It was an early morning of October when we reached Kunduguda village in Sahada Panchayat of Bissamcuttack block in Rayagada passing through scenic hills and lush green lands. However, the most striking moment for us was when we met Kondh tribal farmer Adi Kumuruka and his wife litima who have cultivated 72 types of mixed crops that include vegetables, millets, pulses and oil seeds in their one acre of upland locally known as Gudiachasa.
In addition, they have one acre of hill or forest cultivation (Dangar) for fruits and millets. They also bring wild spinach, fruits and tubers from the forest adjoining their village. “All these provide a variety of food to my family throughout the year. Apart from family consumption, we have surplus food for the next year too,” says Adi while showing various kinds of millets grown in his upland.
The hamlet of 19 families practice organic cultivations in the upland and hill cultivations, free from fertilizers and pesticides. They prepare and use different types of organic manure, thus practicing chemical-free farming. This along with mixed crop farming produces 50-60 different types of food variety for the household throughout the year. While farmers in other parts of the State faced crisis due to crop failure during droughts, cyclone and floods, farmers here through crop planning under traditional mixed farming have surplus food security and additional income.
“Traditional mixed farming is good especially during climate change situations. Moreover, it provides balanced diet to our families,” says NarasinghaUlaka, another Kondh tribal farmer from Kunduguda. “We cultivate various types of millet which is climate resistant and free from pesticides. We also use organic manure made out of cow dung, cow urine, jaggery and gram flour which are free of chemicals,” he explained.
The tribal farmers are satisfied with the traditional mixed crop farming now. But the situation was not the same a few years ago. “When we started working in the village in 2010, we found that the farmers were farming with only 7-8 varieties of crops. We encouraged them to collect seeds from neighbouring villages by sharing seeds of traditional crops and now they have come up with a wide variety of seeds,” says Pradeep Patra of living Farms, a non-profit organization working in this region on food and nutrition security. “They do not buy seed from market rather they are using their own crop which they have preserved from last cultivation. This helps to improve their food security as well as enhances their livelihood security,” he told.
The farmers have always had to face several challenges, including threats from various quarters, like timber traders to officials of Forest Department. The timber traders lure them to undertake plantation of eucalyptus and teak for cash crop. “They said you would get huge money if you shift to cash crop cultivation. The younger generation gets lured by them but we asked, can this give us variety of traditional food for our family,” explained Ganapati Kumuruka, who is in his 60s. “We cannot live without forest and traditional food,” he added, while showing corn and various types of millets in his upland. The tribal farmers stick to their traditional farming, as it gives them food throughout the year. Ganapati says that some farmers who had adopted high-yield, hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and mono cropping, suffered huge losses and migrated to other States in search of work.
Sixty-five-year-old Mangi Kumuruka informed about the wide variety of nutritious millets, including finger millet (mandia), great millet (juara), spiked millet (bajra), Italian millet (kangu), kodo millet (kodua), barnyard millet (khira) and little millet (suan). “Millets are full of iron and calcium and important for pregnant women,” she said. “Tribal women depend on various types of millets, pulses, vegetables, fruits and tubers collected from forests, when they conceive. It provides sufficient nutrition to both mother and child during those critical days,” she explained.
Pratima Kumuruka, another Kondh tribal woman of the village said, “There is no chemical fertilizer used in the food collected from forest; so we do not find much complication among tribal women. Rather, by taking millets and pulses regularly, our children are healthier.”
Krushna Toiba and his wife latika of Badeipadar village of Bissamcuttack block feel millets give sufficient nutrition to children.
When Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) of the village asked them to start complementary feeding of their 7-month-old daughter, the parents decided to give millet (mandia). “Today our daughter eats all types of millets and gets enough nutrition,” shared Krushna. The families have also started nutrition kitchen garden in their backyards.
“While earlier, the locals used to grow 3-4 types of vegetables only during the rainy season, now they are growing 15-20 varieties and harvest throughout the year,” said Patra. Krushna has grown nearly 27 varieties of vegetables, fruits and traditional food for family consumption in his nutrition kitchen garden. “We do not buy vegetables from the local haat as the produce is adequate for all of us including nutritious diet for my young daughter,” he said.
“Stunting is an irreversible outcome of chronic nutritional deficiencies during the first 1,000 days of life. The damage it causes to a child’s physical and mental development is permanent. Among others, stunting and under nutrition are highly prevalent among the ethnic groups. But if they will continue their traditional food, it will help reduce low nutritional level among children and mothers,” said Unicef nutrition specialist Sourav Bhattacharjee. In some primary schools, residential schools and AWCs, living Farms encourages teachers to prepare bed and grow vegetables. “But the number is less, if the schools will follow the pattern of mixed crop farming or nutrition gardens, children can get a variety of vegetables in Mid-Day Meal, which is necessary for the growth of the children.”
The State Government is now planning to set up a millet mission to create interest among farmers of tribal-dominated districts for millet farming. Millets are highly nutritional and there is a huge market for it. Farmers who earlier grew millets, shifted to paddy, wheat and other crops after the Green Revolution. If the farmers take up millet farming along with paddy, the day is not far when not only the farmers of Bissamcuttack and Muniguda blocks, others will also have nutritional balanced diet in their plates.
When we returned from the village, we saw Adi and five other farmers were sitting under a tree facing towards forest singing a song in Kui language which means “O forest, you have given everything from food to livelihood… cannot live without you…”