Recently, Odisha notified a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under its Shree Anna Abhiyan (SAA) to integrate traditional crop varieties (landraces) into formal seed systems.
Key Features of the SOP
- Objective: Bridge the gap between formal seed systems (high-yielding, certified varieties) and informal, community-managed seed systems.
About Seed Governance
- Seed governance refers to the policies, regulations, institutions, and practices that oversee the management of crop genetic resources, breeding, variety release, seed quality, production, distribution, and farmer access.
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- Scope Expansion: From millet landraces to traditional crops including pulses, tubers, and cereals.
- Farmer-Centric Seed Governance: Emphasis on farmers’ knowledge, rights, and custodianship over genetic resources.
What Are Landraces?
- Genetically diverse crop populations developed through generations of farmer selection and natural adaptation.
About Shree Anna Abhiyan (SAA)
- Launched By: Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment, Government of Odisha.
- Year of Launch: 2017
- Purpose: To revive the cultivation and consumption of millets in tribal regions of Odisha under the Special Programme for Promotion of Millets.
- Recognition:
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- UN-IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) and UN-FAO have endorsed the programme as a suitable model for agro-ecological transitions.
- The Government of India has encouraged other states to replicate the Shree Anna Abhiyan approach for promoting millets, pulses, and oilseeds.
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- Characteristics:
- Local agro-climatic suitability
- Climate resilience and pest tolerance
- Nutritional richness and yield stability under low-input conditions
- Threat: Green Revolution’s emphasis on HYVs led to marginalisation and genetic erosion of landraces.
Key Components of the Roadmap
- Agrobiodiversity surveys:
- Identify valuable landraces across Odisha based on taste, adaptability, climate resilience, pest resistance, nutrition, etc.
- Combine farmers’ knowledge with scientific validation.
- Creation of institutional structures:
- Crop Diversity Blocks (CDBs): Operational hubs for conservation, purification, and multiplication.
- Community Seed Centres (CSCs): Run by FPOs, farmer groups, women’s SHGs to carry out CDB activities and facilitate legal registration under Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPVFRA).
- Digital Landrace Registry:
- State-level registry to document agro-morphological traits, geo-tags, ethnobotanical information, and traditional uses.
- Participatory varietal selection:
- Multi-location field trials and on-farm demonstrations with at least 10 farmers over two years.
- Criteria: Yield stability, climate adaptability, pest resistance, nutrition, and culinary/cultural suitability.
- Farmers’ inputs central to decision-making.
- Seed standards and varietal release:
- Landrace Varietal Release Committee (LVRC) finalises seed standards.
- Developed with inputs from PPVFRA, ICAR institutions, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, civil society, and custodian farmers.
- Two-year post-release period for validation before formal notification.
Recognition of Community Rights
- All landraces registered in the name of respective communities or custodian farmers with Krushi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) facilitation.
- Landraces will retain their original names, with location-specific identity preserved in official records.
- Ensures formal recognition of farmers’ contributions and protects their rights under law.
Significance of the SoP
- Sustainability: Supports climate-resilient, low-input agriculture.
- Inclusivity: Formalises community seed systems, historically excluded from policy frameworks.
- Agrobiodiversity preservation: Reverses genetic erosion caused by HYV dominance.
- Global alignment: Builds on Odisha’s GIAHS recognition for Koraput region by FAO.
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)
- Initiative Origin: Launched in 2002 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, in collaboration with international partners.
- Objective: To identify, preserve, and promote traditional agricultural systems that have maintained biodiversity, cultural heritage, and resilience over centuries.
- Core Features: These are living, evolving systems sustained by indigenous communities using time-tested, ecologically sound practices.
- Key Criteria: Recognised systems must blend agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems, and culturally significant practices in a sustainable way.
- Global Status: As of now, 99 systems across 29 countries have received GIAHS recognition.
- Recognised GIAHS in India:
- Saffron Heritage of Kashmir
- Koraput Traditional Agriculture System – Odisha
- Kuttanad Below Sea Level Farming System – Kerala
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2 Aug 2025
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