Rural Foodways

We cultivate some nutritious food from the village itself.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

We are a tribal community, we farm using ploughs and bullocks, and we sustain our lives. We clear forests and bushes to make fields, and we cultivate sawa, medo, mijhri, and maize, which were grown by our ancestors, and we also preserve their seeds.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We, the people of the village, eat food like leafy vegetables, pulses, rice, etc.

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

Traditional agriculture

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

How is nutritious food obtained in the village?

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Traditional agriculture and heritage

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

Food, festival, traditional agriculture, traditional medicine etc

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

In ancient times, in previous eras, people collected nutritious foods like ragi, millet, etc., from the forest, ate them to stay healthy and strong, and lived for a long time. If farmers or tribal community people cultivate those essential crops of those ancient times again, it will guide them towards the development of their life's values in the future.

— Dillip pujari · Phiringia, Kandhamal, 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

People will collect food traditionally.

— Anupama Mahanand

Traditional farming, meaning Yudung, Pandala, Janana, maize, finger millet, and so on.

— James

The main food of the tribal community includes things like little millet, which provides them with nutritious food. They mostly cultivate maize, whose porridge...

— Ram Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

In our region, we all cultivate rain-fed crops like pigeon pea and maize, and this is our heritage.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, 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 farm using traditional methods.

— Sunil oraon · Bero, Ranchi, Jharkhand

In our village, the hukli bhaji and phinda (local vegetables) that are gathered, we should use whatever God has provided us to eat from them for nutrition to combat malnutrition.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

Farming

— Sunita Kumari · Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We cultivate paddy, wheat, and pulses in our village and want to preserve this as a heritage.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

In our region, seasonal produce such as grains, pulses, spinach, and green leafy vegetables have been part of our diet, which promotes nutrition, good digestion, and immunity.

— Jagannath Baraik · Lapung, Ranchi, Jharkhand

We Adivasi communities are communities that depend on nature, collect roots and tubers from the forests, and use them as food, which is very nutritious and also serves as medicine.

— Ram Kumari

We will cultivate pulses using very old traditional methods, so that we can use them in our diet.

— Pushpalata Surtange · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh

Before, all of us tribals used to plow the fields with a plow and bullocks. We would sow medo mujri and also kurthi, which was very nutritious food. It was sown without fertilizer and would grow readily.

— Babulal Ayam · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Certainly, we cultivate a second crop in Shuneshwar Sachin and also follow traditional farming methods and seed protection. Our traditional foods include Mandia (Ragi) and Kangu (Foxtail millet), among others.

— jitendra khila · Lachery, Malkangiri, Odisha

Farming and agriculture

— Sunita Kumari · Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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

Tribals consume their food, roots, vegetables, etc., and live their lives well.

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

Traditional food

— Sudhakar Pradhan · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

We will do farming.

— Manjusha Marko · Dudhi, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We do traditional farming. We save rain-fed seeds and cultivate crops like sorghum and chickpea.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

Our ancestors used to cultivate millet without mixing any chemical pesticides; they used cow dung as fertilizer. And those foods were very good.

— Sastensh khura

We save and sow our traditional seeds. Such as chickpea, sorghum, Bhadi, pearl millet, etc.

— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, 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

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

In ancient times, we used to cultivate with ploughs. We used to cultivate black gram, horse gram, green gram, paddy, etc.

— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha

Agriculture farming

— Sunita Kumari · Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

In our village, people do farming-based work, which sustains their livelihood, and they depend on farming for their sustenance.

— Ram Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Our ancestors used to cultivate Bhadi kodra, jowar, pulses, and oilseed crops.

— Kachala Choudhary

In our area, people used to build palaces, then they would cultivate Kudamodia (a type of rice or crop) and eat it, and we would also eat it, and all of us villagers too.

— Laxmi Bagh · Sundargarh, Odisha

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

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