Indigenous crop varieties ignored in main stream agriculture are capable of giving substantial yield without compromising environment and health. The potentialities of those folk crops are immense and these are to be conserved and cultivated before it is too late.

1. Role of Folk Crop Diversities in Sustainable Agriculture
Anupam Paul
Bio Diversity Conservation Farm
Agricultural Training Center
Fulia, Nadia, WB, India
anupampaul99@gmail.com
Sujata offered Milk Rice of Kalanamak to
Lord Buddha, 2600 YBC, still in cultivation
Alexander the Great took Basmati rice,
2227 YBC, still in cultivation

2. Biodiversity Conservation Farm
Agricultural Training Center, Fulia. Nadia
The Oldest Natural Farm under Ag Dept
2@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

3. Protection of Environment and Bioviversity
• Upanishad
• Veda
• King Asoka 242 BC
• All the Aboriginals care for nature
• Jaherthan- Sacred Groves
• Worshipping of Gods
• All the countries have different Laws
• India has Bio Diversity Act 2002
• Chief Seattle letter – Red Indians
Aboriginal people, not environmentalists, are our
best bet for protecting the planet:
David Suzuki
@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 3

4. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 4Credit: Soumik Banerjee, 2019

5. Law of the Rights of Mother Earth
• Ecuador is the first country to recognize Rights of Nature
in its Constitution.
• Ecuador rewrote its Constitution in 2007-2008
• Rights for Nature articles acknowledge that nature in all
its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and
regenerate its vital cycles
 Bolivian law : Law of the Rights of Mother Earth (Ley de
Derechos de la Madre Tierra) 2010
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6. @ A Paul 6
Perceived threatofFamine?Food Shortage or Genocide?
Bengal Famine -1943

7. Food Production, Famine, Population and
Availability of Food
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• Population and food production can not reach at an
infinite level.
• The Malthusian doctrine of population has been proved
wrong but we still equate the population growth with
non availability of food.
•Professor A Sen showed that historic famines were not
caused by decreases in food supply, but by socioeconomic
dynamics and a failure of public action.
• Non Linear Relationship
• Increase in production does not mean availability of food.
• Question of distribution and purchasing power.
• Man Made and Political Reasons
2nd World War and Churchill Policy of Genocide

8. Food Production, Famine, Population and availability of Food
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Huge Food Production,
 Nearly 37 Crores People are not getting food
 Malnutrition, wasting and stunting, mortality of children
India also accounted for 25.5 million children out of
the 50.5 million children who are wasted globally
(Global Nutrition Report 2018)
 Hunger Index 102 in 119 Countries
American poverty - lack of food and home

9. American Poverty
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The poverty rate in Los Angeles is 20.4%. One out of
every 4.9 residents of Los Angeles lives in poverty.
 790,320 of 3,881,668 Los Angeles residents reported
income levels below the poverty line in the last year.
 The Poverty Rate across the state of California is
15.1% meaning Los Angeles has a significantly higher
than average percentage of residents below the
poverty line when compared to the rest of California.
Source: 2017 ACS 5 Year
www.welfareinfo.org/poverty-rate/california/los...
Los Angeles, a city of poverty and
unemployment, By Gabriel Black,
15 April 2014

10. Green Revolution and its Alternative-
Ecological ,Safer, Time tested
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11. পাঞ্জাবে সেুজ বেল্পে
কীটনাশবকর ভয়ংকরপ্রভাে
‘Sweet’Fruit of GreenRevolution
Sacrococcygeal
Teratoma
Sacrococcygeal
Teratoma
Meningomyelocele Meningomyelocele
Duplication cyst
Yolk sac tumor
11
11@ A Paul সুত্র:উমেন্দ্রদত্ত,খেতিতিরাসািতেশন,ফতরদম াট

12. 12
পাঞ্জামের িাতিন্দা খেলায়ঘমরঘমর যান্সার। যান্সার এক্সমেমস েপয়সায় তিত ৎসা
রমিযায় তে ানীমর
Sweet’FruitofGreenRevolution
12@ A Paul
সুত্র:উমেন্দ্রদত্ত,খেতিতিরাসািতেশন,ফতরদম াট

