Update from Agroecology Scholarship Recipient Vasantha Kumari

Vasantha Kumari, from the Amrita Bhoomi agroecology centre in south India recently received a scholarship from Grow Ahead for her work on the conservation of local seeds. Vasantha is one of the seed coordinators of the Amrita Bhoomi centre, which is a farmer’s agroecology school run by the farmers movement of the state of Karnataka.

Over the last few months Vasantha has been learning new techniques to conserve vegetable seed varieties, especially those plants that have a good nutritional profile and can help rural families to combat malnutrition. Vasantha has been saving and distributing these seeds to farmers. She has also been producing organically grown vegetables and marketing them to agricultural workers in the area.

Vasantha has also attended various seed festivals across the state in Karnataka and displayed the seeds of Amrita Bhoomi. Many farmers have taken Vasantha’s seeds. She also appeared on television talking about her work and the importance of local seeds.

Over the next few months, Vasantha plans to attend some more training programs on seeds and to expand Amrita Bhoomi’s seed network by working with rural women seed producers. She also plans to work on home gardens with rural women in the area to combat malnutrition.

Post written by Amrita Bhoomi team