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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Rahibai Soma Popere helped conserve native crop varieties by raising seedlings, selecting and multiplying seeds, and sharing planting material with other farmers. Her work in Kombhalne, Maharashtra, grew alongside a community seed bank and farmer groups—not as a solo effort—and connected local seed-saving with practical cultivation and water-management methods.
Who is Rahibai Soma Popere?
Popere is a tribal farmer and seed conservationist from Kombhalne village in Akole block, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) describes how she learned about agro-biodiversity, wild food resources and traditional culture through farming and practical experience. Her work later brought her wide recognition as the state’s “Seed Mother.”
The name reflects more than collecting seeds. Conservation depends on keeping varieties in cultivation, producing viable planting material and making it available to other farmers. Popere’s documented work combined those activities with training and community organization.
How did she conserve native varieties?
She raised seedlings and multiplied seeds
According to the DST profile, Popere began with a blackberry nursery and went on to establish nurseries for hyacinth bean seedlings, rice, vegetables and bean landraces. She selected and multiplied local varieties, then shared seedlings and seed material with farmers. The profile also records an in-situ germplasm conservation center and a perennial kitchen garden for household use.
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This approach keeps seed conservation connected to growing crops: a variety is not only stored, but also planted and multiplied. The DST profile reports two different conservation totals from its award-era account: about 43 landraces across 17 crops conserved and multiplied through the in-situ center, and about 122 landraces across 32 crops under conservation. These are historical figures, not a verified current inventory. Department of Science and Technology profile.
She shared practical cultivation methods
The DST profile says Popere developed expertise in the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method for paddy and improved cultivation practices for tomato and hyacinth bean. It also lists participatory seed selection, vermicomposting, vermiwash, natural pest repellents and nursery establishment among the methods she used or promoted.
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Scroll’s 2017 account adds that Popere’s family farmed rain-fed land and that she developed water-harvesting structures, including a farm pond and a traditional jalkund. It reported that she made two acres of wasteland productive and that improved cultivation practices raised crop yield by up to 30%. That figure belongs to the 2017 report; it is not a controlled-trial result or a general prediction for other farms. Scroll/Village Square, September 12, 2017.
How far did the work reach?
The DST profile says Popere shared planting material with 210 farmers in seven villages and trained about 3,500 farmers across Ahmednagar district. These are figures reported in the government profile, not independently audited current totals. BAIF Development Research Foundation’s 2021 account separately described her as a “Godmother” to more than 3,500 women farmers; that organizational characterization is distinct from the DST’s reported training figure.
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Popere was also an active member of the Kalsubai Parisar Biyane Sanvardhan Samajik Sanstha, which BAIF describes as a community seed bank and seed-saver group. BAIF says the group received the 2021 National Plant Genome Savior Community Award. The group’s role matters: local seed conservation can depend on collective selection, multiplication and exchange, not only on one farmer’s expertise. BAIF, “Custodians of Development Honoured by BAIF,” December 7, 2021.
Why can locally saved seed matter?
Popere told VillageSquare, in a statement republished by Scroll: “Native crop varieties are not only drought and disease resistant, but are nutritive and retain the soil fertility as they do not need chemical fertilisers and excessive water,”. This is her stated view and experience, not evidence that every native variety has those traits in every location.
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A 2025 Maharashtra Project on Climate Resilient Agriculture implementation plan describes indigenous seeds as locally adapted to climate, soil and pests. It identifies local-variety conservation, seed distribution, farmer training, registration assistance and village seed banks as project activities. The plan says village seed banks can help farmers prepare for weather contingencies, such as resowing after a late monsoon onset or an early dry spell. Those are project aims and rationale, not a guarantee that a particular seed bank can prevent crop losses. Maharashtra Project on Climate Resilient Agriculture, NDKSP Project Implementation Plan, June 23, 2025.
For farmers, the practical value of a seed system depends on whether suitable seed is accessible, can be saved and replanted, and fits local growing conditions. Cultural and food value may matter too. Seed conservation does not by itself establish that a variety will outperform another crop or reduce inputs in all circumstances.
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How do community seed banks fit into public programs?
The 2025 Maharashtra project plan includes support for local-seed conservation and village seed banks, alongside farmer training and distribution. It also summarizes provisions of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, including recognition for farmers conserving genetic resources and rights concerning saving, sowing, resowing, exchanging, sharing or selling seed as described in the plan. The plan is a summary, not a substitute for the Act or guidance from the responsible authority.
In this context, Popere’s work illustrates how farm-level practice and community institutions can reinforce each other: farmers maintain varieties through cultivation, groups organize seed-saving and exchange, and public programs can support training and local seed systems.
Recognition
The DST says Popere received the Padma Shri for her contribution to agriculture. BAIF’s 2021 account also lists the Nari Shakti Puraskar, National Social Innovation Award and Vasantrao Naik Puraskar. These honors recognize her contribution, while the community seed bank and farmer groups remain part of the broader conservation story.
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