decided to do my part by starting Hariyalee,” says Rao.
Initially, it was difficult for Rao as he did not have enough seeds of every variety with him. So he decided to multiply them to an extent so that he could sell them to gardeners. “Search for these seeds requires patience and hard work,” says Rao. “It is essential to talk to the farmers of older generation as some of them still preserve the seeds of unique varieties. For instance, an eggplant called Bangladeshi Long has not been available in the market for a very long time,” Rao explains. But he managed to procure some seeds of the plant from farmers in West Bengal. Now, he has about 1,000 seeds of the variety.
Rao has a strong notion against the corporatisation of seeds. “Due to commercialisation of seeds, farmers have to depend on these companies every season to buy new seeds. This means, a farmer no longer has access to the indigenous seeds or the original seeds and they will have to go back to the companies. This cycle is repeatedly proving profitable only to these companies. This is why 90 per cent of vegetables that we eat today are hybrid varieties,” he says.
It was at this point that he realised a sustainable mode of agriculture was the need of the hour. Taking this as the motivation, he developed his farm, based on Vedic agriculture.
The only resource required in Rao’s farm is cow dung and cow urine, which he collects from the neighbouring farm. “Natural proteins, jaggery, cow dung and urine make a symbiotic environment for the seeds to grow. Getting up and working in the farm is not a task for me. It is my passion, and I enjoy it,” says Rao.
Seeds are also sold to gardeners and farmers. Since the buyers will make a one-time purchase, 10 seeds are sold at the rate of `60. So that buyers don’t have to come back to him every time.
“It is not just the international varieties that are being taken care of. Our native seeds are like our own property. They are much more adaptable and resilient to climate changes and diseases. Instead of making them genetically modified to give artificial characteristics, it is much more judicious to cultivate them as they are,” says Rao, who has plans tohold workshops to educate people about seed varieties, their origin, nutritional value and background.