13. Our Society
Everybody wants to be rich
anyhow
Farmers are no exception
@ A Paul 13
IdiocracyGreed
বিত্র-অর্ন্ত জাল সসৌজবনে
পনে সকনা
Consumerism

14. What needs to be addressed for S A ?
Its no use discussing SA without referencing:-
• Respecting our farmers and their techniques of
crop production by using natural resources
• Our traditional and regional crop production system
and how it has been ignored
• History of India agriculture
• Food politics and agribusiness
• Enormous crop diversity with high yielding capacity.
• Only soil and water conservation and organic matter
will not do.
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15. The Origins of Rice in India-1
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The earliest evidence in South Asia comes from
Lahuradewa (presently in Sant Kabir Nagar District,
Uttar Pradesh) in the middle Gangetic plain.
The charred rice grains found at the site have been
dated to 8409 YPB;
beginning of the cultivation of annual Wild Rice
(Oryza nivara, prostrate type) and its gradual
domestication into the Proto Indica rices.
 The cultivation may have resembled Jhum systems.
 It was essentially dry cropping based on monsoon
rains and seasonal flood recession.
 These initial Proto Indica rice lacked sh4 (non
shattering), Prog1 (erect growth) & rc (white grain
pericarp) genes

16. Crossing of Japonica and Indica Rice
Similarity of Language Austric and Vietnamese
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17. Origin of Indica Rice 4000 YBP
Oryza sativa japonica X
( temperate and tropical)
Oryza sativa indica
(Proto indica, Proto Aus- semi
domesticated ) Wild Rice
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Indica Rice
Domesticated
Aromatic
2 AP
Aswina
Floating
Ryda
drought ,flood, cold, cold,
long duration
Aus
Red Rice
Credit : Austroasiatic tribes : Munda, Ho,
Santhal, Juang, Bonda, Saora, Gadaba, Khasi and
Indian Tribes Kondh,Maria, Muria, Gondh , Oraon
etc. Tibeto-Burman - Naga, Apatani, Metaei etc
Characters of dwarfness, photo insensitivity,
partial photosensitivity, glutinousness, red
pericarp and stress tolerance, aromatic- white,
red and Black. (Tibeto Burman)

18. Migration of People and Crossing
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Chaolung Sukaphaa (1228-1268)-the
first Ahom (Assam) King introduced
Wet Rice Cultivation in India.
600 Years of Reign .
They also developed the No Boiling
Komol Saul or Boka Saul.

19. Chola Kingdom 300s BCE–1279 CE
Recross of Indica and Japonica
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Severe Drought in 1012 CE
Yangtze Valley and Huai Ho
 Short Duration rice Variety from
Champa Kingdom of present day
Cambodia Vietnam were sent as
relief
Originally taken from India
 Now Maplai Samba rice of
Chennai , From Champa to Samba
 Karupu Kavuni, Scented Black
Rice from South East Asia used
during marriage in TN
 The Chettiar trader Community
of Chola kingdom
From : Asian Agri History Foundation

20. Rethink
• Green Revolution began with
Japonica X Indica in 60s
•For the First Time ?
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21. Industrial Agriculture
• The Interference of the logic of industrial Economics in the
Agricultural world in humanity’s biggest mistake of the century.
Quantity and productivity have become the two teats of
agriculture.
• Destruction of environment and the poor quality of food will be
become the recipe of our ruin.
• Prior to industrialization of agriculture people used to consume
more than 100 types of animal (protein) and vegetables that
fulfils their nutritional requirements.
• 1984 FAO study 90% of people the figure comes down to 40
and five thousand chemicals as residue and additives .
• Reduction of food diversity with chemical diversity
• Colossal Loss of crop Diversity - key to sustainability
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22. The Crisis of Indian Agriculture
• The Legacy of British Rule
• Blind Emulation of the dictates of US corporate like
Rockefeller
• Criticism of Vietnam aggression of US by then PM
Lal bahadur Shastry
• Staggering of Food by US under Public Law 480
• Conditional Signing of Agricultural Reform treaty with US
Rome Treaty in 1965
• US Coined Green Revolution in 1968
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23. The Myth of Food Production and Availability of Food
@400 g/ day
@ Soumik Banerjee, Independent Researcher
23@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

