Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Sustainable Conservation of Seeds and Food Grains in the Himalayas

Himalayan region is one of the oldest agricultural civilization areas and treasure for the food and agricultural crops such as rice, wheat, maize, millets, pulses, oilseeds, fibers, and other economically potential crop species. This region considered for centre of origin for few crops and bestows trait specific valuable genetic resources include the cold tolerance, disease, pest resistant genotypes, plant populations and traditional crop varieties of inter and intra-specific, racial diversity in for future needs. These indigenous crops consists great dietary value and plays a vital role in the sustainable development of aboriginal people nutritional security. Indigenous people management the local crop varieties/landraces which take account of socio-cultural practices of seed selection, production, and traditional storage techniques with their ancestral knowledge systems. Farmer’s have developed many unique structures (made of bamboos, canes, mud, wood, etc.) which are relatively cheap, eco-friendly, climate resistant and impart lofty self-life for safe storage of food grains and seeds from pests/insects and rodents. The seeds are exchanged as gifts, bartered, and purchased from local markets. Conservation of these trait specific traditional landraces at a very low cost using in situ/on farm can be successfully achieved by providing special incentives to farmers/indigenous people, village communities may get the benefits through to identify collection priority areas, explored and unexplored areas with the establishment of community seed/gene banks, field genebanks etc. and also protect human and soil health need to be strengthened to tackle of climate change with the help of this natural wealth.