Explain the following statement with reasons: Rahibai Popere is popularly known as ‘Beejmata’ (Seed mother).

Answer: Because she preserved and spread native (indigenous) varieties of seeds.

• Rahibai Popere is a tribal woman farmer from Kombhalne village in Akole taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra.
• She noticed that hybrid seeds and chemical farming were harming soil and health, so she started collecting and preserving traditional local seeds.
• She set up a seed bank with many native varieties of rice, pulses, vegetables and other crops, and trained farmers in organic farming.
• For this work of seed conservation she is called ‘Beejmata’; she received the Padma Shri in 2020.