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Abstract
In the subsistence-oriented, semi-arid production systems of Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka, India, the environment is marginal for crop growth and often there is no
substitute for millet crops. Across communities, farmers grow thirteen different
combinations of pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet, little millet, and foxtail millet
varieties, but individual farmers grow an average of only two to three millet varieties per
season. The notion of the seed system includes all channels through which farmers
acquire genetic materials, outside or in interaction with the commercial seed industry.
Data are compiled through household surveys and interviews with traders and dealers in
village and district markets. Based on the concept of the seed lot, several characteristics
of local seed markets are defined and measured by millet crop, including seed transfer
rates for farmer-to-farmer transactions and seed replacement ratios. Most seed
transactions appear to be based on money. Seed supply channels differ by improvement
status of the genetic material. Econometric results indicate the significance of the seed
replacement ratios and seed volumes traded in determining the levels of crop biodiversity
managed by communities, in addition to the household, farm and other market-related
factors identified by previous studies. These are interpreted as indicators of market
strength.