Why Meghalaya’s Women Seed-Guardians Are Resisting Commercial Hybridisation
A women-led community seed bank in rural Meghalaya is using traditional knowledge of seed preservation to prevent the extinction of local strains of climate-resilient seeds
Mulum village is nestled in Meghalaya’s rolling, verdant Jaintia Hills, and here, on a path that veers off a winding road, stands a nondescript building. Stored inside on a shelf is an irreplaceable seed collection of at least 57 different varieties: heirloom seeds placed in airtight containers.
One container with a handful of dark red seeds is labelled ‘KRE’, a millet that stirs memories of a dish from another time for one of the seed-guardians. There are days when Hamsniawpher Suchiang longs for Ja Kre, a dish that combines millet with rice and is eaten with potatoes.
It was a comfort meal that her grandmother made just right. “What was soothing about the dish was the texture of the dish, sticky and soft. It was sticky but slightly chewy and crispy, like fried rice,” says Hamsniawpher.
Kre was ubiquitous in Mulum till 50 years ago but it has become a rare find these days. Changes in rainfall patterns mean that wet areas are drying up and this is impacting the population of such indigenous seeds. “Earlier, summer lasted 3-4 months. Now, it extends into nine months. The rainfall is also poor. We never thought we would never have to irrigate our fields but times have changed,” says Hamsniawpher, who is also the secretary of the Iaraplang Community Seed Bank.
But Hamsniawpher along with other nine members of the seed-bank have been tapping into the region’s traditional knowledge of seed preservation to prevent the extinction of Kre and other such seeds. This year, hundreds of farmers from across Meghalaya gathered at an exhibition in Umiam to share and increase access to seeds and local strains of beans, millets and rice.
“Through such exchanges, farmers are exposed to hardy, myriad strains that have adapted to local conditions. This enhances the genetic diversity of crops,” says Hamsniawpher.
Over a period of a year, such seeds were protected against bacterial intrusion by being dried in the sun or being set near a fireplace. These have been traded with villagers in over a 100 such exchanges across Meghalaya. “Kba saw [red rice] and toh tari lieh [white beans] are not found in Jaintia Hills. We got them from farmers in Khasi hills. The rest is available here and we make sure to hand them out to the others not from our region,” explains Hamsniawpher.
Informal seed banks have been known to enhance crop diversity worldwide and with climate change looming over agriculture, crop failures are more likely when there is focus on a single, highly productive crop variety. Growing diverse crops, some highly productive and others resistant to droughts, pests and diseases, strengthens the resilience of the food system, and in turn, food security.
Ensuring Climate-Resilient Seeds
For generations, indigenous people have kept seeds to cultivate and maintain wide-ranging crop varieties, adapting both existing and new seed varieties to respond to specific microclimates and local growing conditions. The methods used to save and adapt these seeds are informed by factors such as gender, intergenerational belonging to a place, economics and community laws. And the adapted seed varieties become better equipped for growing conditions influenced by climate change – over time, they thrive in a given area, resulting in climate-resilient seeds and facilitating successful harvests.
Gratia E Dkhar, a senior associate at the North East Society for Agroecology Support, explains how traditional seed varieties are deeply rooted in local ecologies, cultural practices and community values. “These seeds have been selected and nurtured over generations, adapting to local soils, rainfall patterns and pest pressures. This long-term adaptation gives them an inherent climate resilience and ability to withstand droughts, erratic rainfall and even poor soil conditions better than high-yield or hybrid varieties,” she says.
A key feature of indigenous people’s food systems that has enabled them to be climate-resilient is the diversity within the system itself. Indigenous communities in Meghalaya source their food from various sources such as forests, water bodies, shifting cultivation fields (jhum), terrace farming (bun), home gardens and valley-based paddy systems made possible through knowledge passed down orally for generations and adaptations of older forms depending on circumstances, according to “Climate change and resilience of indigenous food systems: Lessons from Meghalaya’s food diversity“, an article by Bhogtoram Mawroh of the North East Society for Agroecology Support (NESFAS) for Heinrich Boell Stiftung, a German think tank focussed on green projects.
“This has allowed for a high degree of diversity of land uses and species (along with traditional landraces which are locally adapted plant varieties that evolve in a specific environment), which is continuously being enriched. Economic sustenance and ecological sustainability are both achieved by the rich biodiversity still available in indigenous territories. Such diversity is crucial for imparting resilience to food systems and climate change adaptation. This is critical in light of the challenges climate change is creating (predicted to intensify) for global food systems,” he said in the paper.
When there are extreme heavy rainfall episodes, both Rimaia and Hamsniawpher say they have to deal with seed loss on their farms due to water erosion. According to them, there is a 50% chance or less of losing seeds. These chances are higher when the seeds are high-yield varieties. This may be a sign of how these seeds are slowly adapting to unexpected rains due to climate change.
Gratia calls this an indigenous risk mitigation strategy. “The local seed system is strengthened through the values of caring and sharing where seed exchange is integral. Preservation of local seeds ensures food sovereignty and cultural continuity. Farmers retain control over what they grow, eat and share, rather than depending on external markets or seed companies,” she says.
