Bija Vidyapeeth: Centre for Learning

Bija Devi

Bija Devi was born at Lostu Badiargad, a small hamlet in Garhwal, the Himalayan region west of the state of Uttar Pradesh. She worked as a farmer since she was seven. At the age of 20, along with her husband and children she moved to the town of Dehradun, where for about 20 years, she led the life of a homemaker. However, she always found time for her small vegetable garden. When her children left school and became independent, Bija had more free time and it was at this time, when she met Dr. Vandana Shiva. Dr. Shiva was planning a project for the conservation and exchange of seeds, which became the Navdanya programme and requested Bija Devi to look after another vegetable garden, this time at Dr. Shiva’s house. It has been a long journey, from the vegetable garden, to a relatively modest plot of land to the splendid Navdanya farm. The objectives of the Navdanya programme are to protect biodiversity, to create a seed bank for the farmers in the movement so that they can exchange seeds and to convert fields into entirely organic farms, using organic fertilisers and pesticides. With her knowledge of varieties, storage and cultivation of seeds, Bija (which means ‘seed’) is a perfect embodiment of the Navdanya’s philosophy. Under her leadership more than 600 types of vegetables are no grown on the farm.

In 2002, Navdanya and Bija Devi received the international SLOW FOOD Award in Porto, Portugal for their unique contributions to biodiversity conservation and the defence of food diversity