A dimension within Indigenous Crop Management
This theme focuses on the practices of traditional and organic farming, emphasizing crop cultivation and food quality.
149 voices speak to this
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Overall Community Sentiment
AI-synthesised pieces woven from many community voices on this theme. They may contain errors or interpretation — they're a reflection of the stories, not a record of fact.
Even without irrigation, our traditional seeds and old farming methods ensure our crops ripen, providing food for our homes.
Our community remembers a time when farming with natural manure fostered both abundant harvests and deep respect for the land.
Farmers in Kandhamal advocate for restoring traditional, organic millet cultivation to improve health and revitalize local food systems.
Our ancestors lived long and healthy lives by cultivating traditional crops without chemicals and consuming nourishing forest roots, a practice many now wish to revive.
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
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
The things we used to cultivate before were black gram, green gram, cowpea, horse gram, etc.
— Batakrushna Sahoo
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
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
Our ancestors used to cultivate Bhadi kodra, jowar, pulses, and oilseed crops.
— Kachala Choudhary
Before, we used to cultivate crops without water: bajra, maize, kodo, mezhri, and arhar (pigeon pea).
— Kamleah Kumar · Ormaura, 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
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
Previously, we ourselves used to cultivate moong, Didhan Lar Golandi, Mahipal paddy, red paddy, Kalachu paddy, and Sarai paddy.
— Padmini Bhoi
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
Our ancestors used to cultivate mung bean, urad, horse gram, ragi, and mustard. At that time, it used to rain, and there were forests.
— Anirudha Marai
The oldest seeds like Kodo, Mejdri, Sawa, Maize, Bajra, all these crops were cultivated with agricultural fertilizer.
— Kamleah Kumar · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
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, you all used to farm, and you cultivated using fertilizer.
— Niranjan Lauria · Boudh, Odisha
Our ancestors were cultivating. They grew urad and moong. The soil gave them a different kind of produce, and they nurtured the seeds for it.
— Mukunda Majhi · Udulibeda, Malkangiri, Odisha
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
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
I am a farmer. Our father, grandfather, and uncles used to cultivate using traditional methods. They used to farm without fertilizer and without chemicals. And that farming was good for crops like horse gram and ragi.
— Parikshit Majhi
Sawa, Medo, Mijhri are our traditional crops, which our ancestors used to cultivate by plowing with bullocks and a plough. They consumed these crops throughout the year and saved seeds in their homes for the next year's sowing. We still practice farming today.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Our ancestors used to cultivate millet without mixing any chemical pesticides; they used cow dung as fertilizer. And those foods were very good.
— Sastensh khura
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
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
We used to cultivate various crops extensively. Additionally, I cultivated mustard, moong bean, guava, horse gram, etc. All these seeds are important for my family.
— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha
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
Was traditional farming in the past better or is modern farming better now? Traditional farming in the past was better. What all did they cultivate? Ragi, black gram, horse gram, foxtail millet.
— Sastensh khura
In earlier times, people cultivated crops like Sawa, Medon, and Mijhari using ploughs and oxen. They also relied on oxen for applying various treatments to their fields. They cultivate Batri, a type of pulse, and for pigeon pea, if it receives water just once, a good harvest is achieved. Batri is sown after the rice harvest, requires no irrigation, and the crop ripens on its own.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Earlier, paddy was not cultivated; instead, crops like millet, maize, and barnyard millet were being grown.
— deena rawat · 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
Traditional agriculture
— Common Ground · Phiringia, Kandhamal, Odisha
Traditional agriculture
— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, 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
Previously, we used to cultivate all crops like moong, urad, and kulthi, and we want to continue doing so in the future.
— Jyoti Senapati
Traditional farming, meaning Yudung, Pandala, Janana, maize, finger millet, and so on.
— James
I cultivate pulse crops without irrigation. We save pulse seeds, among which horse gram, black gram, and pigeon pea are the oldest varieties. We save these seeds for cultivation every year. Our ancestors used to cultivate using manure and traditional ploughs.
— DASHARATH SINGH
We cleared and tilled land in the forest to create our farms, and today we continue to cultivate that same land. Previously, we used to plough with bullocks and a plough, but now we also use tractors for tilling. Furthermore, pigeon pea (arhar) cultivation can be done without water.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
We still have traditional seeds like Kodo, Kutki, Maize, Sorghum, Kulthi, Arhar, etc., which we sow using old methods even without irrigation facilities. Even then, our crops ripen.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
Our ancestors used to farm with plows.
— Batakrushna Sahoo
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
Even today, we farm with a plough and oxen and earn our livelihood. Since ancient times, our ancestors have ploughed fields with a plough and oxen, and sow only the seeds preserved at home, such as kurthi, sawa, medo, and mijhri.
— Ram Kumari
The voices in this theme were gathered by these organisations through their community reports.
“Do you practice zero irrigation second crop and follow traditional farming practices and seed protection?” · “If you or your women’s groups are given a seed capital of INR 20,000, what enterprise will you choose?” · +5 more
“"Love for the landscape" - What do you like most about your village and surroundings?”