24. Public Law 480
 To address the urban population of the North with wheat
 To make buffer stock of food
• The passage of PL-480 in 1954, India paid for the Wheat
in Rupees which were held by the American Embassy in
New Delhi.
• These PL-480 payments gave US control of a third of
money supply in India in the 1970s.
• The huge supplies of cheap American Wheat
• Indian farmers could not compete and grain production
stagnated and then dropped.
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25. Productivity in terms of US $
Country Agricultural
Productivity
( US $)
Per capita land in ha
( city)
Per Capita land in ha
( village)
USA 494 0.13 0.7
UK 901 0.28 2.8
Netherlands 6110 0.13 0.7
China 974 0.26 0.46
Bangladesh 2333 0.05 0.072
Srilanka 1234 0.11 0.13
Pakistan 1321 0. 14 0.22
Japan 3379 0.04 0.11
India 938 0.14 0.20
After Basu et al, 2013
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26. Our Culture, Civilization and Food and Agriculture
are at Stake
• Robbery of the Soil : Rabindranath Tagore (1922)
• Crisis of Civilization : Rabindranath Tagore ( 1941)
• Poverty and Famines: Amartya Sen (1989)
• The Violence of the Green Revolution : Vandana Shiva (1991)
• Regenerating the Soil : Claude Bourguignon (1991)
• The Vulnerable Planet: A Short History of Economic
History of Environment. John Bellamy Foster (1991)
• The Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India,
Madhab Gadgill and Ramchandra Guha (1992)
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27. Daseriya Paddy
Khaggaria, Bihar 10th Nov,2019
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Flood And Drought Tolerant
Multiple Nodal; Tillers
Broadcasting with Mung in April
10-15 tillers / plants
Kneeing Habit
Long duration 5.5 months

28. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 28
How many new crophave been
introduced during the last 4000
years of civilization
What is AgriculturalDevelopment?

29. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 29
@ Credit: Soumik Banerjee

30. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 30Credit @ Soumik Banerjee

31. Our Crop Diversity
Crop Varieties Remarks
Rice 5500 (WB)
82700
Almostextinctfromfarmers’fields,150maybe
extantin WBandin India1500.DrDeb is
conserving 1300in Orissa Notyetevaluated
foryield ,nutritionalstatus
Over Simplification –less yield?
Desi HYVs werenotdistributed.Why?
Nobusiness offertilizerandpesticides
Wheat 38612
Maize 7261
Jowar 18834
Gram 16427
Brinjal 3868
Amaranth 4932
Coriander 485 Source :National Bureau of Plant genetic Resource ,
New Delhi, 2007-08
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32. Yield of Folk Rice
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Year State/ Dist Farmer Variety Yield
Ton/ ha
1762-66 Tamilnadu
Kalakattur Vill
Irrigated 12.5 (av of 130 villages)
Chinmadu
Somongalam
10.8
10.3
1950-52 Salem Tamilnadu KGounder 11.6
1950-52 Coorg, Karnakata J CSangayia Kirubilliya 12.8
1949-50 Medinipur Jogesh Ch Pani Aviman 6.9
1971 MP Govt. Res Nayana Kajal
Piuri Luchai
Nagpur Gurmatia
7.59
7.41
7.04
2012 Kondagaon
Jharkhand
Various farmers Different Varieties Morethan 5
2000 West Bengal ATC Fulia andfarmers’
Fields
Kerala Sundari, Megha
dambaru, Bahurupi ,
Talmuli
More than 5ton
Source:েহুব্রীতি থা ,২০১৮

33. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 33erjee

34. Dr R H Richharia, Unsung Hero of Indian Agriculture
Ex-Director (1956-1966) ,Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack: Odisha
Renowned rice scientist
He was supposed to be the DG of ICAR
Lost his job as he warned the consequences of importing Japonica
rice varieties without plant quarantine.
He opined for multi-location trial of his folk rice varieties.
This is an example of Indian scientific development!
The contradiction stemmed from the fact
that bureaucrats and politicians have little
grounding in genetics: they did not seem
to understand that seed tested after
numerous adaptive trials over many
seasons, and then selected and multiplied,
is radically different from seed imported in
bulk from abroad. The latter, because of
its mixed population, will contain seed
carrying disease and which might be
susceptible to pests.
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35. Our DESI HYVSs
@ Soumik Banerjee
35
@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

