Reap what you so-ught
PUDUCHERRY: Shanmugasundaram, the 24-year-old youth from Embalam village in Puducherry, is one of the accidental farmers. Working on a documentary film in 2016, Sundar, as he is popularly known, came across a collection of traditional seed varieties. What started out as a project for his Visual Communication course curriculum drove him to take it up as a passion. Reclaiming traditional vegetable seed varieties is his mission now.
Uzhuthu Unn (Plow and Eat), run by Sundar, collects traditional vegetable seeds from various places and distributes them to farmers and others free of cost. He wants to promote the varieties and make it available for future generations too.
For the documentary project, Sundar interacted with people, including farmers, from across Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. “I met agricultural scientist G Nammalvar and renowned organic farmer Nel Jayaraman. Later, I started working under Nel Krishnamurthy from Irulandandhai in Puducherry for traditional paddy seeds collection and distribution for six months. During this stint, inspired by agriculturist Subhash Palekar, I learned about zero-budget farming from Vetriselvan of Santhaiputhukuppam,” he says.
While many people were involved in the collection of traditional paddy seeds, he found only a handful was into traditional vegetable seeds. Sundar says, “I started collecting traditional vegetable seeds in 2018. In the beginning, it was difficult as hybrid varieties are ubiquitous across the market now. I visited villages that did not have transport facilities as the villagers would not buy seeds from outside but cultivate traditional varieties grown in those particular areas for generations. I still do that.”
He created social media groups with friends and those interested in the conservation of traditional vegetable seeds. With the help of more than 500 members now, he collects, produces, and distributes seeds to nearly 4,000 people. The brinjal is a familiar veggie in the Indian kitchen. But does anyone know there are a few hundred varieties of brinjal available in Tamil Nadu alone?
“Brinjal is our native variety,” he says. “In the past, we had nearly 600 varieties in Tamil Nadu alone and four in Puducherry. Now, only 13 varieties are available in the market and most of them are hybrid. We’ve managed to collect seeds of nearly 100 traditional varieties so far,” he said. According to Sundar, brinjal varieties are usually named after the places they grow in. He noted his team is working on a book — Vithayin Kathai (The story of the seed) — with such interesting facts.
Deriding the farmers’ goal of ‘immediate profit’, Sundar said most farmers failed to understand the importance of traditional varieties in pursuit of profits. “But people with house gardens and those who understand the importance of traditional varieties collect seeds from us for free of cost. In return, we ask them to return some quantity of seeds as they should be preserved for future generations. We also train interested people in seed collection and production,” he says.
Sundar and his friends set up stalls in seed festivals to raise awareness on traditional vegetable varieties and their cultivation methods. He offers both paid and free training. For his income, the youth sells organic products like honey, traditional rice varieties, and cereals which he buys from different places of his visit.
“In the past, farmers gave importance to Vithainel, a traditional method to safeguard traditional paddy seeds for future cultivation. Farmers have forgotten this completely now and are dependent on seed producers. They are unaware that they spend Rs 10,000-15,000 per kg of seeds which they originally sold to buyers for less than Rs 100,” he says. Now, Sundar and his friends are working to set up seed banks in all villages across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.