GREEN Foundation Federation

Seed To Food

Participation of Farmers in Conservation and Cultivation
- a decentralized multi tier approach

The process of ensuring eco-agriculture produce by the individual farmers is spread across the cluster of villages under the different Seed Banks. The farmers associate themselves with the respective seed banks to avail the seeds for conservation, consumption and commercial market.

The seed banks together form the apex body with representation from each seed bank. This apex body of farmers is registered as a cooperative under the name 'Nisarga' and farmers are shareholders in this society.

CREATION OF A FARMERS’ FEDERATION

Federation is a governing body involved in activities that strengthen seed and food security through agro biodiversity conservation. The Federation envisions working through integrated chains, with investment in research and access to national markets. In order to enable farmers to pursue sustainable value-added activities, share valuable information and establish strong market linkages, GF set up an independent cooperative Farmers’ Federation that is registered as ‘Jandhanya’ under the Society Act. The federation consists of farmer representatives. The Federation has already created a brand, “Nisarga” (meaning Nature in Kannada).

The farmers are the shareholders of Nisarga multipurpose souhardha co-operative. The federation consists of 452 shareholders out of which 340 are Male and 112 Female and share value is at Rs. 100/- per share. The federation consists of 11 directors of which 9 are women and 2 men. Every year the Directors on a rotation basis are chosen through elections. This system has been followed to create an opportunity for all the shareholders to participate and build in their capacities.

A significant portion of GF’s efforts is spent on making the Federation self-sustaining through institution building activities, imparting training, exposure visits and providing mentorship as well as necessary management skills to run a business enterprise benefiting the marginal sections of society. GF simultaneously focuses on creating public awareness of the various benefits of organically produced commodities in order to educate consumers and empower them to make informed choices.

Value addition through processing

Value addition to agro-biodiversity forms an essential part of the federation and income generation becomes an important aspect of non-farm activity. Women groups / SHGs and federation members are trained on different aspects like product pricing, financial and marketing facility. A range of income generating activities purely based on agricultural waste and wild diversity together with marketing support is provided through the federation.

Village Development Committee

Village Development Committee (VDC) has been set up in most villages in the project area. The activities at the village level have been chanelised through the VDC’s. VDC is a group of people who also practice micro credit. An interested group of farmers are selected and a committee is formed. At present there are 13 VDC formed which helps to chanelize activities like sustainable agricultural practices, marketing, conservation of seeds etc thus benefiting the farmers.

Structure of Apex body

	Apex Body

	I
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I	I	I		I
Individual Farmer	Capacity building by GREEN Foundation	SHG	--	Community Seed Bank
I I I	I I I I I I I I I I	I I I		I I
- Onfarm conservation - Research - Kitchen Garden - Seed Storage - ICS	Capacity building by GREEN Foundation in - Grain procurement & processing - Quality check - Packing & labeling - Marketing of grain, seeds and value added products Participating and exhibiting organic food products in trade fairs and exhibitions	- Savings - IGP - Exposure Visits - Development of Govt. Projects - Share Collections		- Procurement of Grain & Seeds - Promotion of Organic Farming - Onfarm conservation - Seed Collection - Seed Distribution - Seed Multiplication - Seed Storage - Research - IGP - Exposure Visits - Share Collections - Farmer Consultants







Janadhanya believes in- Ecological agriculture Enhances seed diversity Empowers women Economically viable Ecologically sound Socially just The uncompromising ten principles of eco-agriculture Work in closed cycles Use open pollinated seeds Regenerate humus content of the soil Feed the plants and recycle water Is based on crop rotation and intercropping Spread the risk of crop failure Contribute to a balanced nutritious diet Integrate tree based farming Rely more on human labour and skills than mechanization Provide a means of living for people Special about eco labeling are It offers a viable solution to today's competitive market place It reflects the true cost of production Is based on local food with a diverse base It promotes products from small farms It speaks for local and with participatory guaranteed system Benefits of Eco-agriculture Enhances rural livelihoods More productive and sustainable Protects and enhances biodiversity (Genetic resources, ecological communities, wild flora and fauna) Ecosystem services
Janadhanya Co-operative society offers a variety of eco products from the diversity that is fast disappearing…. Cereals and pulses with no chemical preservatives, value added millets, honey from the forests, oilseeds and diverse traditional foods; and other internal inputs for ecological agriculture like vermicompost and biopesticides.

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