Pune, Maharashtra
Indigenous Seed Preservation and Market Linkage
Training farmers to produce, promote, and sell indigenous seed varieties, rebuilding local seed sovereignty in Maharashtra's agricultural communities.
Attribute
Details
📍 Location
Pune, Maharashtra
🏛 Funder
MNGL
👥 Beneficiaries
500
📅 Duration
Nov 2021 to Oct 2022
🌱 Focus Area
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
B2V worked with 500 farmers in Pune district to revive the practice of saving, producing, and using indigenous seed varieties, a practice that has declined sharply as hybrid and commercially sourced seeds have displaced traditional agricultural knowledge across Maharashtra. The programme combined hands-on training in seed production techniques with active promotion of desi varieties among farmer communities, treating indigenous seeds not as a heritage artefact but as a practical, climate-adapted agricultural resource.
A deliberate market linkage component was built into the design from the outset, recognising that farmer adoption of indigenous seeds is only sustainable if there is a viable economic return.
The programme reached 500 farmers within a single operating year, working within a district where commercial seed dependency is high and indigenous variety knowledge is at risk of being lost within a generation. By pairing preservation with market access, B2V's model tested whether economic incentives could drive indigenous seed adoption where cultural motivation alone had not been sufficient.
Funded by MNGL, this programme also represents B2V's early entry into Maharashtra and into the Indigenous Knowledge Systems domain as a distinct area of work, alongside its more established agricultural programmes in Odisha and Jharkhand.
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