The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has released a new Indian Standard for community seed banks, creating a framework to conserve indigenous seed varieties at a time when agriculture faces increasing climate-related risks including erratic rainfall, rising temperatures and prolonged dry spells.
The standard lays down guidelines for seed collection, acquisition, processing, storage, documentation, quality assurance, viability testing, seed regeneration, risk management and continual improvement.
Traditional seed varieties are valued for traits such as drought tolerance, disease resistance and nutritional quality.
The framework is expected to help farmers, cooperatives and local institutions collect, store and exchange locally adapted seeds in a more reliable and standardised manner.