Seed Bank at Gondiya

You must have heard of small saving groups in schools. Kids save their pocket money in this activity and that is often looked over by a teacher.

But have you ever heard of a seed bank run by school kids? I guess not! But this is an activity run by the school kids in the Public School of Gondiya. All these kids are soldiers of the National Green Army. They don’t collect money, instead they collect seeds under the guidance of their teachers, Varsha Ma’am and Asmita Bhongade Ma’am.

Their school is surrounded by jungle like area. Therefore the surrounding of their school is rich with diversified flora and fauna. It has many ethnic trees like Anjan, Karanj, Kadunimb, Jamun, Moh, Palas etc. The kids keep an eye for the seeds of these trees whenever they go for a stroll in the jungle from April to June. They can identify all the trees and all the seeds. They these precious seeds and bring them to their seed bank. The seeds are classified, tagged and stored properly. They give information about the seeds and trees to the visitors to their school.

They pack these seeds in small paper bags and every student keeps a few with him/her throughout rainy season. They also give these seeds to the elders who go afar in the jungle. And all of them throw the seeds at random places, hoping that a few of them will germinate and develop into big trees that will be home to various birds and insects.

This seed bank has been appreciated by many eminent people including the Guardian Minister of the district.

It is a fascinating idea, and one that is so easy to replicate. Would you also like to do it? If you do, give it a trial and send us you story and we will share it here.