A grain of rice can carry generations of knowledge. Behind traditional varieties are the experiences of farmers who have selected seeds, adapted cultivation practices and preserved regional food traditions. Yet, as farming systems change, some of these varieties risk disappearing from everyday cultivation.
In Kerala, environmentalist and trained horticulturist Usha Soolapani has played an important role in protecting this living heritage. She served as national coordinator of the Save Our Rice Campaign from 2004 to 2018, helping advance a collective effort to conserve indigenous rice varieties and raise awareness about agricultural biodiversity.
Her work reflects a simple but powerful idea: preserving traditional seeds is not just about remembering the past. It is about keeping diversity alive in the fields, kitchens and communities of the future.
Beyond the grain
Rice is deeply connected to India’s food culture, rural livelihoods and agricultural traditions. Across the country, farmers have maintained varieties with different grain colours, aromas, textures and growing characteristics.
However, when cultivation becomes concentrated on a narrower selection of varieties, traditional seeds can receive less attention. Farmers’ decisions are influenced by market demand, access to seeds, cultivation costs and local growing conditions.
Conserving traditional rice therefore requires more than collecting seeds. It involves supporting the farmers who grow them, preserving the knowledge associated with their cultivation and creating opportunities for these varieties to remain part of the food system.
This is where ecological agriculture and seed conservation meet. Both recognise that agricultural biodiversity is a valuable resource and that farming communities play an essential role in protecting it.
A campaign rooted in community
The Save Our Rice Campaign began in India in 2004, with the aim of protecting rice diversity, sustaining traditional rice cultures and supporting food sovereignty. Kerala-based environmental organisation Thanal has played an important role in the initiative, working alongside farmers, seed savers and other participating organisations.
The campaign’s activities have included seed exploration, community seed banks, Rice Diversity Blocks and seed festivals. These initiatives connect conservation with everyday farming by helping communities maintain seeds, exchange varieties and share agricultural knowledge.
Seed exploration can help identify traditional varieties, while community seed banks support the preservation and exchange of seed stocks. Rice Diversity Blocks provide opportunities to cultivate and observe different varieties, while seed festivals bring farmers and other participants together to exchange experiences.
These efforts recognise that farmers cannot carry the responsibility for conservation alone. Consumers, traders, millers, researchers and policymakers also influence whether traditional rice varieties remain accessible and valued.
The campaign’s published reports document conservation and cultivation initiatives across several Indian states. Reported figures vary between publications and reporting periods, so the campaign’s achievements are best understood as an evolving collective effort rather than a single fixed number.
Why traditional rice matters
Traditional rice varieties can differ in flavour, texture, growing duration and performance under particular local conditions. Maintaining a wider selection of seeds gives farmers more options and preserves genetic resources that may be useful for future agricultural research.
These varieties also carry cultural significance. Their cultivation can help sustain regional food traditions and the knowledge associated with growing, preparing and sharing traditional foods.
However, traditional varieties are not automatically more productive, nutritious or climate-resilient than modern alternatives. Their characteristics vary, and their suitability depends on the variety, location and cultivation practices. Understanding these differences is important when deciding which varieties to grow and how to conserve them.
The value of conservation lies in retaining agricultural options, protecting traditional knowledge and reducing the risk of losing genetic resources that may be difficult to recover once they disappear from cultivation.
Usha Soolapani’s work with the Save Our Rice Campaign illustrates how environmental advocacy can connect biodiversity with the everyday realities of farming. The campaign’s wider story is one of collective effort, involving farmers, seed savers and organisations working to ensure that traditional rice varieties retain a place in Indian agriculture.
Farmers, researchers, consumers and policymakers all have a role to play. Protecting rice heritage requires not only preserving seeds, but also supporting the communities that continue to grow and share them.
India’s agricultural heritage is not simply a record of what previous generations cultivated. It is a living resource that can continue to evolve as farmers carry their knowledge forward.
Sometimes, protecting that heritage begins with something remarkably small: a seed saved for another season, planted in a field and passed on to the next generation.
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