How One Maharashtra Farmer Built a Seed Bank of 350 Native Fruits & Vegetables

27 June 2025

Rainbow corn to blue tomatoes, he grows them all in his natural food forest

Pandharpur's Anil Gavali has spent 15 years collecting and conserving the seeds of 350 types of native vegetables and fruits.

In 2003, when Anil’s grandmother fell seriously ill, he sold 10 acres of his family’s farmland to cover her medical bills.

One day, a doctor noticed Anil’s native garlic and said: “This variety can reduce clots and cholesterol — but it’s almost extinct.”

That one comment changed everything. Anil made it his life’s mission to revive India’s forgotten seeds and healing foods.

He started small with native garlic, white onions, cucumbers, gourds. No chemicals. No GM seeds. Just age-old wisdom and soil.

Today, his Pandharpur farm grows 350+ native crops - from rainbow corn to figs, mangoes, and rare red-and-white agathi.

Anil has travelled to over 450 cities, exchanging seeds at tribal festivals and local markets. Each variety he collects carries a story, a culture, a cure. .

But Anil isn’t doing this alone. He’s built a collective of 300 farmers who grow native crops on small plots. Each one returns double the seeds, season after season.

“Our seeds aren’t just crops,” Anil says. “They’re our heritage. If we lose them, we lose our future.”