#14 National Seed Diversity Festival 2017


The national seed diversity festival is being conducted at Anna University from 9th June 2017 to 11th June 2017 with the collaboration of ASHA and Bharath Beej Swaraj Manch.  This festival witnessed many seed-conserving farmers showcasing an enormous variety of seeds and rice. People commuting to the place via public transports would have to walk a long distance inside the campus to reach the building. Once you enter the place, towards the right you have the registration counter. There is no entrance free and the festival is open to all. After registration, comes a huge hall where all the seeds and rice are showcased. The arrangements of stalls resembled like a school project, where we visit each stall one by one in a linear fashion.

Every stall had different types of seeds and millets. Each type of seed also had a name tag and the stall owners were more than kind in answering even our silliest queries and questions. There was one stall from Mysore which showcased fourteen varieties of Ragi plant. Next to that was “Save Our Rice Campaign” which had more than 100 varieties of rice. Never have I seen so many varieties of rice! The stalls also had sprouted millets and we were told its health benefits including using them as a substitute for processed baby foods.  The seed varieties were also for sale and one could see people buying them so eagerly.

Outside the hall, you have some outdoor stalls too. One stall which impressed me a lot was the seed balls stall. The seed balls are made by mixing 40% cow dung manure with 60% clay sand. A small amount of the mixture is taken and a round ball is made by adding a few drops of water. Any seed of our choice is placed inside the ball and left to dry. These seed balls can be planted at our desired locations. The person also mentioned that the best time to plant these balls are right before the rainy season.

For the kids, there was a “make your own pots” stall where there were a lot of enthusiastic kids waiting to try them. Next to that was a stall selling cooking utensils made of clay and mud. The utensils ranged from kadais to dosa tawas to even mud bottles.  

There were a few stalls selling manure to grow plants, farm-grown vegetables and also few varieties of sweets and mittais. 

If you are hungry after visiting all stalls, you have a small food counter where you have lemon juice to satisfy your thirst and a lunch combo to fill your stomach.


This NSDF was such an informative initiative to know the types of seeds, rice and millets grown in our country. This NSDF would definitely give people the needed awareness of our country’s proud produces. This is a must visit event for all, regardless the age. 

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