Bhojpur's municipality opens seed bank to preserve indigenous seeds

BHOJPUR: Shadananda Municipality in Bhojpur district of Koshi Province has established a seed bank to preserve and promote indigenous agricultural seeds.

The initiative has launched a campaign to conserve native seeds in the long term, aiming to reduce the growing threat to locally adapted crop varieties. "The major objectives of the campaign are to provide farmers with quality native seeds, to revive the production of locally endangered varieties of crops and to protect the agricultural biodiversity," said Mayor Surendra Kumar Udas.

Municipal officials said the seed bank has collected and safely stored seeds of millet, buckwheat, barley, Chino (Proso millet), Kaguno (Foxtail millet), gahat (horse gram), soybean, bean, maize and other local crops. Dipen Thapa, chief of the municipality’s agricultural section, said the bank has so far conserved 115 species of 27 types of locally produced crops.

Farmers will be able to obtain seeds from the bank at a 50% subsidy, the municipality said. In addition to storage and distribution, the seed bank is implementing training programmes for farmers on seed selection, conservation and promotion techniques.

Deputy Mayor Pramila Rai said the measures are expected to help prevent the spread of invasive crop species and to protect traditional farming communities. The local government also plans to strengthen marketing, branding and fair pricing for home-grown crops to boost farmers’ incomes.

(With inputs from RSS)