It is time to re–imagine what community seed banks mean in India. The imagination of community seed banks has to go beyond a physical space or room where the diversity is on display, or some seed quantities are being stored through traditional practices. The real work lies in building institutional systems that can popularise native seeds in a meaningful, end–to–end manner. Infrastructure is necessary, but not sufficient.
Seed banking will only be taken up with interest if there is demand from cultivating farmers in a community. And such farmers will demand traditional varieties only when end–consumers begin demanding produce made from these varieties. In other words, community seed banks cannot function in isolation, they must be embedded within a full ecosystem that starts from high–quality seed stocks and ends in conscious consumption. This includes not just physical infrastructure, but also investment in knowledge, human resources, and awareness. All of this requires adequate and appropriate investments.
There is a long–standing challenge as there is lack of recognition from India’s formal scientific community and the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) when it comes to local seed varieties. There has never been any real appreciation of local landraces—except a tendency to collect and preserve them in gene banks, away from the fields and farmers. The nutritional qualities, stress tolerance, and cultural significance of these traditional varieties remain largely unacknowledged in mainstream agriculture science. We have seen some desi cow breed–related push from the current government, but unfortunately, not for traditional landraces of crops and trees.
Community seed banks can help ensure food security in a climate–risked world. India’s food security, throughout the past many decades, has been upheld by informal seed systems or community seed systems. While this varies across crops and regions. A large part of Indian agriculture is still sustained by seeds that come from these community–based systems.
If community seed banks are based on traditional landraces and diverse native varieties, they do more than just preserve biodiversity. They bring greater resilience and better nutritional outcomes. Diversity–based farming that seed banks can facilitate is, in fact, a real solution for a climate–risked world.
To ensure that community seed banks remain relevant and effective in the future, there is need for long–term, systemic investments. We need consumer education and demand creation. We need serious investments in seed conservation, multiplication, storage, and the institutional architecture of these seed banks.
It’s not just about building storage spaces, it’s about creating resilient, people– centered ecosystems. This includes infrastructure as well as human resources, knowledge sharing, and local stewardship. All of it must be valued and supported. While hybrid varieties are being promoted, a large portion of India’s agriculture still relies on what is often called the ‘informal seed system’. These can be described as a community seed system, since it is rooted in traditional practices of farmers saving, selecting, and sharing seeds among themselves, rather than receiving them from formal public or private sources.
The Doubling Farmers’ Income Committee Report (Volume 7) cites that around 65 per cent of India’s seeds come from these community–based systems. Even when seeds come from organised systems, like large companies or public institutions, much of the ground–level work, such as seed multiplication, happens through informal arrangements with local farmers, often without contracts. For instance, a company like Monsanto may produce hybrid maize seeds, but it relies on local ‘seed organisers,’ who work informally with farmers to grow and collect seeds. These farmers, despite lacking formal recognition, possess valuable knowledge and play a central role in the seed system.
India’s food security is still largely supported by these community seed systems, especially for food crops like wheat, paddy, millets, pulses, and oilseeds. On the other hand, crops that are more dependent on hybrids, such as cotton and maize, are not staple food items. In fact, most of the maize grown in India is not consumed as food but goes into industrial uses like ethanol and starch.
Research on community seed banks should expand to look at the broader community seed system. These systems, often overlooked, are fundamental to India’s agricultural resilience and should be recognised as such. Informal or community seed systems are not only still widespread in India but are also crucial to food production and security, even if they operate outside of the formal, visible supply chains.
This was originally published as part of Celebrating community seed banks of India: Conversations on climate-resilient seeds
Kavitha Kuruganti is Founder Convenor of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA)