12YO Harshita Priyadarshini Mohanty Is On A Mission To Preserve Millets

Harshita Priyadarshini Mohanty, a young star in the tribal-dominated Odisha area of Koraput, is widely recognized for her efforts to preserve indigenous types of millets and rice. She is a class eight student at Prakash Vidyalaya in Jeypore, Koraput, and has acquired the nickname "seed girl" for starting a seed bank that currently includes over 180 species of native rice and more than 80 types of mandia (millet).

Harshita Priyadarshini Mohanty's Efforts

12-year-old Harshita Priyadarshini Mohanty has conserved 60+ rare millet varieties. Inspired by Padma Shri farmer Kamala Pujari, she distributes seeds for free & has showcased her collection to Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu. @rashtrapatibhvn @IYM2023#IYM2023 https://t.co/fq5ISD822m

— Agriculture INDIA (@AgriGoI) May 22, 2024

Under the guidance of the district's Padma Shri Kamala Pujari, young Harshita began her project of gathering native seeds in 2023.She received four types of paddy seeds from Kamala ji: Machhakanta, Umuriachudi, Asamchudi, and Koraput Kalajeera (which received a GI tag in August 2023). As individuals like her are now approaching the end of their lives, Kamala Ji stated that youngsters must save the disappearing indigenous seeds for future generations. In January 2024, Paradeep Phophates and Siksha "O" Anusdhan University in Bhubaneswar jointly honored Harshita as "Krushak Ratna."

Harshita, who is greatly impacted by Kamala ji, walks straight to farmers' fields to gather seeds, according to her social worker father, Harekrushna Mohanty. "We stopped in Patraput, where Kamala ji was staying, on our route to Jeypore from Boipariguda to have Harshita accepted into Prakash Vidyalaya for her future studies. My daughter's seed-gathering activities have gained fresh vigor as a result of our encounter with her," explains Harekrushna.

Seed Distribution

Her seed bank includes rice varieties like Kalabati (black rice), Tulsi Bhog (high-fibre rice), Rogusai, Chhatianaki, and Haladichudi collected during the harvesting season between December and January.She stores 100–250 grams of each type of seed. If there are more seeds than this, she gives the extra ones to farmers at no cost. She handed 20 farmers indigenous paddy varieties in 2023 and has given seeds to 50 farmers this year so far, who foster her desire to become an agronomic.

Harshita preserves many millet types in addition to indigenous landraces. She got the idea when she went to the district-level ecological diversity festival, which was hosted by the non-profit organization "Ekata" at the Tribal Museum in Koraput town. Numerous species of vegetables, millets, and rice were on display at the event. She started with Bhalu, Bhati, and Mami, three types of millet. Currently, there are more than 80, five of which were presents from "Ekata."

Achievements

Additionally, in the virtual national competition "Idea Youngsters," Harshita placed first out of 10,000 competitors in the 12–17 age category. The organizers, HDFC Bank and Red FM, awarded her a cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh in April 2024. She addressed every query the judges had during the virtual competition, emphasizing the value of organic farming and traditional seeds.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's head scientist from 2019 to 2022, was drawn to Harshita at the conference. Dr. Swaminathan, the daughter of Green Revolution MS Swaminathan's father, was impressed with her and encouraged her to continue the work.The agricultural officer of Kundra block in the Koraput district, Tapas Chandra Roy, states that Harshita also attended the Global Symposium on Farmers' Rights, which was organized by the Union Ministry of Agriculture in September 2023 in Delhi.The Global Symposium was inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu.

Since she was in class two, Harshita has also started collecting foreign banknotes. Inspired by her policeman grandpa Sripada Mohanty, Harshita possesses almost 2,000 coins from around 80 different nations. In addition, she has amassed more than 1,500 postal stamps from 40 nations.