A dimension within Environmental Stewardship
This theme explores traditional farming, agriculture, and the quality of food and forest products, including medicinal plants and biodiversity.
149 voices speak to this
Negative
Overall Community Sentiment
Now, old farming is not practiced.
— Kachala Choudhary
Producing through traditional agriculture, farming without fertilizer. Various types of fruits, medicinal plants and creepers etc. found in forests are no longer available.
— KAPAL MARNDI · Bissamcuttack, Rayagada, Odisha
Our ancestors used to farm with plows and bullocks. But nowadays, all those things are disappearing.
— NAGRIK VIKASH SANGATHAN · Kalahandi, Odisha
People of earlier times used to do this kind of farming for subsistence, and without water, without chemical fertilizers, and by eating that grain, there was also strength in the body. But nowadays, this urea and DAP fertilizer is causing a lot of harm.
— Kamleah Kumar · Kota, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Our ancestors used to cultivate without fertilizer, and that was delicious and healthy. But now, that taste is not available.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
They do farming without water, but now it has decreased, it doesn't ripen.
— Kachala Choudhary
Nutritious food is not available from farming as before; all food available is cultivated with fertilizers. Various root-based foods are also not available in the forest.
— KAPAL MARNDI · Bissamcuttack, Rayagada, Odisha
We are no longer getting manure for our farming because people are not keeping cattle anymore. Everyone relies on chemical fertilizers, which is why we are becoming more prone to diseases.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
We used to add organic fertilizer to our fields to maintain soil fertility, but today's youth are using chemical fertilizers, and diseases are increasing day by day.
— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
The environment was good before, now it doesn't rain on time, due to which farming is not good.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
In the past, even when cows and cattle lived for two hundred years, there were no roads, and traditional farming was practiced. Now, all those things are gone. Now, even farming has AC.
— Kusha Mahakud
Difficulty in obtaining organic food is due to modern food. Farming is no longer done with traditional ploughs because mechanical ploughs are used.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
Grain used to grow without fertilizer. Use cow dung for farming in the fields; that's where paddy, maize, and all crops grow. Eating all that grain keeps the body strong and vital. Nowadays, even though there is more crop yield, the body becomes weak.
— Kamleah Kumar · Ammatola, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Currently, eating food cultivated with chemical substances is harming our health, but our ancestors used to cultivate according to nature using organic methods and were free from diseases.
— Padmalochan Majhi · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha
Future generations will forget the traditional farming methods. For example, if I have a plough and a plowshare, I will cultivate according to my time and will, and I don't need capital for that. If I don't have all these, then I will take the help of machinery, for which I will have to invest capital.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Previously, our ancestors used to farm with cow dung, and now urea and DAP have become common. The crops are growing well, but it's having a big impact on the body.
— Kamleah Kumar · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
In the past, farming was done with plows made of wood, but nowadays machines are being used.
— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
Mona Pramoda, in the past, we had traditional food without fertilizer, and people lived for many years by eating that food. But now, by eating food with fertilizer, many types of diseases are staying in our bodies.
— swornalata nayak · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha
Farming with ploughs is no longer seen in our village.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
People of the past used to cultivate saawa, kodo, menjhari, bajra, and maize, and their bodies were strong. But today, by eating grains grown with fertilizer...
— Kamleah Kumar · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Traditional agriculture
— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha
Our ancestors used to farm with cow dung. And now this urea and DAP fertilizer has become common. This improves crop yield, but it's having a significant impact on health.
— Kamleah Kumar
Earlier, we used to keep seeds in earthen pots with neem leaves, but now those pots are not available. Their traditional profession is slowly coming to an end, and we are also forced to move towards modernity.
— Upendra Kumar Mahananda
Future generations will forget the previous farming methods. For example, if I have a plow and a ploughshare, I will do it according to my time and will, and I don't need capital for this. If I don't have all these, then I will take the help of machinery, for which I will have to invest capital.
— DASHARATH SINGH
Future generations will forget the previous farming methods. For example, if I have a plow and a ploughshare, I will do it according to my time and will, and I don't need capital for this. If I don't have all these, then I will take the help of machinery, for which I will have to invest capital.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Sambalpur, Odisha
Nowadays, traditional fertilizers like cow dung and ash are not used in farming. Chemical fertilizers like urea, DAP, and phosphate are being used more. This should not happen.
— VEER SINGH SIJUI · Durusai, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand
I really miss the natural farming that used to happen 20 years ago, whether in my forest life or agricultural life.
— AbhiLL Ipsa
Yes, we practice zero-irrigation farming, but it has reduced a lot, it's not like before.
— Kachala Choudhary
Zero-water farming used to be very common, but now it has reduced a bit.
— Kachala Choudhary
My name is Jayanti Pradhan. My village is Brenguda. The Panchayat is Badamunda. The block is Tikabali. In the old days, we used to cultivate millet, sorghum, and maize without fertilizer, and our health was not particularly bad. Now, we don't even get those seeds. And what is being cultivated, that requires fertilizer. That's why we are living with poor health.
— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha
Earlier, we used to farm with plows and oxen. Today, it's the age of machines, and we farm using them. However, we often face economic problems, due to which we have to go to the city separately to earn a living.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
The situation we are in now is that the food we used to get to eat in the past has gradually disappeared.
— swornalata nayak · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha
Farming
— Sunita Kumari · Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Future generations will forget the old farming methods. For example, I have a plow and a ploughshare, I will do it according to my time and will, I don't need capital for this. If I don't have all these, then I will take the help of machinery, which will require me to invest capital.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Due to forests being destroyed day by day and the lack of proper rainfall, agriculture is not doing well.
— Suna Majhi
Earlier, our ancestors used to store grains in mud granaries at home, and there used to be good yields. But now, when we store them in steel granaries, the crops don't grow.
— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan
We used to plant paddy according to the season in olden times. Now, due to lack of rain, we are cultivating cotton in the fields.
— Laba Kumar sabar · Bada Baridi, Rayagada, Odisha
Earlier, they used to farm with less water and without fertilizer. That crop was market maize; even after keeping it for about a year, the maize would get infested with weevils. But Kodo Millet remains very good for 2 years and does not spoil.
— Kamleah Kumar · Kota, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
In our area, in very old times, there were Sama, Kodo, Meijri (types of millets) for eating. Diseases were not caused by this. Today, whatever is being eaten as hybrid, all this is on the verge of causing diseases.
— ANIL KUMAR · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
From the time of our ancestors, they used to cultivate with a plow. Immediately after paddy cultivation, they would grow mustard, groundnuts, horse gram, black gram, and green gram. Our subsequent generations have forgotten this practice.
— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha
