Nelly Bassily | June 1, 2015
Like this week’s story from Ghana, our script of the week focuses on seed saving and seed storage. This script covers the basic details of saving and storing seeds.
Farmers have always saved seed to plant the next season. But now, seed companies promote new seeds to farmers, which they can buy from stores in town or directly from salespersons. But seed companies do not usually sell the traditional varieties of crops which are well-adapted to your local climate, pests and diseases. These traditional varieties may only grow in your region.
Even if farmers buy new seeds to try out, it is also a good idea to save and plant seeds from traditional varieties. The best way to make sure that traditional varieties survive is for farmers to collect and save seeds themselves.
Buying seeds is expensive, but saving your own costs little or no money. If farmers depend on buying seeds, they risk not being able to plant a crop if there is a seed shortage and the company does not have the required seeds. Saving seeds means farmers have them ready to plant when conditions are right—like right after a good rain—and they don’t have to make a trip to town first.
http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-42/save-your-own-seeds-part-one-seed-selection/ and http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-42/save-your-own-seeds-part-two-seed-storage/