Ensure rights to crop seeds

Speaking at a conference in the city, they said the traditional practice of this land was to preserve the crop seeds by themselves for sowing them in next year.

But the traditional practice is withering away slowly as the multinational companies are taking control of seeds and compelling the farmers to buy those seeds from them, they alleged.

The farmers termed the hybrid seeds as a trap as once the farmers start to use it they have to use chemical fertilisers and insecticides for their crops.

They demanded of the government to impose the ban on insecticides properly as prohibited insecticides are being smuggled and used in different bordering districts.

The daylong conference was organised by Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) at the Women's Voluntary Association auditorium.

Later the farmers and BARCIK officials exchanged views with the journalists.

After a series of discussion with the farmers and journalists, BARCIK made a 'National Seed Announcement' where the government was asked to control the activities of the multinational companies, save crop diversity and protect indigenous farming knowledge.

The announcement said it is the women's traditional rights to preserve crop seeds and asked the government to keep it up for the greater interest of the country.

Karunamoyee Mandol, a woman farmer from Satkhira, said they have started preserving crop seeds.

"We have also stopped using insecticides and chemical fertilisers. We do preserve our crop seeds by our own so that we do not need to buy them from market every year," she said.

BARCIK Director Sukanto Sen and researchers Pavel Partha and Ferdousi Akhter and farmers Rahimuddin Sarker, M K L Lalon, Rabiul Azam, Supta Chakma and Sayed Ahmed Bachchu attended the conference.