Seed and Grain Storage

ENTRY DATE: 18.04.2015 | LAST UPDATE: 18.04.2015

CATEGORIES:

  • Agriculture
  • Sustainable crop management

TECHNOLOGIES MATURITY:

Applicable immediately

Technology Owners:

Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD) support farmers in Nepal

Needs Address

  • Sustainable agricultural production
  • Food security

Adaptation effects

  • Local seed preservation and food security
  • Contribute to genetic diversity

Overview and Features

Seed banks offer storage facilities for good quality, local seed varieties, facilitating seed exchange and seed saving.

Cost

  • Training
  • Storage equipment

Energy source

Manual labour

Ease of maintenance

  • Require sustainable networks with reliable management structures, communication and collaboration
  • Local seeds can be used in tandem with introduced varieties

Technology performance

  • LI-BIRD has supported 15 community seed banks in eight districts of Nepal, including the high hills as well as the flat land. Nearly 11,000 farming households are engaged in the revival and conservation of local seeds, with around 1,195 local crops and varieties being conserved. In all there are 115 active seed banks across the country supported by other organisations.
  • In South Asia, farm-saved seeds and informal exchanges contribute towards 70–90% of the total seed supply.

Considerations

  • Need for a regional seed bank by facilitating the formation of inter-country partnerships
  • Requires an increased seed replacement rate to ensure quality
  • Need to preserve heritage varieties
  • Must ensure fair pricing of seed varieties for farmers

Co-benefit, suitability for developing countries

  • Income benefits, seed ownership and security for farmers
  • Enhanced safety net formed through seed networks
  • Challenge in ensuring user buy in due to lack of acknowledgement of value of local varieties
  • Government extension services, private seed companies and civil society organisations promote improved varieties and lure the farmers with promise of higher yields and other benefits
  • Few organisations promoting local crop diversity or showing farmers how to improve their current yields
  • Local seeds are familiar to community farmers and have been tested in the field themselves

Information Resources

Adhikari, K. 2012. Seed Banking in South Asia for protection of farmers’ rights. Policy Brief, No. 24.  Sawtee. Available from: http://www.sawtee.org/publications/PolicyBrief-23.pdf [15 November 2014]

Ebrahim, Z.T. 2014. Seed banks help communities adapt to climate change. Available from: http://www.thethirdpole.net/seed-banks-help-communities-adapt-to-climate-change/ [14 November 2014]

Jaffery, M. 2014. Seed banks in south Asia: building grassroots support for crop diversity. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/apr/08/seed-banks-india-pakistan-grassroots-support [14 November 2014]

RKB, n.d. Storage. Webpage. Available from: http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/storage [28 January 2015]

Shrestha, P. Vernooy, R. and Chaudhary, P. (eds). 2012. Community Seed Banks in Nepal: Past, present, future. Proceedings of a National Workshop, 14-15 June 2012, Pokhara, Nepal. Available from: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/uploads/tx_news/Community_seed_banks_in_Nepal__past__present_and_future_1642.pdf [15 November 2014]