Traditional Practices & Heritage

Now, old farming is not practiced.

— Kachala Choudhary

Yes, we save our traditional seeds, but now the seeds have run out.

— Kachala Choudhary

The situation we are in now is that the food we used to get to eat in the past has gradually disappeared.

— swornalata nayak · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

Producing through traditional agriculture, farming without fertilizer. Various types of fruits, medicinal plants and creepers etc. found in forests are no longer available.

— KAPAL MARNDI · Bissamcuttack, Rayagada, Odisha

In earlier times, medicinal fruits were found in the forest, but now those things are becoming extinct day by day.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Our ancestors used to cultivate without fertilizer, and that was delicious and healthy. But now, that taste is not available.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

I miss the kind of agriculture that used to happen 20 years ago in my devotional forest or agricultural life.

— AbhiLL Ipsa

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

We are gradually destroying the traditional seeds of ancient times. We should preserve those seeds. Otherwise, some medicines and plants are leading to their extinction.

— VEER SINGH SIJUI · Gitilāta, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

In our village, treatment was done with wild herbs, which is decreasing today. If it is not saved in the future, it will gradually disappear.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

In olden times, many kinds of herbs were available in our village, but in the current situation, due to the cutting of this forest, some conservation efforts could not be made, which means for us in the coming time...

— Mohan AHARI · Sarera, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Nowadays, people from the tribal community do not prefer to eat tribal food, as a result of which tribal traditions are being lost.

— Arati Khandapatra

Today, which part of your food, forest, or agricultural life do you feel has been lost the most? Traditional food has been lost.

— Niranjan Bisi · Bissamcuttack, Rayagada, Odisha

My name is Jogeshwar Nayak. In our area, Ghuruji farming was common, and people used to eat it. Now that farming has completely disappeared, and its seeds are not even found anymore.

— upendra sunani

Today, when we talk about forest products, things like root vegetables and fruits such as Kendu, Baheda, and Harida, which also had medicinal properties, are no longer available. They have now become extinct or are found in very small quantities.

— Debendra Suna · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

Our ancestors used to eat sunusunia greens, but these greens have become extinct today.

— upendra sunani

The disappearance of medicinal plants and herbs; earlier, medicinal herbs could be found in forests, but now everything is disappearing.

— VEER SINGH SIJUI · Kharasawan, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

What our ancestors used to obtain, now 90% of the forest has been destroyed. With the destruction of forests, the hills have also been destroyed. Whatever materials we used to find, especially food items, are no longer available.

— jitendra khila · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

My name is Chandrika Pradhan. My village is Panga Bidungia, block is Tikabali. In the olden days, we used to keep seeds in pots. We kept them because, in the olden days, we didn't use fertilizer. Nowadays, we are using fertilizer. That's why we can't keep our seeds for many days. We want to return to the previous state.

— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha

Old, traditional foods are not available. As a result, the forest was also destroyed. The food that should be available is not available.

— Keshab Majhi · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

Yes, damage has definitely occurred. Previously, people used to obtain two traditional food items by cutting trees from the forest. Now, these are not available. Furthermore, there has been extensive damage to medicinal plants, and those are also not available.

— gobardhan pangi

Forests are disappearing, livelihoods are being destroyed. Forests are also getting depleted, herbs are disappearing. It's not like it used to be.

— Chanda · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We have been living in our village for 100 years. Nowadays, there are no animals. The forests are also dwindling, and songs and dances are also disappearing.

— sudhir gamanga · Bada Baridi, Rayagada, Odisha

If we do not make some effort, we will lose our traditional seeds, medicinal herbs, pure environment, air, etc.

— Kachala Choudhary

Death's auspicious and inauspicious beauty. Previously, we used to sustain our livelihoods by collecting various roots from the forest. Now, roots are not available, and animals...

— Sasmita Mallick · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

In the olden days, our parents and we used to gather and eat a lot of Barada Saga (a type of leafy green) from the forest. But now, due to deforestation, we no longer find Barada Saga. We hope to eat Barada Saga again.

— swornalata nayak · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

Nowadays, forests are being cleared. We used to get food from the forest, but now we are not getting it. Instead, we are consuming food grown with chemical fertilizers.

— jitendra khila · kudumulugumma, Malkangiri, 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

Oh, there is also a distinct language of our Gonda society. And no one speaks that language anymore, slowly it has also disappeared. And now what we used to get from the forest, we are not getting it from the forest anymore, all the forests are cut down.

— RINA BEHERA · Hemagiri, Sundargarh, Odisha

They used to make wooden presses for extracting oil. All of that is disappearing and will become extinct in the next 20 years.

— ANIL KUMAR · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Earlier, a lot of edible items were found in the forests that could be eaten and added to midday meals, but now, due to damage to the forests, many things have become extinct.

— Kekti Tekam · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

Traditional ways of carrying precious produce, whether on the head or by hand, are now being replaced as things are transported in vehicles. Earlier, they used to carry only millet with cows using traditional carrying poles. But let that tradition be preserved.

— Krushna Sisa · Khajuriguda, Malkangiri, Odisha

In our village, in olden times, iron axes were made, but now that practice is gradually disappearing day by day.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

My name is Mutiy Pradhan. My Gram Panchayat is Pikorodi. My Block is Tikabali. My District is Kandhamal. Our mothers used to store seeds in the olden days. They would keep seeds in pots near the fire in 'Putra Jakore'. Nothing would happen to them. Today, in today's date, farming is done with fertilizer and pesticides, which is why this year, the seeds cannot last even for a year. That's why we want to live like before.

— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha