Amreto Kumar Sarker from Rajshahi
Established in 2015 by enthaustic farmers at Dubail village of Panchandar union, Tanor upazila, under Rajshahi district, the Barendra Farmers Seed Bank serves as a vital repository for endangered rice land races and other native crop species. Its inception aimed to address the farming challenges in the drought-prone High Barind Tract Agroecological Zone, providing water-reslient rice land races and other native crops species, fostering seed collection, preservation, farmer to farmer exchange and conserving crop varieties from extinction.
The Barind Tract characterized by reddish clay soil, sun-scorched, terrace lands and sparse vegetation like acacia and cactus, represent distinct features with low annual rainfall. Agriculture in Barind Tract relies on rainfall, primarily cultivating rice twice in a year. However, erractic rainfall, inadequate season rains and depleting groundwater levels due to indescriminate use of water posing threat to enviroment. To confront these challenges and overcome these issues, farmers at Dubail village, with BARCIK’s facilitation formed the Barendra Farmers Seed Bank.
Distinguished by its unique model, the Barendra Farmers Seed Bank is entirely managed by a dedicated team of local farmers from Dubail village. Rooted in the rich custom ties with farming cultural and the harmonious essence of rural lifestyle, the seed bank organizes seed fairs to exchange seeds, information on the collected seeds, seed preservation and arrange informed decisions regarding farming. During these interactive events, farmers collect desired seeds, returning double the amount after harvesting to help other farmers receive seeds from the bank. The seed bank also collaborates with local farmers, organizations, and government/private entities to exchange and provide seeds which ensure the benefit of the entire farming community.
Beyond seed exchange, a noteworthy endeavor is the establishment of a seed library at Anand Mohan High School in Talanda village, providing a platform to introduce school children and teenagers to the rich history of country’s seed diversity
Since 2017, the Barendra Farmers Seed Bank has been conducting on-farm varietals adaptability trial aimed at addressing the persistent demand for drought-tolerant, water-resilient rice landraces in the Barind Tract. On a recent inventory, the Farmers Seed Bank has gathered 259 of rice land races of which 152 Aman, 8 Aus and 6 types of Boro rice lansraces. In the seed bank, a total of 95 rice land races are showcased for desplay. The seed bank also provides native cultivars of pulses, oilseeds, rapeseeds and spices seeds to farmers.
Barendra Farmers Seed Bank is now being consireded as the last option to collect endangered land races. The Barendra Farmers Seed Bank provided seeds to national institutions, including the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Bangladesh Molecular Agriculture Research Institute, universities and others.
Agriculture in the drought-prone High Barind Tract region is facing problems multaferious due to climatic and other factors. The members of Barendra Farmer’s Seed Bank therefore, hope to work to solve the seed problems of farmers. In the future, Barendra Farmers Seed Bank is keen to gradually increase its land races collection from all over the country for expanding its support to farmers and play a role in achieving food security.
Translated by ABM Touhidul Alam
