A dimension within Traditional Crop Cultivation
Revisiting and valuing traditional farming, seed saving, and organic methods passed down through generations.
150 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.

After the main harvest, we harness the land's natural moisture to cultivate a vital second crop, ensuring food and oil for our families.

By relying on traditional farming methods and saving our own seeds, we ensure food security and healthy crops without external inputs.

By carefully collecting and preserving seeds from our first harvest, we ensure a second, nutritious crop and maintain our traditional farming methods for generations.
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
I cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, using old methods with cow/cattle manure, and I save urad and horse gram seeds, using them for cultivation every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation, using cow dung manure from domestic animals and following old methods. I store urad dal and horse gram seeds and use them for cultivation every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
From the very beginning, we cultivate a second crop without irrigation using old methods and traditional seeds. The method of storing these seeds is also traditional, and our fields are ploughed using bullocks.
— Rupesh Maravi · Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh
I cultivate lentils as a second crop with zero irrigation, using cow dung manure and following traditional methods. I store black gram and horse gram seeds and use them for cultivation every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation. I also cultivate every year using this method by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. And I also cultivate every year using this method, by saving black gram and horse gram seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also cultivate every year using this method by saving black gram and horse gram seeds.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also store black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this method.
— Kumudini Chhanchan
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. And I also cultivate every year using this method, by preserving Urad and Kulthi seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan
We sow with great effort without irrigation, and cultivate crops by plowing with oxen and a plow. We save seeds for many years, which come in handy.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation, and I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop using zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to farm this way, and I also save urad and horse gram seeds to farm using this organic method every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to cultivate these crops, and I also store black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate them every year using this organic method.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Previously, our ancestors used to cultivate this way, and I also save black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate using this organic method every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to cultivate this before, and I also save black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this organic method.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
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
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to cultivate this before, and I also store Urad dal and Horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this organic method.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
I cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods, and I store urad dal and horse gram seeds, using them for cultivation every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, on our fallow fields, even without irrigation, we grow other crops and use traditional seeds, ploughing and sowing with oxen according to old methods.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
We cultivate seeds such as chickpea, lentil, mustard, and horse gram using traditional, possibly rain-fed, farming methods. We preserve these seeds and cultivate them using this traditional agricultural practice.
— Laxmi Sahu
We do farming with ploughs and bullocks, cultivating crops like saawa, medo mijhri, and pulses such as arhar (pigeon pea), urad (black gram), and baturi. Nowadays, government seeds for pulses are also available. We also cultivate crops like chana (chickpea), matar (pea), and masoor (lentil).
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
We do traditional farming. We save rain-fed seeds and cultivate crops like sorghum and chickpea.
— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
We are cultivating a second crop. In our second crop, we are farming by saving seeds of chickpeas, lentils, and mustard, and applying manure using our traditional farming methods.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
We have traditional seeds here like Saadia, paddy, pigeon pea, semi-native gourds, Karaiguta, Chipra, etc. We preserve these every year and cultivate them using old traditional methods without irrigation.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya 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
In our region, zero irrigation crops are sown, mainly pulses and oilseeds, and we practice traditional farming and conserve pulse seeds.
— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand
Yes, on zero-irrigation land, we grow a second crop, and the maintenance of traditional seeds and farming methods are still done using our old methods.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
Our plows and bullocks till the fields, we sow millet, maize, make furrows, and plant small seeds, and also save seeds for the next year. This is a legacy from our ancestors, which we still have today and which we utilize.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
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
Here, we cultivate Sawa, Medon, Mujhri, Kodo, and pulses using the 'Batririri' method. We also store the seeds at home for the following year and then re-sow them in the field; this practice is a legacy from our ancestors.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
We have a lack of irrigation resources, due to which we cultivate crops every year using traditional methods and traditional seeds, and even today we have old traditional seeds available.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
Cultivate pulse varieties and save them for the next year, and then cultivate again using traditional methods.
— Anupama Mahanand · Sundargarh, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate a second crop, I cultivate using traditional methods with a plow and a harrow, and I preserve seeds from the harvested grains.
— Paradeshi Mirdha · Katarbaga, Sambalpur, Odisha
I practice zero-irrigation farming of pulses and also preserve its seeds, and we get a lot of benefit from this, which has been passed down from my ancestors.
— Krishna pada mahato · East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
Yes, we grow a second crop without irrigation and also maintain old traditional seeds according to customary methods.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
We do farming. We save some seeds beforehand and then cultivate. This way, we get many crops, including green gram, black gram, and pigeon pea.
— Ulapi Sahu · Balangir, Odisha
Yes, we do a second crop with zero irrigation and follow traditional farming as well as seed preservation.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
Yes, a second crop is grown with zero irrigation, and seeds are saved for oneself using a plow with traditional methods.
— Paradeshi Mirdha · Rengali, Sambalpur, Odisha
The voices in this theme were gathered by these organisations through their community reports.

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