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How this MBA farmer saved over 1,000 varieties of native vegetable seeds

V Priya Rajnarayanan from Tamil Nadu began saving heirloom vegetable seeds in 2007 to feed chemical-free food to her family. Her collection includes over 100 types of tubers, gourds, brinjals, and tomatoes and 40 types of okra. She shares seeds for free

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Rashmi Pratap
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V Priya Rajnarayanan

V Priya Rajnarayanan has saved over 1,000 varieties of vegetable seeds

When V Priya Rajnarayanan was growing up in Pilathu village of Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, her family never had to buy vegetables from the market. They grew organic veggies on their family farm. But in Tirupur, where she moved after her marriage, Priya had to rely on the market to buy vegetables.

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“They smelled of chemicals and I did not want to feed them to my family. I bought some seeds from the local market in 2007 and started growing brinjal, spinach and other vegetables in my rental home. That was the beginning of my journey of heirloom seed conservation,” Priya tells 30Stades.

Also Read: This farmer conserves over 800 types of organic vegetable seeds; sells across India

The next time she visited her parents, she brought seeds of tomato, chilli and some brinjal varieties. “After that, I started searching for native seeds to grow in my kitchen garden,” says Priya, an MBA (Finance). 

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She began using her family's old Yamaha RX100 motorcycle to travel to remote villages and tribal areas to collect seeds from farmers, who were still using heirloom seeds and had not opted for hybrid varieties. 

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Sambhar chilli (left) and Priya on her bike for seed collection 

“From there, I collected many types of vegetable seeds. I continue to increase my collection through these visits even today,” she says.

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“I visited Kerala in 2008 and 2009 to attend weddings and went to Thrissur, Mallapuram and other places. From there, I got many seed varieties of Kanthari chilli, brinjal, okra, spinach varieties and others,” she recollects. 

Full-time seed saver

Priya quit her job in 2020 to work full-time for the conservation and propagation of heirloom or native seeds. 

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Today, she has over 1,000 varieties of heirloom vegetable seeds including over 100 types of tomatoes, tubers, brinjals, and gourds, apart from 40 varieties of okra, beans and other vegetables.

gourds and air potato
Various types of gourds (left) and air potato (right)

Priya travels to various states to meet farmers who grow native varieties of vegetables and also attends seed exhibitions. “My friends working in various states also send me photos of native seeds they find and then courier them to me,” she says. 

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Also Read: Odisha scientist quits job to grow and conserve native paddy varieties

Priya propagates these native vegetable seeds using natural farming on three acres of her family land in Pilathu village. Her father Venkidusamy and mother Subbulakshmi are also farmers.

“I have created a Seed Island – a self-sustaining food forest in Pilathu. In addition to cultivating pesticide-free food, I preserve and promote indigenous seeds thereby avoiding cross-pollination,” she says. 

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Priya covers plants after flowering to prevent cross-pollination, thereby isolating the flowers from other plants' pollen so they can maintain the genetic traits.

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Various types of brinjals (left) and Priya with a rare okra variety 

“There is no mass production of seeds. I am safeguarding parent seeds and sharing excess with farmers who attend my training programme or meet me at seed exchange festivals or tuber festivals,” she says. 

Priya now also grows over 100 varieties of herbal plants, which can be eaten as food but not as medicine.

These include four edible aloe vera varieties, five types of balloon vine, and five varieties of pilandai (veldt grape), used for healing bones.

Also Read: Five ways to buy genuine organic seeds in India

Training and sharing 

She provides training in native seed cultivation at programmes organised by various NGOs and volunteer organisations across India. She gets an honorarium for these sessions but Priya does not sell seeds. 

“I do not take money for sharing seeds. I share them at seed festivals, training sessions or anyone visiting my farm or garden. I also provide classes for college students,” Priya says. 

She grows millets, vegetables and pulses also on her farm for her household consumption. “I sell the excess produce to my friends and extended family members. I only buy rice for my household,” says Priya, who does not use any labour on her farm. She uses a weeder for ploughing and tilling. 

training and sharing
Priya sharing seeds at a training session

She has also created farmer groups worldwide, reaching over 50,000 people, and sharing seeds. ‘‘My key mission revolves around promoting ‘Self-Sustaining Food Forests’, ‘A Farmer for Every Household’, and ‘A Seed Bank in Every Village’. I firmly believe that traditional seeds must be preserved and passed onto future generations, with seeds remaining in the hands of farmers,” she says.

For seed conservation, the methods vary for various vegetables. For okra, she lets the pod dry in the plant itself to get seeds but brinjal and tomato are fermented and then sundried as it results in good germination power. “I put the seeds in a ziplock cover with a tetra pack, label them with the code, and keep them in the refrigerator,” she adds.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai- based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting) 

Also Read: How Assam’s organic farmer is conserving 1,000 varieties of native paddy and vegetable seeds

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