A dimension within Dryland Seed Resilience
This theme delves into traditional and ancestral farming practices, focusing on the preservation of heritage seeds and pulse crops.
150 voices speak to this
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Overall Community Sentiment
AI-synthesised pieces woven from many community voices on this theme. They may contain errors or interpretation — they're a reflection of the stories, not a record of fact.

Our ancestors taught us to protect our traditional crop seeds using natural methods, ensuring food for the next year.

By carefully collecting and preserving seeds from our first harvest, we ensure a second, nutritious crop and maintain our traditional farming methods for generations.

By preserving our traditional, rain-fed seeds and planting them with care, we ensure food for our families and fodder for our animals.

By cultivating a variety of crops, preserving ancestral seeds, and exploring animal husbandry, we build a resilient livelihood for our community.
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
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
Yes, pulses are cultivated in this. According to our ancestors, we also preserve seeds.
— Jagannath Baraik · Bayang, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand
We preserve the pulse crops that we have received from our ancestors.
— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand
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
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
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
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
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
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
We save and sow our traditional seeds. Such as chickpea, sorghum, Bhadi, pearl millet, etc.
— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
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
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also cultivate every year using this method by saving black gram and horse gram seeds.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
Cultivate pulse varieties and save them for the next year, and then cultivate again using traditional methods.
— Anupama Mahanand · 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
Nature preserves the entire seeds. We also cultivate and sow what our ancestors were sowing, and preserve it as seeds.
— Ram Maravi
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulses as a second crop using organic methods without irrigation, and I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors used to cultivate pulse crops as a second crop without irrigation, adopting organic methods. I also follow this method every year by storing black gram and horse gram seeds.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Previously, our ancestors used to cultivate this way, and I also save black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate using this organic method every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to cultivate these crops, and I also store black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate them every year using this organic method.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to cultivate this before, and I also save black gram and horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this organic method.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
We save our traditional seeds that we have inherited.
— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
I practice zero-irrigation farming of pulses and also preserve its seeds, and we get a lot of benefit from this, which has been passed down from my ancestors.
— Krishna pada mahato · East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop with zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to cultivate this before, and I also store Urad dal and Horse gram seeds and cultivate every year using this organic method.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
Yes, I cultivate pulses as a second crop using zero irrigation. Our ancestors used to farm this way, and I also save urad and horse gram seeds to farm using this organic method every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
I am saving it. Yes, I have been saving it from before. Yes, green gram, yes, chickpeas, yes, now it looks like peas. I am seeing all of it being cultivated. Your ancestors were indeed tied to the yoke (of farming) before. Yes, in the past, everyone used to plow and cultivate. Yes.
— Santosh Pradhan
Yes, we cultivate and preserve traditional seeds.
— Selina Pangi
We sow with great effort without irrigation, and cultivate crops by plowing with oxen and a plow. We save seeds for many years, which come in handy.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
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
We do traditional farming. We save rain-fed seeds and cultivate crops like sorghum and chickpea.
— Vijay kanesh · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
Yes, I work with pulses and oilseeds, conserving their seeds by learning from my ancestors, and I also nourish the soil following ancestral methods.
— Krishna pada mahato · Birra, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
We cultivate zero-irrigation crops, including pulses and oilseeds, and also conserve them, as they are part of our heritage.
— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand
Chickpeas and gumbra are our old seeds, which we preserve and then sow.
— Vinita Singh Yadav · Mukasim, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
We preserve old seeds for sowing work, which explicitly includes Moong, Kili, and Mustard.
— Vijay Kumar bhardwaj · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh
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
We will cultivate pulses using very old traditional methods, so that we can use them in our diet.
— Pushpalata Surtange · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh
We cultivate paddy, wheat, and pulses in our village and want to preserve this as a heritage.
— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
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
I cultivate pulses as a second crop without irrigation, using old methods with cow/cattle manure, and I save urad and horse gram seeds, using them for cultivation every year.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Sambalpur, Odisha
Our ancestors were cultivating. They grew urad and moong. The soil gave them a different kind of produce, and they nurtured the seeds for it.
— Mukunda Majhi · Udulibeda, Malkangiri, Odisha
The voices in this theme were gathered by these organisations through their community reports.