Losing touch with mother seed: Insights from action research with small-scale farmers in Tamil Nadu, India
Authors:
Sunil Damodaran Santha
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
,
Devisha Sasidevan
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
,
Sowmya Balasubramaniam
(Hooga Seed Keepers)
,
Afla C P
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
,
Anna KJ Steffy
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
,
Dhanya Kolathur
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
,
Ghurshida Jabeen
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
,
Atul Raman
(Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
Abstract
The article showcases the nature of climate colonialism by examining the transitions in heirloom seed conservation practices in the context of climate change. Insights for this article are drawn from an action research project implemented among heirloom seed keepers and small-scale farmers in Tamil Nadu, India. Local knowledge systems and indigenous seed conservation practices play a crucial role in strengthening the resilience of small-scale farmers to climate variability and extreme weather events. Throughout India, traditional seed keepers have voluntarily taken up the responsibility of collecting and conserving native and heirloom seeds for future generations. These practices also ensure that sustainable farming practices are adopted. However, the modernization and commercialization of agriculture since the colonial and post-independence periods have displaced several such practices, paving the way for the mass consumption of hybrid seed varieties and chemical fertilizers and pesticides. With the advent of climate change as both global discourse and locally experienced phenomena, yet another layer of dispossession and the cheapening of nature has occurred. The key argument of this article is that climate change adaptation has become a new commodity frontier, dispossessing and alienating small-scale producers.
Keywords: seeds, climate change, small-scale farmers, commodity frontier, dispossession, action research
How to Cite:
Santha, S. D., Sasidevan, D., Balasubramaniam, S., P, A. C., Steffy, A. K., Kolathur, D., Jabeen, G. & Raman, A., (2024) “Losing touch with mother seed: Insights from action research with small-scale farmers in Tamil Nadu, India”, Journal of Political Ecology 31(1), 733–745. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5600
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Funding
- Economic & Social Research Council (grant Climate-U)