Healthy Food & Farming

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

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

Our ancestors used to cultivate without fertilizer, and that was delicious and healthy. But now, that taste is not available.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

In our region, 'Gati Kandha' is available/common. People of the past used to eat all such things, and because of that, their bodies remained healthy. Nowadays, people are consuming foods that contain fertilizers (or are chemically treated), which is causing many types of diseases to arise.

— Ram Kumari · 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

Our ancestors used to farm with plows and bullocks. But nowadays, all those things are disappearing.

— NAGRIK VIKASH SANGATHAN · Kalahandi, Odisha

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

Now, old farming is not practiced.

— Kachala Choudhary

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

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

The food we used to eat before was good for our body. But the food we eat now, chemical food, is bad for our body.

— Amita Mohanty

Previously, crops would grow without fertilizer. Cow dung was spread in the fields, and then grains were sown, resulting in excellent crops. But now, it seems to grow better with urea.

— Kamleah Kumar · Ammatola, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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

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

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

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

In our house, food used to be cooked in clay pots and there were no diseases of any kind. But in today's era, food is cooked in steel pots and illnesses have also increased a lot.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

In the past, farming was done with plows made of wood, but nowadays machines are being used.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Zero-water farming used to be very common, but now it has reduced a bit.

— Kachala Choudhary

My name is Chandrika Pradhan. My village is Panga Bidungia, block is Tikabali. In the olden days, we used to keep seeds in pots. We kept them because, in the olden days, we didn't use fertilizer. Nowadays, we are using fertilizer. That's why we can't keep our seeds for many days. We want to return to the previous state.

— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha

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

Earlier, you all used to farm, and you cultivated using fertilizer.

— Niranjan Lauria · Boudh, Odisha

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

In ancient times, due to rain, people used to grow and eat their own vegetables! Now, due to lack of rain, people are buying and eating vegetables.

— Laba Kumar sabar · Bada Baridi, Rayagada, Odisha

Earlier, we used to store our grains in traditional bins. At that time, the crop used to grow well. But now, if we keep the seeds in steel bins, they are not sprouting. So, we want to return to our old ways.

— Hariparkash kharadi · Katarwas Khurd, Udaipur, Rajasthan

My name is Sukanti Pradhan. My village is Lambakupa. GP is Pikorodi. Block is Tikabali. District is Kandhamal. In our rural areas, the main food items that were cultivated, such as ragi, millet, maize, black gram, and green gram, did not require fertilizer. That's why our ancestors lived for a long time. Currently, because we are not cultivating our traditional food seeds, many kinds of diseases are occurring. So, if we can get traditional food and seeds from the government, then we can return to our previous state.

— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha

Earlier, farming was done using cow dung and goat droppings; that was the fertilizer for the crops, and Kodo millet grew better with it.

— Kamleah Kumar · Kota, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

They do farming without water, but now it has decreased, it doesn't ripen.

— Kachala Choudhary

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

Name: Sanjabati Pradhan. Village: Dapargaon. GP: Kanjamendi Block K. Nuagaon. I am a woman farmer. Traditionally, we used to cultivate using organic cow dung manure. Currently, due to the use of chemical fertilizers in the hope of more profit, we are eating poison every day and have destroyed our bodies. Therefore, if we do traditional farming, we will remain healthy.

— Sidheswar Nayak · Kandhamal, Odisha

Traditional agriculture

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

My name is Mutiy Pradhan. My Gram Panchayat is Pikorodi. My Block is Tikabali. My District is Kandhamal. Our mothers used to store seeds in the olden days. They would keep seeds in pots near the fire in 'Putra Jakore'. Nothing would happen to them. Today, in today's date, farming is done with fertilizer and pesticides, which is why this year, the seeds cannot last even for a year. That's why we want to live like before.

— Sunita Pradhan · Tikabali, Kandhamal, Odisha

We are the people of earlier times who used to eat mahua from the forest, eat chakad shak, eat millet bread, eat corn bread. Now people eat good food, and because they eat good food, they catch so many diseases.

— Sunita Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh