The Georgian farmers returning to ancient grains

[00:00:05]But I don't know.

[00:00:06]>> And uh you just um uh How to tell it in English? Over may like be broken.

[00:00:15]>> Yeah.

[00:00:15]>> But if you don't harvest it um on Yeah, that's something.

[00:00:29]>> Here in the Seed Bank farm, we don't only um sow and multiply these very unique endemic species and local varieties of uh crops, but we also um record the experience of their cultivation and uh the knowledge uh that we have um gained over uh over all this period that we are doing here.

[00:00:53]>> No.

[00:00:54]>> That's very good. That means people are using them.

[00:00:57]>> Mhm.

[00:01:09]>> for farmers to introduce those crops and uh And we used to make also edibles with some In Soviet period, Georgia [snorts] was converted to a country producing just only three cash crops mainly.

[00:01:29]Three cash crops, wine, tea, and citruses to for big Soviet market, while staple foods like cereals were imported to Georgia uh from uh Ukraine or Belarus or Russia.

[00:01:59]>> Okay. cool.

[00:02:05]>> We started with maybe handful seeds for different crops. Also then making prioritizing those seeds that can be more easily spread or easily that can be easily processed later.

[00:02:25]Uh and the so we started with a half a kilo of seeds which is a soft wheat, bread wheat.

[00:02:34]Uh Triticum aestivum. Uh and it's more easy uh to grow. And it's important that all this heritage wheat or also other cereals, they are very resistant to uh even fluctuating and harsh climatic conditions.

[00:03:13]We were giving them one portion and asking to return back 1.5 portion of seeds to give to another farmers. And this was somehow cooperation of our organization with farmers and it gave us possibility to spread those seeds widely.

[00:03:55]>> It's a long way. I want I am here 21 years.

[00:03:59]And step by step people hey yes, this is our own wheat and more and more people are baking with this wheat.

[00:04:38]This is this shop this bakery is a bridge between the city and and the land. If you can you can produce, but if you are not you cannot sell it. Yeah, it's a problem.

[00:04:50]I have my friends Thomas and Tina and different. So I'm making cheese and different things and we use it this year.

[00:04:57]>> Endemic endemic wheat. And then do we endemic.

[00:05:03]This is a bulk variety, but bread we call it bread wheat because it's a spread >> to lobby for important issues or to advocate the the issues that the farmers or artisan bakers need we need to be association. We need to speak one voice.

[00:05:23]Also for for production lines and for some assistance that either the government or the other donors may give it's always better to be in a group.

[00:05:43]I do see a lot in it a lot in future developing the product and and growing more heritage wheat. Um but, you know, we are a country of of small land. We don't have a lot of arable land. So, there is another big question, how much arable land can go into growing this type of wheat, which is yes, which is very uh which is of high quality, which is nutritionally uh and taste-wise uh etc. But, it cannot be compared with industrial wheats um if you take the harvest.

[00:06:22]>> This is shavpra. This is zanduri.

[00:06:26]Zanduri. See? These are zanduri.

[00:06:29]>> I'm working also very hard with the um policy makers to persuade them that yes, we, Georgia, have to give a part of our land to grow heritage wheats, to preserve them, to safeguard they are the treasure not only for Georgia, but for the world.

[00:07:04]>> It has to be very helpful I think.

[00:07:06]>> Yeah.