Seed Banks

     Seed banks preserve seeds on a long term basis in a view to revive the good genes to produce more yielding, disease resistant, immune crops thus preserving the generic diversity to retain the long historic and cultural values.

    Good seed is fundamental to healthy agriculture. Then to secure good seeds is like securing gold in modern terms. Rare seeds are collected & secured in seed banks around the world. They're dried & made with less than 5% moisture content before it’s packed securely and stored normally under -18℃.

World has numerous seed banks in different parts of the world.

  

      1. Svalbard Global seed vault, Norway.

      2. Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Project, Wakehurst, England.

      3. Navdanya, Uttarakhand, India. 

      4.National Center for Genetic Resources, Fort Collins, Colorado.

      5. Vavilov Research Institute, Russia.

      6. ICRISAT seed bank at Pattanchervu, Telangana, India.

   Svalbard Global seed vault or Noah's vault, biggest seed bank in the world is built inside a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island. Operated by Global Crops Diversity Trust, it has collected 10 lakhs rare seed samples from around the world & stored intact. Vault is with 15 lakh seed capacity. The Noah's vault is built 120m below dry ground surface with permafrost acting as a natural freezer.

   International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) bank at Pattanchervu, Telangana, India has 1,26,830 seed samples. Seeds of 5 types of small Millets- Chickpea, Pigeonpea, Pearlmillet, Sorghum & Groundnut collected from 144 countries are stored here.

ICRISAT has seed samples of 45 years old too. An immune seed 'Maruti' was made available to farmers in 1986. 53 countries have taken 143 species of seeds from here to the farmland.

Agriculture Ancestors

Paddy cultivation started at the sides of Yangtze river of China 5000 years ago.
Alluvial soil is most suitable for paddy cultivation.
90% of the world's Paddy cultivation is in Asia. China(26%), India(20%).
According to Rice exporters association (Thailand), most rice exported country in 2015 is India.
India uses maximum area in the world(28.5%) for paddy cultivation.
India's 75% of paddy cultivation is at W.Bengal, Punjab, U.P, A.P, Tamil Nadu & Haryana.
Average Indian paddy production is 2 tonnes/hectare. Most at W. Bengal & Punjab.
A.P- called rice bowl of India.
Most paddy production in Kerala is at Palakkad.
Wheat spreaded from Levante of NE Asia.
Rubber took birth from the Amazon forests of Brazil.
Apple originated from the parts of Turkey belonging to Central Asia.
Mango happened in India.
From Western Asia, Grape spread in the world.
Cotton cultivation started in India by the people residing on banks of Sindu river.
Gulmohar trees originated from Madagascar, Africa.
Australia is the land of many types of Eucalyptus, Acacia.
Dalia plant, Cone, Guawa(perakka), Spice, Vanila, Sheemakkonna, came from Mexico.
South America is that land of Allspices.
Rambutan fruit came from Malaysia.
Potato came from Peru.
France became the 1st country to ban food waste by supermarkets.

Major Crops of India

National Agriculture Day celebrated on the birthday (December 23) of Chaudari Charan Singh.
Woman Farmer day- October 15.

Kharif crops-
Monsoon crops usually sown with the beginning of 1st rains in July during SW monsoon. Major Crops are millets(bajra & jowar), cotton, soybean, sugarcane, turmeric, paddy, maize, moong(pulses), groundout, redchillies.

Rabi Crops-
Spring harvest/Winter crops.
Sown in October last harvested in March/April. Major Crops include wheat, barley, mustard, sesame, peas etc.

Zaid Crops-
Grown from March to June in some parts. Muskmelon, watermelon, vegetables of cucurbitacae family such as bitter gourd, pumpkin, ridged gourd etc.
Food grains-
Rice- Kharif crop cultivated in 1/3rd of India, provides food to half of the Indian population. Top producer are W. Bengal, Punjab & U.P.
Wheat- Rabi Crop, 2nd most used crop. Suitable soil for cultivation is well drained fertile loamy soil & clayey soil with plain areas. Top producers are U.P, Punjab & Haryana.
Coarse Cereals/Millets- short term Kharif crops used as food/fodder. Dry land crops grown in areas of high temperature. Less sensitive to soil deficiencies, can be grown on alluvial or loamy soils. Major crops are Jawar, Bajra & Ragi. Top producers - Maharashtra, Karnataka & Rajasthan.
Pulses- most are leguminus crops, provide proteins to the vegetarian population. Major pulses are Gram, tur(pigeon pie) or arhar(red gram), urd(black gram), mung(green gram), masur(lentil), kulthi(horse gram), matar(peas) etc.

Cash Crops-
Sugarcane- Kharif crop, belong to bamboo family grown in tropical & subtropical areas. Black soils of deccan & malwa plateau suits for it's cultivation.
Top producer are Gujarat, Maharashtra & Andhra Pradesh.
Ground Nut- most important oil seeds of India.
Cotton- fibre crop, cotton seed is used as vegetable oil & as a part of fodder for milk production.