Dry Farming Techniques

In our region, even without rain, we cultivate crops like moong, urad, and horse gram. We also preserve their seeds by mixing them with neem leaves.

— Kunakanta Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

We cultivate zero-input crops like chickpeas, flaxseed, and pigeon pea. Even with less water, the crops ripen, and their seeds are also collected. Narayan Lal Baranda.

— narayanlalbaranda5@gmail.com · Jhapa, Dungarpur, Rajasthan

Yes, we cultivate a second crop without water. And farming is also done without water. We have collected and kept those seeds. And we will again plant that as a second crop.

— Ulapi Sahu

After harvesting the paddy, we cultivate crops like moong, urad, chana, and masoor in that field without irrigation. We save these for our home. We then prepare the soil there for further cultivation.

— swornalata nayak · Patnāgarh, Balangir, Odisha

Yes, we cultivate the second crop without water. And cultivation happens even without water. And we collect and store those seeds. And then again, we use that for the second crop.

— Ulapi Sahu · Patnāgarh, Balangir, Odisha

We cultivate a second crop without water or irrigation, using green gram, black gram, and horse gram. We don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We grow them very well from seeds, resulting in good produce for eating.

— Parikshit Majhi

We cultivate a second crop which is also grown without irrigation. Therefore, we get many benefits and profit from it. And we preserve seeds for the second crop.

— Anirudha Marai

We farm at our home and manage our household with it. We cultivate pigeon pea and other pulses with low water, and also sow barley. These require less water, and we also save them for the next year. This way, we preserve the seeds.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar 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 traditional farming. We save rain-fed seeds and cultivate crops like sorghum and chickpea.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

Another farming is barley cultivation done without water, and its seeds are also kept. This is our traditional farming, which is preserved every year for the purpose of sowing seeds.

— Ram Kumari

We cultivate green gram without water. The government had provided green gram seeds for one year, and we will keep those seeds to cultivate green gram every year.

— Kusha Mahakud

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, we practice zero-irrigation farming and also conserve seeds. For example, horse gram, Kodo millet, little millet, finger millet, and black gram are zero-irrigation crops.

— Sukhdas Mandavi · Mohla, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Chhattisgarh

We preserve our own seeds and cultivate mustard, growing this rabi crop without water and without chemical fertilizers.

— Laxmi Bagh · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha

Yes, we practice zero-irrigation farming and also conserve seeds every year such as Kodo, Kutki, Madia, Ragi, Kulthi, Urad, Hirwa.

— Birohin · Mohla, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Chhattisgarh

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

Yes, we preserve traditional seeds and sow them. This helps during the harvest season for the Rabi crop. It is also beneficial even without irrigation.

— Santosh Barik · Narala, Kalahandi, Odisha

We keep seeds of mustard, green gram, horse gram, tuber crops, black gram, and taro for cultivation without water.

— Puspanjali Nag

Yes, we grow a second crop without irrigation and also maintain old traditional seeds according to customary methods.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Yes, we do a second crop with zero irrigation and follow traditional farming as well as seed preservation.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

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

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

We cultivate zero-irrigation crops, including pulses and oilseeds, and also conserve them, as they are part of our heritage.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Yes, we practice zero-irrigation farming and conserve seeds like millet, madia, ragi, kulthi, kodo, kutki.

— Sukhdas Mandavi · Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Chhattisgarh

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

We have cultivated moong and urad this rainy season. We will keep the seeds and cultivate again next rainy season.

— Gitanjali Bhoi

We cultivate mung bean, urad bean, chickpea, lentil, moong, etc., without water, and we are still doing it.

— Naukeshi Sahu

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

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. And I also cultivate every year using this method, by preserving Urad and Kulthi seeds.

— Kumudini Chhanchan

Yes, we practice zero-irrigation farming and also conserve seeds annually, such as Kodo, Kutki, Madia, Jowar, and Bajra.

— Sukhdas Mandavi · Mohla, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Chhattisgarh

In our area, crops that require zero irrigation, such as pulses and oilseeds, are cultivated.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

Yes, we also grow other crops without irrigation using traditional methods, which we call 'unhari' crops. We also store their seeds using traditional methods.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh