In the tribal hamlets of the Western Ghats, OOO Farms works with Adivasi communities to bring back heirloom rice varieties once lost to hybridisation and industrial processes. Since 2017, they have preserved thousands of diminishing varieties by setting up seed banks, where farmers dedicate a part of their land for varietal conservation, thereby promoting agrobiodiversity in their regions.

From the 1960s onwards, the Green Revolution has significantly impacted the diversity of farmlands across India. While the production of rice doubled—owing to the introduction of high-yield alternatives—it did so at the expense of native seed cultivation. As a result, an estimated one lakh varieties of indigenous rice, which evolved over centuries and were well-suited to their microclimates, were lost in the aftermath. 

Policies enacted during this period also came with adverse environmental and social consequences. Nutritious crops were replaced by uniform varieties, soil health and groundwater quality degraded substantially, and agricultural systems became more prone to climate fluctuations. Over time, farming communities found themselves increasingly dependent on external markets, deepening socio-economic divides that continue to affect smallholder farmers.

“Community seed banks [put] crop diversity in the hands of farmers, not in the hands of corporations. It’s a very localised system,” says Shailesh Awate, co-founder of OOO Farms. “So with the changing climate, seed conservation becomes even more important.” 

Watch the full interview with Shailesh, conducted by Mukta Patil, Projects Editor at The Locavore, to know why the revival of native seeds is at the centre of the ecosystem OOO Farms is working towards, and how it holds the answers to some of the most pressing challenges within our agricultural systems.