Revival of Traditional Crop Varieties
Local traditional seeds and a Kodo millet field.
The main target is to enhance the cultivation of multiple crops like pulses, rice and millet varieties. Also traditional vegetables are promoted instead of newly developed varieties. This activity is needed since many farmers have become discouraged to cultivate traditional crops and instead planted hybrid varieties which acquire more pesticides and water. Kudumbam mainly focuses on dry land farmers and encourages them to go for crops that are more adapted to the climate conditions. We believe that diversified crop varieties in the end contribute to an increase of biodiversity among communities. To additionally enhance the biodiversity we also conduct training and encourage farmers to use the cultivation method ’mixed cropping’ (several crop varieties planted at one agricultural field). A good result from this intervention is that some farmers on their own initiative have started to plant and cultivate local seeds.