Farmers across several villages in India's Karnataka state are watching their livelihoods disappear as soybean seeds distributed by the government refuse to sprout.
More than 200 farmers in Haveri district invested heavily in preparing their fields, only to discover their crops will not grow.
What's happening?
According to The Hans India, poor-quality seeds from the Agricultural Department's Raitha Samparka Kendra have failed to germinate after 10 days (normal soybean seeds typically sprout within seven days).
In some fields, just a few seeds have emerged, while most have rotted underground.
The failed seeds appear to have come from a specific government batch called the KDS 726 hybrid variety. Agriculture officials have collected samples and sent them to Karnataka State Seeds Corporation for analysis, but farmers fear the investigation will take too long for their needs.
"We don't have time for long investigations," one farmer said, per The Hans India. "We are not against verification, but we need immediate compensation or seed support to restart sowing this season."
Why is this crop failure important?
The seed disaster comes at the worst possible time for communities already facing agricultural pressures.
Many farmers have already been switching from soybeans to other crops with a better profit margin.
"We've barely made any profit from soybean over the past three years, so this year we're switching to corn — it's giving better returns," Subodh Parmar, a farmer in Devas in Madhya Pradesh state, told Reuters.
Combined with erratic rainfall patterns and the monsoon season, the soybean crisis threatens global food security — India is the world's fifth-largest soybean producer, contributing around 3% of global production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Not enough time ⏳ Food supply chains could be disrupted, driving up costs of cooking oils and protein sources at the grocery store.
India's crop issues also reflect a much larger problem: increasing global temperatures disrupt the traditional growing season and make many crops vulnerable to extreme weather events.
What's being done about soybean crop failures?
The government's investigation into the seed failure is underway, with local officials asking seed suppliers to consider compensation. However, farmers are demanding more comprehensive support.
Mallikarjun Ballari — the General Secretary of the District Farmers' Association — expressed his frustration at the process.
"The government cannot get away by offering compensation only for the poor-quality seeds," he told ETV Bharat, via The Hans India. "They must reimburse the full cost — including labor and fertilizers. Simply replacing seeds is not enough."
On the local level, buying locally grown produce (or growing your own) helps to reduce transportation pollution that contributes to rising temperatures — which exacerbate extreme weather conditions.
Choosing seasonal foods helps reduce the energy needs of long-term storage and shipping, while reducing food waste — a significant source of planet-warming gas pollution — means farmers' hard work does not go to waste.
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