Traditional Millet Cultivation

Yes, we cultivate barnyard millet and finger millet and also conserve seeds.

— Manjusha Marko · Dudhi, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Here, we cultivate paddy, sawa, medon, and mijhri. We store sawa, medon, and mijhri at home for sowing in the next year. Additionally, among pulses, we have kurthi and baturi, which we also store and sow the following year.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our ancestors have been cultivating Kodo, Barnyard, Foxtail, Finger millet, Horse gram, and Barley since ancient times, which are very nutritious. We always preserve their seeds and cultivate them every year.

— 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

This year, we have cultivated green gram, black gram, and chickpeas. We will save the seeds to cultivate them again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha

We preserve old seeds for sowing work, which explicitly includes Moong, Kili, and Mustard.

— Vijay Kumar bhardwaj · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh

In our region, we save and conserve our local seeds such as indigenous oilseed seeds, indigenous pulse seeds, and paddy seeds.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

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 will cultivate mustard, green gram, and other crops, store their seeds, and cultivate them again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha

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 save stable seeds and kuluth seeds are valuable for our family. We have old seeds like millet, kuluth, moong. We sell them and use them as food.

— Basanti · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, 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

In rain-fed land, we cultivate horse gram and green gram, and we store their seeds safely by using neem and karanja leaves.

— Sita Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

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

— Gitanjali Bhoi

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 cultivate a second crop. The valuable seed of our family is Horse gram. Our ancestors have given us Green gram, Black gram, Horse gram, and Finger millet. We follow the farming methods of our ancestors.

— Basanti · Nayagarh, Odisha

We will cultivate mustard, moong, and other crops, save the seeds, and cultivate them again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha

Yes, we cultivate dryland crops such as madiya, kodo, and kutki in our region, and we also conserve seeds for every year.

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

In rain-fed land, we cultivate horse gram and green gram, and we store the seeds safely in the village using neem leaves and karada leaves.

— Sita Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

We are cultivating moong and urad beans. We have kept seeds and will cultivate again next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha

We conserve paddy seeds.

— Vinita Singh Yadav · Dharura, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We cultivate mustard, black gram, and horse gram.

— Puspanjali Nag

Cultivate millet and corn and conserve the seeds.

— Sunita Kumari

Yes, pulses are cultivated in this. According to our ancestors, we also preserve seeds.

— Jagannath Baraik · Bayang, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand

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 will cultivate green gram and black gram this year and save the seeds for cultivation next year.

— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, 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

Here, rain-fed crops are barley, green gram, and maize, and their seeds are stored.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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 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

For the second crop, we cultivate seeds such as moong, urad, and arhar. We save those seeds to cultivate them again the following year.

— RINA BEHERA · Hemagiri, Sundargarh, 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

Previously, we used to cultivate all crops like moong, urad, and kulthi, and we want to continue doing so in the future.

— Jyoti Senapati