Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/up039s-seedman-on-039yatra039-to-popularize-indigenous-seeds-rajiv-mani-24004.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | UP's seedman on 'yatra' to popularize indigenous seeds -Rajiv Mani | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

UP's seedman on 'yatra' to popularize indigenous seeds -Rajiv Mani
-The Times of India


ALLAHABAD: A farmer of Varanasi, who developed an indigenous variety of wheat containing 12% iron -- far more then what is being cultivated in most of the country - is out to sell the idea of cheap seeds. Honoured twice by the President for his pioneering work, this modest peasant has over 400 varieties of high-yielding paddy and over 120 varieties of wheat and pulses to his credit. Used all over the country, his seeds are making farmers self-reliant and discouraging GM seeds.

On a ''Beej Mantra Yatra'' to propagate use of cheap indigenous seeds, Jai Prakash Singh spoke to TOI on his way to Delhi. "After failing class 10th, I had nothing to do but work in my ancestral fields. I chanced upon a particular wheat plant that was far healthier than others and contained more grains. I plucked some of them and sowed their seeds in the next rabi season and got good results." Singh has not looked back.

"The genetically modified (GM) seeds available in the market are ruining poor farmers as they are not conserving old seeds," said the pioneering 'desi' scientist spreading his 'zero budget' technique of farming with the help of an army of around 80 peasants belonging to nine villages around his village Tadiyan of Rajatalab in Varanasi. "We work on an 'elimination model' while developing a seed. We conserve the healthy plants for seeds while the weak ones are destroyed. This way we get good seeds over a period of time. Though we do not use any fertilizer or chemical, the yield is far better than the hybrid seeds," he claimed.

Simple it may seem, but the "revolution" has brought Singh all-round acclaim. He was also honoured with the Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Award by the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmer's Rights Authority of the Central government in 2012 for his pioneering work.

"The most impressive and important of Singh's contributions is the wheat variety HJP 52. The leaf of this variety contains as much as 12% iron which clearly shows that it will help fulfill the nutritional needs of the country's poor," said Prof Jagveer Rawat, faculty member from the department of Veterinary Microbiology, Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Hisar, who has worked extensively on seeds conserved by Singh.

"In case of this high-iron wheat variety, we found that the leaves of this particular wheat plant were greener as compared to others and the stalk of barley was more golden in colour which hinted that something is special in this wheat," said Singh. "In 2004, I contacted agricultural experts of the Chaudhary Charan Singh Agricultural University, Hisar, who carried out several tests for the next four years before reaching a conclusion regarding its high iron content," he added.

"Though the government is encouraging organic farming, it does not talk of conserving indigenous seeds which can help poor farmers. I sell my seeds for Rs 20 per kg and take a signed undertaking that it would be sold further at the same rate after a good harvest," said Singh explaining the economics of his idea.