Soil Health & Fertilizers

Previously, our ancestors used to farm with cow dung, and now urea and DAP have become common. The crops are growing well, but it's having a big impact on the body.

— Kamleah Kumar · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our ancestors used to farm with cow dung. And now this urea and DAP fertilizer has become common. This improves crop yield, but it's having a significant impact on health.

— Kamleah Kumar

People of earlier times used to do this kind of farming for subsistence, and without water, without chemical fertilizers, and by eating that grain, there was also strength in the body. But nowadays, this urea and DAP fertilizer is causing a lot of harm.

— Kamleah Kumar · Kota, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Earlier, when we practiced traditional farming, many earthworms used to fertilize our soil, and cultivation was good. Now, various types of fertilizers, pesticides, and poisons are being used by us.

— KARUKAR MURMU · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

Grain used to grow without fertilizer. Use cow dung for farming in the fields; that's where paddy, maize, and all crops grow. Eating all that grain keeps the body strong and vital. Nowadays, even though there is more crop yield, the body becomes weak.

— Kamleah Kumar · Ammatola, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

In the past, farming was done with plows made of wood, but nowadays machines are being used.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

People of the past used to cultivate saawa, kodo, menjhari, bajra, and maize, and their bodies were strong. But today, by eating grains grown with fertilizer...

— Kamleah Kumar · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Previously, crops would grow without fertilizer. Cow dung was spread in the fields, and then grains were sown, resulting in excellent crops. But now, it seems to grow better with urea.

— Kamleah Kumar · Ammatola, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our ancestors used to farm with plows and bullocks. But nowadays, all those things are disappearing.

— NAGRIK VIKASH SANGATHAN · Kalahandi, Odisha

Earlier, you all used to farm, and you cultivated using fertilizer.

— Niranjan Lauria · Boudh, Odisha

Traditional methods, the traditional methods of farming that were used before. All the earthworms would survive and loosen the soil. Now, when we plow with a tractor or our power tiller, the earthworms...

— KARUKAR MURMU · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

When we used to do traditional farming, health was good. Now, by using chemical fertilizers, many changes are appearing in health. People are getting old quickly, in my observation.

— jitendra khila · kudumulugumma, Malkangiri, Odisha

We used to add organic fertilizer to our fields to maintain soil fertility, but today's youth are using chemical fertilizers, and diseases are increasing day by day.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Earlier, we used to farm with plows and oxen. Today, it's the age of machines, and we farm using them. However, we often face economic problems, due to which we have to go to the city separately to earn a living.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Mona, your priest, and we will bring back the past related to farming. People used to do organic farming earlier, using manure or cow dung. Now, we are using chemical fertilizers.

— KRUSHNA KHILLO

In earlier times, what method did people use for farming? The answer is, they used to farm by applying fertilizer with a plough.

— Niranjan Lauria · Boudh, Odisha

Earlier, farming was done using cow dung and goat droppings; that was the fertilizer for the crops, and Kodo millet grew better with it.

— Kamleah Kumar · Kota, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We used to farm using cow dung and goat manure; this was the fertilizer for the crops, and all crops like Kodo, Menjhari, Barley, and Saawa were grown with this agricultural fertilizer.

— Kamleah Kumar · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our fathers and grandfathers used to cultivate traditional crops earlier, fertilizing them with cow dung, and grew pulses like moong, urad, kulthi, along with millets such as ragi and bajra.

— Parikshit Majhi

Now, old farming is not practiced.

— Kachala Choudhary

In our village, earlier, people used to cultivate fields with ploughs and oxen and worked very hard. At that time, they would sow Kodo, Sawa, Medo, and Mizri, and grow them without fertilizer. They used to sustain themselves with that, from which individuals...

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Traditional agriculture

— Common Ground · Phiringia, Kandhamal, Odisha

Traditional agriculture

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

Old people used to do mixed farming, they used cow dung manure.

— Kachala Choudhary

Our ancestors used to farm with plows.

— Batakrushna Sahoo

Before, all of us tribals used to plow the fields with a plow and bullocks. We would sow medo mujri and also kurthi, which was very nutritious food. It was sown without fertilizer and would grow readily.

— Babulal Ayam · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Farming

— Sunita Kumari · Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

In ancient times, we used to cultivate with ploughs. We used to cultivate black gram, horse gram, green gram, paddy, etc.

— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha

We farm using the old method.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Our ancestors generally followed traditional farming methods using cow dung manure.

— Jogeshwar Naik · Kalahandi, Odisha

Before, we all used to farm with plows and oxen, and we also threshed paddy with them. Even for irrigation, we used oxen via a Persian wheel.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Yes, we do our own farming, and we plough and cultivate with gold, which makes our yield very good. It becomes very good. What all used to happen before?

— Rakesh kumar Kumar

In the past, we used to eat various things from the hills, such as Kangu Jona Ganthia, and lived well because of them. Things that grew without fertilizer used to ripen quickly. Now, nothing is ripening from the hills, and they are not cultivating them anymore.

— Prakash ch Pradhani · Karubai, Rayagada, Odisha

Earlier, our ancestors used to store grains in mud granaries at home, and there used to be good yields. But now, when we store them in steel granaries, the crops don't grow.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Future generations will forget the traditional farming methods. For example, if I have a plough and a plowshare, I will cultivate according to my time and will, and I don't need capital for that. If I don't have all these, then I will take the help of machinery, for which I will have to invest capital.

— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha

Currently, eating food cultivated with chemical substances is harming our health, but our ancestors used to cultivate according to nature using organic methods and were free from diseases.

— Padmalochan Majhi · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

In the past, even when cows and cattle lived for two hundred years, there were no roads, and traditional farming was practiced. Now, all those things are gone. Now, even farming has AC.

— Kusha Mahakud

Our ancestors used to follow cow dung manure and clay soil farming methods and found them profitable.

— Premsila Naik · Kalahandi, Odisha

From the time of our ancestors, they used to cultivate with a plow. Immediately after paddy cultivation, they would grow mustard, groundnuts, horse gram, black gram, and green gram. Our subsequent generations have forgotten this practice.

— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha

Mona Pramoda, in the past, we had traditional food without fertilizer, and people lived for many years by eating that food. But now, by eating food with fertilizer, many types of diseases are staying in our bodies.

— swornalata nayak · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha