Kurichya seed system: A neglected community model in the policy space of conservation of plant genetic resources
Authors :Suma T.R and S. Gregory
Abstract
The increasing farmer dependency on corporate production system for food and seeds, demand the need for evolving self-sufficient local food systems. The climate change debate adds on to this, by highlighting the climate impact of large-scale farming and the adaptability of small and diverse food production systems. On-farm management of plant and animal genetic resources including the micro agroecosystems are focal to this concept. Contrary to the scientific and political understanding, small holder food producers all over the globe are facing crisis within the capitalistic economy, which pushes them to produce for the market and to pull them to consume from the market.
Kurichya, an agrarian tribal community from Wayanad district of Kerala is one among the food producers who could resist the boom of neoliberal cash crop economy and state-induced agricultural development policies for mass production. The community has developed a unique system for managing on-farm diversity of food crops such as rice, tubers, vegetables and other crops supported by socio-political structures and knowledge systems. This paper places the socio-political organisation of Kurichya seed system in the context of the global discourse of agrobiodiversity conservation for climate resilience and food sovereignty. It examines the ethnographic understanding of the ‘Kurichya, community seed management system’ in the context of the national and international efforts of agrobiodiversity conservation. The paper argues that the legislations and political structures designed to conserve agrobiodiversity and farmers rights are remaining ornamental without incorporating the traditional local systems.
Key words: Kurichya, Agrobiodiversity, socio-political organization, food sovereignty.
