Puducherry farmer saves 800 varieties of native vegetable seeds; sells across India

Sundar R had to prepare a documentary as part of his Visual Communications course at Pondicherry University Community College in 2016. The film on organic farming took him to Vanagam—Nammalvar Ecological Foundation in Kadavur, Tamil Nadu.

“The documentary was part of my project for the second year. While making it, I learned about natural and organic farming, the importance of native seeds, and why they needed to be conserved for future use,” the 29-year-old farmer and seed saver tells 30Stades. 

Sundar, who lives in the Embalam village in Puducherry (also Pondicherry), began interacting with local farmers and those in Tamil Nadu to learn more.

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This gave him a deeper understanding of native seeds, which require less water, are pest-resistant, and are climate-resilient because they are genetically adapted to their local environment. 

“I then started working with a farmer for native paddy seed collection and distribution. After six months, I realised that while many farmers were collecting native paddy seeds, little work was being done to save native vegetable seeds,” the 28-year-old says.

Sundar completed his BSc in 2017 and began seed collection in 2018. “After college, I decided to travel and meet farmers for two reasons – one, to work in the fields to learn more about organic farming and two, to collect native seeds they had conserved for generations,” he says.

Travelling to collect native seeds

From 2018 to 2020, he travelled 1 lakh km within Tamil Nadu and the bordering areas of Andhra Pradesh. “I would meet farmers, tribal people, seed savers, and visit local organic markets. Like the Kani tribe in Tirunelveli shared indigenous varieties of millets, tubers and vegetables,” says Sundar.

During these three years, he funded his trips by working on local farms and taking up photography assignments for weddings and other occasions. “Once I would earn some money, I would set out again on the next trip,” he says. 

Sundar met more than 1,000 farmers and seed savers in these three years. “The first heirloom seeds I collected were of purple okra, a perennial plant that grows into a shrub and gives yields for three to four years. I always exchanged seeds with other farmers and never paid in cash,” says Sundar, whose parents are paddy farmers.

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The extraordinary seed collection 

“Now, I have 800 varieties of vegetables and tubers. These include a brinjal from Salem. Each piece weighs around 500 g, and the plant yields for over three years. Then I have a tree okra variety, which grows to 15 feet high, and each tree yields over 500 okras annually. This perennial variety lasts for three years. We have a plant that can produce a 30kg pumpkin, and the list can go on,” Sundar says.

His collection includes 120 types of tomatoes, ranging from a piece weighing 10 gm to another weighing 1 kg, brinjal (50), chillies (60), okra (35), bottle gourd (40+), pumpkin (30+), ridge gourd (nine) and many types of beans and other vegetables.

“I have seeds of over 90 types of tubers like purple yams and little yams. One plant can give 110 kg of yams annually. Turmeric is in six varieties, including black, yellow, Erode and Salem turmeric,” he adds. 

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Sundar has leased three acres of land to propagate native vegetables and tubers. His wife, Chennamma, works with him on the farm. The couple also has a kitchen garden over 3 cents (0.03 acres), where they grow vegetables for the family’s consumption. 

Saving and sharing seeds

“We both cultivate various vegetables organically on the leased land. While a part of the crops is saved for procuring seeds, I sell the rest of the produce in the market,” he says.

Since Sundar cannot propagate all the 800 types of seeds on three acres, he shares them seasonally with farmers. “Every year, I share the native seeds for free with around 2,000 farmers, and they return seeds after harvest. This way, we can maintain many varieties without incurring extra seed costs,” he adds. 

The seeds are sold at a nominal rate of Rs 20 to Rs 30 per packet for home gardeners and are free for farmers. They are sent by India Post to all corners of the country.

To extract the seeds, the fully ripened vegetables are allowed to dry on the plant.  This method is mostly for gourds, lady’s finger, beans, and pumpkins. Tomatoes, brijals and chillies are harvested and then ripened. 

“Tomatoes are harvested, cut and fermented in water for two days. We then wash and dry the seeds with cotton cloth. After leaving them for seven days at room temperature, we store them in glass bottles or zip-lock pouches,” Sundar explains.

Seeds are collected from green leafy vegetables at the time of flowering and are then dried. “We save all the seeds in transparent materials to monitor any infection and know the variety with just a glance,” he adds. 

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

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