With Rs 150 and a bike, this farmer saved 300 native vegetable seeds; sells across India

Salai Arun lost his mother when he was a child. He grew up at his grandparents’ house in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. They cultivated paddy, millet, and vegetables, but kept Arun away from the farm as they wanted him to focus on his studies. 

However, Arun loved farming and looked for ways to learn more.

“In 2012, I attended a five-day training programme by agricultural scientist late G. Nammalvar. At that time, I learnt that the key to organic farming is native seeds. I decided to save them to promote sustainable farming practices,” Salai tells 30Stades.

Seeds comprise about 15 percent of the agricultural inputs cost for farmers. Native seeds, however, can be saved for use next year, cutting costs. Moreover, they are well adapted to the local climatic conditions, requiring less water and pest control chemicals. 

Seeds of a new life

Nammalvar’s workshop led Salai to collect native vegetable seeds from areas around his native Mangalam village. “I visited organic farmers saving seeds for many generations. I collected about 50 varieties of seeds of brinjal, tomato, pumpkin, bottle gourd, beans and other veggies,” says Salai, who completed his MSc in Yoga in 2016.

Also Read: This farmer conserves 350 types of native vegetable and fruit seeds; sells across India

Around the same time, he watched the movie ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ in which Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado set out from their native Argentina to explore their continent. “Inspired by that movie, I zeroed in on two missions – explore Tamil Nadu and meet farmers to collect more native seeds,” says Salai.

He bought a second-hand Bajaj Platina bike, collected Rs 150 from his friends for petrol and set out on his exploration journey in Tamil Nadu. 

“I would visit farmers and do two things – work in their fields to earn daily wages and exchange my seeds with them. I used the wages to buy petrol, while the food was always free from farmers. I would then drive to the next farm and repeat the process. This way, I could expand my collection of seeds,” he says.

Today, his native seed bank Karpagatharu, has 300 varieties of native vegetable seeds. They include 55 types of brinjal, tomato (30), bottle gourd (20), ridge gourd (15), corn (nine), cauliflower (30), beans of 100 types, and chillies 20 varieties. There is a brinjal variety from Tamil Nadu called the Siliguri Brinjal, which is eaten raw like a cucumber and has no bitterness. 

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“I have a bottle gourd variety that grows up to eight feet. “I collected it from a farmer in Haryana. Then there is a tiny tomato variety. You can put 15 tomatoes in one spoon,” he says.

How Salai collected 300 varieties of seeds

Salai would travel six months a year for seed collection and spend the rest of the time working in others’ fields, training people in organic farming or simply on construction sites to earn a living. “In four years (2016 to 2019), I travelled 70,000 km within Tamil Nadu and collected 150 varieties of seeds,” he adds.

However, when COVID-19 struck, his work stopped. By the time the second wave was over, Salai wanted to travel to new states to collect more seeds. “I needed a new bike to travel outside Tamil Nadu. About 100 friends pooled money with me, and I bought a Royal Enfield bike. In 2021, I began travelling to other states,” he says.

Salai then visited 15 states, covering 17,000 km, and exchanged his native vegetable seeds with organic farmers, seed savers, and tribal growers, who have been the custodians of India’s native seeds for centuries.

His trip covered Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other states. “I collected new varieties, taking the total to 300 types of seeds,” he says.

Sharing and propagating native seeds

This trip was completed in 2022, and Salai decided to focus on training and propagation of native seeds to continue the cycle. “In 2023, I started selling seeds at nominal rates across India to popularise native seeds. 

Since he does not own land, he shares heirloom seeds for free with farmers, who grow these native vegetables on their land. 

“I have a network of farmers across India to whom I give seeds without cost. They return double the number of seeds to me after harvest. This way, I ensure continuity of the seed cycle,” he adds.

Salai stores the seeds in air-tight plastic containers. “I courier them across India, with each packet costing Rs 20. The number of organic seeds per packet varies depending on the variety. They are wrapped in butter paper and then polythene before dispatch,” he adds. 

(US Anu is a Madurai-based writer. She specialises in stories around human interest, environment and art and culture.)

Also Read: Five farmers who save and sell native vegetable seeds to promote biodiversity

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