Sikkim Farmer Promotes Heritage Millets and Preserves Traditional Seeds

A farmer from Sikkim has spent many years working to protect traditional millet varieties and encourage their cultivation. While many farmers moved towards commercial crops, Tshering Gyatso Lepcha chose to continue growing indigenous grains and preserving their seeds.

Lepcha turned to millet farming after a disease severely affected his large cardamom plantation. Determined to safeguard traditional crops, he began collecting and conserving seeds of local varieties. Over time, he established a small seed bank to preserve indigenous millets along with other traditional crops such as rice and maize.

For several years, his efforts went largely unnoticed as millets were not widely popular in the market. However, interest in these grains increased after global initiatives began promoting millets as nutritious and climate-resilient crops.

Today, Lepcha cultivates and protects several local millet varieties and shares seeds with other farmers to encourage cultivation. His work is helping revive traditional grains in the region while supporting sustainable farming practices.

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