Lifeline For Farmers
The establishment of the seed bank in Mulum has been facilitated by NESFAS [North East Society for Agroecology Support] and SURE [Society to Uplift Rural Economy], both non-government organisations. In 2018, the women received a grant from NESFAS to maintain the seed bank and construct a small building, specifically for the work and to procure air-tight containers. Before the intervention, women have been traditionally preserving seeds either by drying them in the sun or keeping them wrapped in cloth near a fireplace.
“The practice of preserving seeds isn’t new. It has continued in our family for generations,” says Hamsniawpher. However, they were still prone to attacks by common storage pests such as beetles, moths and mites. The seeds were exposed to moisture encouraging molds and fungal growth, cutting short their viability.
As autumn gives way to winter, members of the seed bank such as Hamsniawpher set out to prepare their fields for harvest. They make sure that they save some seeds from the mature crops and then follow traditional methods of keeping seeds hanging over the fireplace or out in the sun for two-three days before placing them inside airtight containers. These methods reduce the moisture content that prevent infestation by pests, molds and fungal growth.
The seed bank also supplies the preserved seeds to the community members who also help other farmers from across Meghalaya with indigenous seeds through Whatsapp groups and in-person meetings during community seed exchange visits. There are fortnightly meetings among seed bank members where seed preservation, sustainable farming practices, marketing tips and the well-being of the women farmers and communities are discussed.
“When the rainfall is in excess, farmers end up losing the seeds while returning to homes from their field. Then, we handed out up to Rs 10000 to the farmer to compensate for the loss,” says Rimaia Suchiang, president of the seed-bank. Rimaia was referring to the surface runoff during heavy rainfall which usually exceeds the soil’s intensity to absorb rainwater, and washes the seeds with it, removing them from their intended row in the field and depositing them elsewhere.
Covid triggered a farming crisis because farmers could not travel to the market and buy daily needs and farm supplies. The collective then stepped in with savings from various grants to help the farmers. Seed bank members sometimes engage in social work. For example, during the pandemic, they helped those who were infected and in isolation by buying them food.
Resisting Hybrid Seeds
The consequences of global warming weigh on Rimaia’s mind. Last year, there was a rare but intense rainfall during the planting season, and she had to struggle through mud on her way home with the freshly sowed indigenous bean seeds that she had salvaged. By the time she reached home, the seeds were damaged. “I waited for a week to check whether I could save the seeds I collected. But they were all gone. They gave in to the deluge. And there was a significant loss,” says Rimaia, the secretary of the seed bank.
Before the Iaraphlang seed bank was set up, Rimaia used to cultivate hybrid tomatoes and potatoes under the guidance of Meghalaya’s horticulture department because these promised high yield and lucrative returns. But the returns were not high in relation to the costs of the inputs such as fertiliser, harvesting and transportation.
“We have to collect 1/10 th of the produce and sell it twice a week in markets such as Jowai, 40 km from Mulum. The tomatoes were priced as low as Rs 35 for a kg whereas organic tomatoes can cost Rs 80. There is a better financial incentive to sell the organic ones,” explains Rimaia. For Rimaia, most of the high-yield variety seeds obtained through government programmes fail to germinate, forcing her to sell only the seeds that remain viable, which is about one-tenth of her original stock.
Rimaia has now stopped cultivating anything hybrid. She was particularly unhappy about seeing the fruits of plants sprinkled with chemical fertilisers losing their traditional texture, turning mealy, mushy and bland though they are meant to be thin skinned and slightly sour.
There have been a slew of schemes promoting the use of HYV seeds in Meghalaya. Schemes such as the Vegetable Development Scheme by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare promote farming by providing beneficiaries–mostly small and marginal farmers–using HYV quality seeds.
Beneficiaries need to own some land in order to access such schemes and women in Meghalaya are not at a disadvantage here compared to the rest of India: 48% of the state’s women own land, compared to 34% national average. This is because land inheritance here is decided by the matrilineal system wherein the youngest daughter inherits the ancestral property. According to a 2025 study conducted in Meghalaya and subsequently published in Social Science and Medicine, anemia and undernutrition were found to be less prevalent in households with female ownership, a practice followed by over 60% of the state’s population.
Despite the promise of a commercial viability for the short term, monoculture crops are more susceptible to the vagaries of climate change. A crop of the same variety on a vast stretch of land is more vulnerable to extensive pest attack and thus losses. The incremental sweep of monoculture into the tribal hamlets of Meghalaya risks a vulnerable and shallow genetic pool.
Rimaia did break off from traditional seed-conservation practices as she tried her hands in cultivating HYV seeds for over two years, but she has reconnected with the land. In the past, when her family owned small lands, she saw her guardians sprinkling all the seeds–maize, bean, turmeric and pumpkin–together into one pit that was dug into the soil layered with fresh cow dung. With the intervention of NGOs such as NESFAS, she learnt that sowing seeds in separate rows in different pits helps improve the quality of the vegetables. This is another adaptation strategy acting as a buttress against pests, diseases and climate change.
“I have a family to feed. I have two daughters. Growing organic crops will affect the health and the well-being of the family,” says Rimaia.
[This story is part of a new series “Climate Leaders: Women in Local Climate Action”, a collaboration between Womanity and Behanbox.]
All the stories in the series can be read here.
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