As rain poured outside the hall, women farmers participating in the fair cheered in joy. Monsoon had supported their efforts to spread the green word. Happier was Suma who found khadga avare, a vegetable variety, which was her favourite during childhood days. Most of the consumers who attended the Malenadu Mela (Malnad Fair) recalled their days of 'eating fresh and staying healthy'. Vegetables and wild variety seeds which were in good demand at the event spread the scent of local treasure. The fair held in Sirsi reflected the efforts of women's collectives in rejuvenating indigenous food diversity.
Uttara Kannada, known for its biodiversity and traditional recipes, has changed its pace in the last few decades. As easy-to-cook market vegetables entered the kitchen shelves, diverse home-grown recipes took a backseat.
The Malenadu home garden and seed exchange network started in 2001 by development activist Sunitha Rao, aims at rebuilding the concept in this region. Concrete steps like training, exposure visits and seed exchange programmes have helped many women farmers in this region to earn their livelihood. Now there are twelve self-help groups under this network.
Ganga Mohan Channaiah is one such woman whose vegetable garden brings home a major share of the family income. “I had a passion for growing vegetables. I have been doing this for the past 25 years. Still, by practice, some market vegetables were also used. After I came into contact with this network, I started growing vegetables in all the available space around my house.”
Ganga has a little more than an acre of land where her husband grows paddy during monsoon. But she finds place in her backyard and the surrounding hillock to grow her vegetables. Post monsoon, she grows more than ten varieties of vegetables from radish to palak and cucumber. A mobile vendor, Ganga sells four to five quintals of vegetables in a year. This has helped her stop working as an agricultural labourer.
Ganga says that her husband has a share in her success. He has backed her in all her activities, from preparing soil bed to packing seeds. There are also instances of seed movement bringing families together.
Slow, but sure progress
Sugandha Sahadeva Gavade, a tribal woman in Yellapur, earns twenty percent of her family income from growing vegetables. Observing the prospects of growing vegetables, she works full time in the vegetable garden. Her group has clearly understood the health and economic aspects of non-chemical food produces. A few members have left tiresome jobs like brick making and have taken up vegetable farming. Sugandha says, “The variety of vegetables in my farm increased as we started participating in seed exchange programmes.”
Initially, the programmes were held at the village level. Later, seed exhibition and exchange fairs were held in Sirsi, Yellapur and Kumta. “Hundreds of varieties at a place naturally make visitors take home a few seeds. In 2006, we organised seed exhibition and exchange along with sale. The event was rechristened as Malnad Fair,” says Manorama Joshi, one of the frontline members of the collective.
Remembering last year's overwhelming response, organisers made it a two-day event this year. Even the array of things on sale increased.
Value-added food products like jackfruit chips, papad, appe midi pickle and sweets refreshed the taste buds, while products like dry banana, dry cocum, organic turmeric and tamarind powder were sold quickly. Ornaments made of vegetable seeds, paddy designs, hats made of areca leaf, colourful cotton bags, cotton wear and designer bedspreads like kaudi and pagadi added a touch of folklore to the entire fair. However, the most popular items that were sold in no time were Neernalli group's maghekayi dosa (a dosa unique to Sirsi region) and jackfruit idli. This fair truly taught the essence of biodiversity to hundreds of visitors.
Around 35 different groups, including the Halakki community in the south and the Kuluvadi Marathe in the north participated in the fair on invitation. Apart from women's collectives, Snehakunja, TEED, Namma Bhoomi, BAIF, Green Foundation, Prakruthi, ATREE and Charaka also took part.
Women showed that biodiversity conservation begins in the kitchen. Each of them played the role of a seed bank, storing tens of varieties and spreading it across. Meeting people in such occasions has helped them develop new ideas and learn growing methods.
This is not all. Earning money has made a huge difference to their status, both within the family and in the society. Coming out of the house to take part in public functions was not easy earlier. The movement has sown the seeds of change even at the family level. Women are now key decision makers. A strong social relationship has developed among these women for a good cause.
Sunitha Rao, the person who dreamt of such a start, has many more to be groomed. “Though we have developed a good reserve of seeds, fields have acted as banks. We now need to develop a small store for seeds, which would cater to those who are interested. An outlet for native produce may also boost the interest of farmers. We don't want to grow in number, but we want to strengthen ourselves. Being a local group, we want to respond to larger issues,” she says.
Training, trade and exposure visits are the key activities of this movement. Research is another aspect the network wants to focus on along with documenting available diversity. With more than 200 varieties of seeds grown in the gardens of these women’s collectives, The Malenadu home garden and seed exchange network has developed a reliable conservation model.