Odisha man left job to build seed bank saving India’s traditional rice varieties

In 1997, ecologist and conservation scientist Debal Deb established Vrihi, a seed bank created to conserve traditional rice varieties and revive the older practice of exchanging seeds without treating them as a commercial product. Nearly three decades later, his collection has grown to 1,480 rice landraces collected from indigenous farmers in India and from farmers and conservationists in several other countries. At his 1.7-acre research farm in Rayagada district, Odisha, the varieties are grown every year so that their seeds can be regenerated and distributed. The Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS), which coordinates Vrihi, describes it as the first non-governmental rice seed bank for farmers. According to the official website of Vrihi, more than 8,000 indigenous farmers in 13 states had directly or indirectly received rice seeds from the seed bank as of June 2026.