Rahibai Soma Popere

Rahibai Soma Popere has never been to school. Her knowledge of farming came slowly, from years of work in the fields. That knowledge turned into a seed bank that keeps more than a hundred old crop varieties alive and in the hands of farmers.

Learning from the land

Rahibai comes from Kombhalne village in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, and belongs to the Mahadeo Koli tribe ^[2]. Her family was poor. As a young girl she looked after cattle and helped her parents as farm labourers ^[2]. Only part of the family’s small plot could be farmed, and in the dry months they often moved to nearby Akole to find work, such as cutting sugarcane ^[2].

Over the years she noticed how the old local varieties behaved. They coped with drought and disease, and they did not need chemical fertiliser or a lot of water ^[2]. She also felt that people in her village were falling ill more often after switching to food grown from hybrid seeds, and she came to believe that traditional grains were more nourishing ^[2].

A seed bank at home

With other women farmers, Rahibai began collecting local seeds from around Akole ^[2]. She went on to lead a self-help group that works to conserve and spread traditional crop varieties ^[2]. From 2014 she worked with the BAIF Development Research Foundation, a non-profit, which helped collect local crop diversity and set up a seed bank at her house ^[2].

The seed bank runs on a simple rule. A farmer who borrows seed returns twice as much after the harvest, so the stock keeps growing ^[2]. By 2018, the bank was looking after 116 native varieties of 53 different crops ^[2]. She also travels to train farmers and students on choosing good seed, keeping soil healthy and growing kitchen gardens ^[2].

Recognition

In 2018 she was one of three Indians on the BBC’s yearly “100 Women” list ^[2], which picks women from many countries whose work stands out. The BBC noted how her work to save native seeds had helped farming in her tribal community ^[3].

On 8 March 2019 she was among 44 women who received the Nari Shakti Puraskar from President Ram Nath Kovind. The Tribune described her as an expert in agro-biodiversity ^[4].

The next year, on 25 January 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs named her for the Padma Shri, listed under Agriculture, from Maharashtra ^[1].

Why it matters

Each seed that is lost takes with it a crop that may have survived droughts and pests for generations. Rahibai’s work shows that farmers themselves can protect this heritage, and share it freely with their neighbours.