3 min read
Seed Saving: The Traditional Practice That Corporate Agriculture Is Making Impossible
For most of agricultural history, farmers saved their own seeds. The practice is now restricted by intellectual property rights, corporate contracts, and the decline of traditional varieties. Seed saving is an act of resistance—and it's disappearing.
The Malawian tobacco farmer who saves seed from the best plants each season is practicing a tradition as old as agriculture. The practice is increasingly difficult: commercial seed contracts prohibit seed saving, hybrid varieties don't breed true, and the knowledge of seed selection is being lost. **Seed saving is an act of autonomy—the farmer who controls their seed supply is less dependent on corporate suppliers. The loss of seed saving is a loss of farmer sovereignty.**
