The Seed Guardian of Brazil’s Caatinga

• Geraldo Gomes, a farmer in Serranópolis de Minas, Brazil, acts as a dedicated guardian of heirloom seeds, preserving over 200 varieties.
• His work promotes agroecology in the semi-arid Caatinga biome, directly countering the rise of monoculture and pesticide reliance.
• With support from regional coalitions like the Semi-arid Network (ASA), he is currently working to transform his seed house into a formal museum to ensure future generations have access to native biodiversity.

The Role of a Seed Guardian

• Gomes maintains a collection of seeds—some preserved for over 100 years—including over 70 types of beans, multiple corn varieties, and medicinal plants.
• He practices traditional seed saving and exchange to ensure community independence from commercial markets and reliance on transgenic seeds.
• His farm utilizes an agroforestry system (SAF) that integrates food production, soil fertilization, and environmental preservation.

Environmental Challenges

• The Caatinga biome has lost 14.4 percent of its native vegetation between 1985 and 2023, largely due to agricultural expansion and a 112 percent increase in pasture land.
• The arrival of the "Green Revolution" in the 1970s led to chemical dependency, the loss of native plants, and severe water pollution from pesticide runoff.
• Gomes notes that modern practices, including the use of drones for pesticide application on nearby industrial farms, threaten the health of his organic crops and local waterways.

Legacy and Conservation

• By maintaining his "crazy field" against the pressure of industrial monoculture, Gomes has preserved species that might otherwise have gone extinct.
• His efforts are part of a broader push to protect the rights of traditional peoples and promote farming methods that exist in harmony with the local climate and ecology.