The Seed Lady of Dehradun

Growing up in the hills of Uttarakhand, delicious, organic produce cultivated in the mountains was a staple in Babita Bhatt’s house. So when she moved to Delhi, the low-grade produce and non-availability of a steady, reliable supply of organic produce hit her hard. “For instance, the store-bought barnyard millet was polished white and tasteless, unlike the one in the hills which were unpolished and delicious. The city vegetables and fruits also lacked luster, texture, and taste,” she says. After her daughter was born, she decided to move back to Dehradun.

When she started out, Bhatt was looking for millets and maize that would be good for her baby. But her search came a cropper in the city. Her childhood in Garhwal had equipped her with an understanding of what real organic produce is. The polished hybrid grains found in the city just did not make the cut. From the look to the taste of the produce, everything seemed artificial and laden with chemicals. Her need for food that she used to eat during her childhood, led her to associate herself with organic farmers, first as a consumer and later as an entrepreneur.

Today, through her homegrown brand, Bhatt is working on #Back2Roots (B2R) model motto. This model harnesses traditional knowledge of agriculture, forms community partnerships, imparts training, creates a robust supply chain, and improves incomes by the guaranteed buyback. This entrepreneur has formed successful partnerships with a network of more than 2,200 farmers across Uttarakhand and the North East, as also partnerships with several grassroots NGOs. “Agriculture in the Himalayan region has always been a great source of health and nutrition. Also, the changing lifestyle in urban India has created a huge demand for pure and organic products from the Himalayan region,” says Bhatt.

Acutely aware of the remarkable variety of crops that were found in the Himalayas, for Bhatt an organic and healthy lifestyle meant 100 percent commitment. “Even if we consume 10 percent of products laden with chemicals, then the entire purpose of eating organic is defeated,” she says. Keen on bringing the lesser-known and indigenous produce of the hills to people’s doorsteps, and interested in providing Himalayan farmers with a better market to sell the vast range of produce that they were growing, Bhatt started her brand—Himalaya2Home. In 2016, she quit her high-paying job to move to Dehradun, and start her online platform that sells a vast range of produce grown by a network of over 2,000 farmers in the region. From flour to pulses, millets, spices, rock salt, ghee, oil, pickles, sugar, herbs, and tea, her venture today includes over 140 products that cover the rich crop diversity of the hills.

A collector of heirloom seeds, Bhatt realised early on that agriculture in rural Uttarakhand has undergone tremendous change following the use of new and hybrid seeds not conducive to the region. “As agriculture in hills is more of a tradition we thought it will be a good idea to promote heirloom-based agriculture. We got in touch with seed conservationists in Uttarakhand and found that the biggest stumbling block in our overall objective of promoting heirloom seeds was the lack of availability of seed,” she says. Bhatt reached out to the traditional farmers and conservationists and is now working on a ‘seed bank’. She is also encouraging traditional cooking practices, which doctors stress is the healthy way forward. “Adoption of traditional Indian cooking practices such as fermentation, roasting, and germination and increasing the consumption of healthy diet will prevent many health-related problems,” says Anam Golandaz, Clinical Dietician, Masina Hospital, Mumbai.

Bhatt is already looking forward to the creation of an indigenous/heirloom seed bank to encourage people to go back to their roots and eat healthily. She aims to show that everything you need in your kitchen can be organic. She recently introduced a native variety of black rice—indigenous to Imphal—to farmers in Dehradun. “Community seed banks are the need of the hour, and will play a significant role in preserving depleting indigenous produce,” says Bhatt, who is working with several NGOs across Uttarakhand and North Eastern states to realise this vision. She is also a part of the Beej Bachao Andolan to revive traditional seed-based agriculture by conserving heirloom seed banks.

For now, Himalaya2Home ships all over India receive at least 3,000 orders a month and have a customer base of around 4,000 buyers. “It’s almost like reliving your childhood when pollution and chemicals were just words in the dictionary and the school laboratory,” she smiles. And the best part? It brings back memories of your grandmother’s cooking. As people like Bhatt tread the nostalgia path, it’s health that is the winner.