The dirt on seeds -- quality matters
by Diana Schoberg
The Rotarian -- July 2009
At an orphanage outside Kampala, Uganda, good seed means stronger plants and more food on the table.
W hen farmers in industrialized nations do their planting, their highly specialized equipment demands seeds of a uniform size. That’s how seed companies deliver it to them, but that’s not how Mother Nature supplies it. So what happens to the smaller seeds and the larger seeds?
"They dump it," explains John Batcha, a member of the Rotary Club of North Mecklenburg County, N.C., USA, and a former seed company executive. "Yet it's perfectly good."
That’s where Seed Programs Inc. comes in. Batcha founded the nonprofit to act as a middleman, brokering the donation of millions of pounds of unwanted seed from seed companies and providing it – along with gardening expertise – to groups such as Rotary clubs working in developing countries. So far, the organization has shipped 11.5 million packets of seed to more than 60 nations. "People in developing countries don’t care if [the seed is] small or large – just if it produces good food," Batcha says.
When sending seeds, the organization matches the variety to the climate, making sure that cool-weather crops such as peas and turnips end up in the Altiplano region of Bolivia rather than the tropics. Planting instructions come in multiple languages and are tailored to the needs of developing countries, such as storing seed without refrigeration facilities. "Most humanitarian organizations don’t know much about seeds," Batcha notes.
The Rotary Club of Mountain City, Tennessee, USA, has worked with Seed Programs to plant vegetable gardens at three orphanages serving 1,600 children outside Kampala, Uganda. With help from the Rotary Club of Kampala, two Mountain City club members traveled there last year to help plant 1,400 packets of seed. Marilyn Uhl, who headed the project, said the women had basic tools and gardening skills; what they lacked was quality seed. "The plants were so vigorous compared to what they were trying to grow. Our seeds were just popping out of the ground and going berserk," she says.
"This program can work and has worked in small communities and large communities, in cool weather areas such as Mongolia and in tropical regions," Batcha says. "It can help old people, it can help young people. It can be used around the world."