Revitalising traditional rice varieties (landraces) through natural farming: story of Manne Srinivasa Rao (India)

This paper is based on a farmer, Manne Srinivasa Rao’s experiences and observations over a period of 4 years from 2021. Affected by the incidence of higher cancer rates in the villages and his own father’s loss, he chose to grow food on his own farm using indigenous paddy. Communities firmly believe that the poor health resulting from poor-quality food consumption contributes to the increase in non-communicable diseases. Drawing knowledge from his ancestors and elders, combined with training and exposure at civil society organisations, he chose natural farming, a regenerative agroecological practice, to raise paddy using 8 varieties of indigenous seeds. The transition from chemical-based farming to Natural Farming on the study farm began in 2021 and has been practised continuously for 4 cropping seasons. The study documents the cultivation of selected traditional rice landraces, including Bahuroopi, Kumkumshali (Rakthashali), Kalabat, Kullakar, and Navara. Rice type – all varieties belong to Oryza sativa , predominantly indica-type rice. Seed material is sourced from Basudha farm, founded by Dr Depal Deb, which has preserved 1,500 landrace varieties in West Bengal. In the first year, he collected 5 kg of seed of each variety from the SAVE organisation. In the second year, he also collected 4 kg of seed from Basudha farm, Munugodu, Odisha. In subsequent years, he multiplied the seeds, saving seeds from the harvest. Further research is needed to validate observations on soil health, stress resilience, yields, and nutrition, highlighting the importance of preserving traditional seeds through community involvement. The writer is a video producer, and a film has been made, an oral history archived by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the knowledge digest.