What should not be a source of pride, however, is the fact that so many small farmers are, like the ones targeted by PepsiCo, reliant, directly or indirectly, on proprietary seeds. Also Read Chips at stake in the PepsiCo-farmers fightIt’s time for a paradigm shiftNo one can blame farmers for thinking that proprietary seeds are better. Despite the shift away from seed replacement to the right to save seeds, the emphasis remains on proprietary seeds that have narrow, uniform and non-variable genetic builds. Heterogenous materials, unlike current proprietary seeds, need not be uniform or stable. First, small farmers must be educated and encouraged with proper incentive structures, to engage with agriculture that conserves and improves traditional/desi (heterogenous) seeds in situ, rather than with “improved”, proprietary varieties.

Source: The Hindu May 08, 2019 18:45 UTC