The importance of traditional seeds is enormous.  In this vein, Eco Ruralis collecs and distributes traditional peasant seeds throughout Romania.  In this way, we contribute to the salvation and revitalization of this rich patrimony of the earth, our food, and our culture.

If you would like to send us traditional seeds or recieve seeds from us, read on below.

Do you want to send us traditional seeds, so that we can distribute them to peasants and gardeners?
If you have a variety of vegetable, cereal, traditional fruit tree, passed down from grandparents and great-grandparents, and you want this variety to not be lost, we encourage you to contact us and to send us a small quanitity of seeds through the post so that we can distribute them to people who are passionate about those particular varieties.  In the case of large cereals and fruit treees, we will devise a special distribution system in order to transport the larger dimensions.

In order to collect seeds we work with peasants from our association and with other national and international groups, such as the Gene Bank from Suceava.  

Before you send us traditional seeds to you, please complete the following form in which you describe as much as possible about your seeds.  The form can be dlownloaded here (in Romanian)
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Do you wish to recieve seeds and cultivate them?
In order to recieve seeds from our network, you must take care to grow them in a place where they will not mix with other varieties.  You will also have the responsibility to multiply the seeds and return the quantity of seeds which you were sent back to us so we can send them to others in future years.  Because we have been asked many times, we can confirm that we do not charge a fee for these seeds.  The traditional seeds are free. 

First, please consult the list of traditional seeds which we have at our office - the document in which you will see which seeds we have available for distribution. 

Once you have recieved and cultivated the seeds, please keep a part of the production you have obtained and return it to us throught the post, so we can send it to other peasants the following year.  Every variety of seed is good in its own way.  It is very important that when they are planted they are not mixed with other varieties, so that we can keep each variety clean.

When you recieve the seeds, you will find in the envelope an imporant form.  Please keep this form, complete it, and return it with the seeds which you send back to us. The form can be downloaded here (in Romanian).

Thank you and we wish you all a favorable season and a healthy crop!
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The Traditional Seeds Problem - a document which you can download and spread to others (in Romanian)

Seeds are the basis for agriculture and our food 
"Traditional seeds" or "local seeds" or "local populations" - refer to old inherited seeds which were not bought in an envelope over the past thirty years. 

Traditional seeds are obtained from local, traditonal, peasant sources.  The are cultivated in their areas of origin, they are resistent to both biotic and abiotic stresses, and they offer a stable and safe production without the use of chemicals.  Modern varieties of sees needs pestecides to combat diseases, fungus, bacteria, etc., as opposed to traditional verieties which have developed resistence to certain diseases and pests.

The seeds is more than a product; it also represents the cultural identity of peasants and soul of agricultural societies.  Traditional seeds, formed under the influence of natural selection, are a precious heritage, a wealth which is currently disappearing.

Cultural identity - this refers to the knowledge of seeding, cultivating, harvesting, and preserving local varieties, and also with the local customs and traditions associated with the seeds or certain information on the properties of seeds, recipies, etc.

The way to transmit this knowledge is through the living voice of farmers - during the daily activities, in public places such as the markey, the mill, or the distilery, knowledge which is usually transmitted only within families or close networks.

Factors of genetic erosion or loss of traditional seeds:
• the development of industrial agriculture (including seeds, replacing traditional with modern varieties)
• in Romania, collectivization (1947-1989)
• globalization - which provokes a lack of consumer knowledge about traditional products. 
• the current tendancy of young people to leave rural areas leads to the loss of knowledge which is maintained by the older generations about seeds and traditional practices.
• European legislation - in order to use traditional seeds in the European Union, you first must enter the variety in an official catalog.  The criterea of DUS (Distinction, Uniformity, and Stabilization) of local varieties as well as the large costs related to registration and mandatory chemical treatment, will downgrade peasant seeds that are naturally and historically appropriate for farming ecologically.  By extension this also prohibits the exchange of peasant seeds between farmers.
• the financial situation of the majority of cultivators of traditional seeds
• a lack of promotion on behalf of traditional seeds
• climate change and other environmental factors

Everything that is abandoned today tomorrow might be useful!
The loss of traditional seeds means more than their disappearence from the landscape.  It means that we have lost all of the unique attributes which these plants have built up over millenia - the ability to survive hot summers and freezing winters, to prosper in draughts our in floods, to resist pests or disease.  This means that in the future, farmers and food producers will have fewer options to combat problems caused by climate change or other unforseen problems in order to continue to feed a growing population.

The peasants garden is a place for conserbation and laborotory
The rural community exchanges seeds and knowledge, experimenting with neighbors' seeds or those bought through commerce. 
Conservation on the farm, mixing practice and community peasant traditions with innovation and successive introduction of materials and techniques we can adapt to new climates, parasites, and economics.  With the disapearence of peasants, regions lose their agricultural biodiversity. 

For more details about the program of distribution of traditional seeds, please contact us!