36. Our DESI HYVSs
36@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 Credit : Soumik Banerjee

37. 37@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019
:CreditSoumikBanerjee

38. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 38
Credit : Soumik Banerjee

39. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 39
Medicinal Rice

40. Most Nutritive Rice in the World
• Black Rice ( Kalabhat etc)
• Ironand Zinc
• High Fiber
• CancerFighting
• Antioxidant
• Sticky Rice
• Payaesam, Hodge Podge
• AntiDiabatic
Collected fromSambhab,
Orissa2008
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41. 41@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

42. 42@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

43. Main 4 Sp of Cotton
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G arboreum- Indian Sub
Continent, Tree Cotton and Shrubs (
Indus Valley)
 G barbadense-South America (
Peru 4200 BC) , longest staple length
G harbaceum-Middle East and
Africa ( Levant Cotton)
 G hirsutum – Central America-
Mexico ( 3400BC)
Upto 1947 3% G hirsutum cotton
Upto 1970 10%
After 1990 Bt cotton Hybrids 99 %
G hirsutum

44. Our Cotton varieties
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Credit : Soumik Banerjee

45. 4 sp of Cotton Conservation in WB, 21 Vars
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Bhairab Saini of Panchal, Sonamukhi
Block, Bankura , West Bengal
Conserves
40 Mustard, 24 Millet, 40 Wheat and
Barley, 40 Maize,150 Folk Rice

46. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 46
Credit Soumik Banerjee

47. Silk, Muslin and Cotton Cloth
• Futi - Lost for ever
• Norma
• Bariyati
@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 47
 Muslin was made in 22 places
Export of Silk and cotton, Muslin Cloth
From Bengal 1500 – 1800 AD
 Kasim bazar
Hugli
Dacca
 Yearly 2 crores prior to Battle of Plessey
 MAL MALE KHAS – Current price 80K

48. Our Crop Diversities
Credit : Soumik Banerjee
48

49. @ A paul ATC 13th Nov, 2019
Pictures from Net
49
Cattle Diversity
Red Sindhri
Gir

50. Dwindling Cattle Population and Global Warming
 The straw of modern varieties are not suitable for cattle feed
 Dearth of cattle manure
 Introduction of power tiller
 For tilling the agricultural land of West Bengal 4337 lakh liter
diesel and 48 lakh liters of Mobil
Imagine the pollution out of it apart from the pollution due to
manufacturing of fertilizers and pollution after application
 For country plough we need 50 lakh cattle
 Bio gas for 11 lakh farm families
 Replacing LPG worth of Rupees 375 crores
 Milk production and social security
Source : SUSTHAYEE KRISHI SAKHYAMATA, Sampad Ranjan Patra, 2011
50@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

51. Our Crop Diversities
Credit : Soumik Banerjee
@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

52. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 52

53. 53@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019
রঙীন খদশী িু ট্টা
খোয়ার
খদশী িু ট্টা

54. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 54
MILLETS

55. The world is not meant for us only
• Do we address our future generation? If so how?
• Do we care for human beings only?
55@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

56.  Conservation of More than 400 FRVs at ATC Fulia
Under Natural Mode, not organic farming
Distribution of FRV seeds
 Characterization
Analysis of Nutritional Qualities of rice under way
RKVY 16 Blocks of 16 Districts
Major Achievement of ATC-Fulia
Introduction and Popularization Various FRVs
Kalabhat , the most nutritive rice in the world and highest production in WB 2018
Siliguri Sub Division - More than 5000 ha with 5 folk varieties , Chamatkar covers the
major area
Nayagarm Block of Jhargarm 4 Varieties Covers 500 ha Kerala Sundari being the major
56@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

57. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 57
Largest Publications on Folk Rice In India by ATC Fulia

58. Visitors at ATC- Fulia
58@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019

59. 59
Profuse Tillers with Floating Azolla
ATC FULIA 13 Oct 2010 SORC
Red calm of Bhutia
42 Tillers
@ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019
Red Calm

60. @ Apaul ATC 13th Nov, 2019 60
RiceCultivation with Floating Azolla
35 DAT
40 DAT Rice Growth

61. Let us unite to save the world
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