Heirloom seeds take root, arrest migration from Madhya Pradesh village

As a shift to heirloom seeds and indigenous crops improves agricultural yields in Jhabua district, farmers are becoming less dependent on migration for work in cities in neighbouring Rajasthan and Gujarat

Aishwarya Mohanty

JHABUA, Madhya Pradesh: Once a migrant worker, Nagla Ninama, hasn’t had to leave his village in central India in eight years.

The 55-year-old Bhil Adivasi farmer has a five-acre farm in Mohankot Gram Panchayat of Jhabua district, in south-west Madhya Pradesh, which was flush with a sweet potato yield ready for harvest in May. Even during the peak summer months, when India was reeling from a record-breaking heatwave, Ninama’s farm, a serene patch lined by trees, remained green.

“This farm wasn’t always this green. Summers were the most difficult months, the soil was dry, there was hardly any crop yield and we had no other choice but to migrate,” Ninama said, as he removed invasive shrubs on his farm.

Until 2016, Ninama, along with his wife and children, migrated for work to cities in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, where he worked as a daily wage labourer, for most of the year. He returned to his native village in Jhabua during the monsoon months to tend to his farm, then returned to the cities to work again.

But he now takes pride in his farm, and his roots.

“Switching to heirloom traditional seeds and agricultural practices helped us return to our roots. It saved our land and our livelihoods,” he told The Migration Story.

Several Indian states and nonprofits are trying to bring back traditional hardy crops such as millets and natural farming techniques to protect crop yields from extreme weather events like droughts and floods, while also cutting agricultural emissions, owing to the use of chemical fertilisers.

The virtues notwithstanding, the uptake for these crops and farming methods remains largely poor as farmers’ lives and livelihoods are wedded to yields, more so in the face of uncertain weather. Use of chemicals and hybrid seeds promise to boost yields and incomes, while stripping the soil of essential nutrients, reducing its fertility.

This same story is playing out in Jhabua in the Bhil Adivasi community, some of whom are rediscovering traditional crops and seeds, while many others are still holding on to new techniques.

For generations, the Bhil Adivasis, a community indigenous to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, most of them marginal farmers, relied on traditional crops of maize and pulses and traditional techniques like using oxen for ploughing, besides gathering forest produce.

But changing rainfall patterns, lack of irrigation options in the region’s hilly topography, and the introduction of hybrid cotton in the 1980s led to shifts in farming practices. Many switched to cash crops such as soybeans and hybrid maize, touted as a high-yielding variety by the Indian government.

Initially, the hybrid maize seeds brought prosperity. Farmers experienced higher yields. “We thought we had hit a jackpot,” says Ninama. “A year or two went really well, and we were hopeful.”

Their prospects, however, soon turned grim. The increased dependency of the hybrid crops on chemical fertilisers, pesticides and fungicides started degrading the soil, besides increasing input costs. Ninama recalls spending up to Rs 40,000 annually on farm inputs. “Most of what I earned was spent on tending to the farm. I could not work towards installing a better irrigation system, or attempt any other harvest,” he said.

With the advent of high-yielding crop varieties, the farmers had also adopted a single crop pattern.

“The soil, once rich and fertile, became hard and less penetrable. Root rot and other diseases became common, leading to a decline in crop production. I grew only two crops a year and revenue had come down drastically,” recollects Amar Singh Baria, a 60-year-old farmer from Ninama’s village.

The financial burden and dwindling crop yields forced many farmers to migrate to cities in Gujarat and Rajasthan, seeking work at construction sites.

“Migration was inevitable,” Ninama explains. “We were not even able to grow enough to feed our families; there was nothing left to sell.”

A SEED OF CHANGE

Then came significant change in 2016, when a seed bank was set up barely 30 km from Mohankot. The initiative, launched by Jhabua-based non-governmental organisation Sampark, focussed on reviving indigenous varieties of seeds, originally grown by the Bhil Adivasis in the region.

“This seed bank initiative aimed to restore seed sovereignty and reduce farming expenses,” said Harishankar Pawar, development coordinator at Sampark.

From an initial 34 traditional varieties of wheat and seven varieties of maize, the seed bank has now scaled up to include seeds of various indigenous millets, vegetables, pulses, fruits and cereals, such as sesame, black and red lentils, amaranthus, peanuts, chickpeas, sunflowers, etc.

The seed bank works on a barter system. For every kilo of seeds disbursed, the farmer returns 1.5 kg of seeds to the bank after the annual crop cycle.

“We first identified older farmers who were still using traditional seeds. We then collaborated with them to conserve the seeds. Then, we started disseminating the seeds to other farmers,” Pawar added.

Ninama and Baria were amongst the first beneficiaries of the seed bank. Today, eight years since its inception, a total of 3,200 farmers from 196 villages in Jhabua are associated with the seed bank. About 142 quintals (14,200 kg) of seeds have been disbursed till date, while 56 quintals have been exchanged. The bank has also received 103 quintals of seeds from the farmers, so far.

The transition to traditional seeds has rejuvenated their soil, reduced dependency on chemicals, and improved crop yields, the farmers claim. Research on the role of heirloom varieties of seeds in improving crop yields and building resilient agricultural practices underscores similar benefits.

Heirloom varieties have rich genetic diversity, which is the result of generations of farmers selecting and saving seeds based on their adaptation to local conditions, and resistance to pests and disease, according to a study by researchers at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, who noted that this genetic diversity was critical to building resilient agriculture systems.

In 2023, Ninama earned a profit of Rs 3 lakh from his farm, which he used to get a well dug, ensuring the farm received water throughout the year.

By saving his own seeds and avoiding migration for work, Baria ensured that his grandchildren could stay back in the village and attend school. “I couldn’t educate my children, but my grandchildren are going to school now. Even if my son migrates to find work in a city, my grandchildren stay back with me to study. Otherwise, the entire family would have migrated,” Baria said.

In Morjhariya village, about 10 km from Mohankot, Pasubai Charel (37), was able to save enough to buy half an acre of land two years ago, after switching to using heirloom varieties of seeds and adopting other traditional farming practices. These include making compost, manure and natural ferments, adopting biological pest control methods, and planting mixed crops.

“We had a small piece of land where we grew a single crop a year. Three days after we got married, we left for Gujarat to work at a textile unit. This continued for 20 years. We never felt settled,” said Charel.

“Now, we don’t depend on the market for seeds anymore. We develop our own compost and ferments which can be used in place of chemical fertilisers. Most of them are developed from farm waste, so our input costs have drastically reduced,” she added.

Charel hasn’t migrated for work in the last seven years, meets her annual requirement of grains and pulses from her own farm, and sells the surplus.

But these are rare case studies as the adoption rate of the seeds remains low in Jhabua. For instance, in Morjhariya, only 20 of the 150 households have successfully transitioned to these methods.

“Adopting this change requires patience. You can see visible results only after a year or two, and not everyone is willing to invest that time,” says Pawar, reflecting on the continuing challenges. “Additionally, farming becomes a full-time job when you have to prepare your own manure and ferments instead of buying agri inputs from the market,” he added.

For many, working in cities and earning a stable income is still a more attractive option. Baria’s son continues to migrate for work. “My son joins me for farm work only during the monsoon. He feels he can earn more in a city and is always worried about erratic rains affecting our farm produce. But for us, staying at home and tending to our ancestral farm is all that matters,” says Baria.

Edited by Lesley A. Esteves

Aishwarya Mohanty is an independent journalist based in Odisha, and reports on gender, climate change and environment.

Author

Aishwarya Mohanty

Aishwarya Mohanty is a Special Correspondent with The Migration Story and her work amplifies voices from India’s heartlands. Her reporting spans gender, rural issues, social justice, environment, and climate vulnerabilities. Formerly with The Indian Express, her work has appeared in Mongabay, The Migration Story, Behan Box, Article-14, Frontline, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and others. She is also the recipient of the ICRC-PII Award for climate change reporting (2021), the Laadli Media Award for gender-sensitive reporting (2023 & 2025), the Sanjay Ghose Media Award for grassroots journalism (2023), and the Odisha Women in Media Award (2024). Along with this, she co-owns a permaculture farm, Routes to Roots Natural Farms, with her partner in Nimach, Madhya Pradesh.

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