Traditional & Organic Farming

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

— NAGRIK VIKASH SANGATHAN · Kalahandi, Odisha

Now, old farming is not practiced.

— Kachala Choudhary

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

Traditional agriculture

— Common Ground · Phiringia, Kandhamal, Odisha

Traditional agriculture

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

When we used to do traditional farming, health was good. Now, by using chemical fertilizers, many changes are appearing in health. People are getting old quickly, in my observation.

— jitendra khila · kudumulugumma, Malkangiri, Odisha

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

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

Traditional methods, the traditional methods of farming that were used before. All the earthworms would survive and loosen the soil. Now, when we plow with a tractor or our power tiller, the earthworms...

— KARUKAR MURMU · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

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

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

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

In the past, we used to eat various things from the hills, such as Kangu Jona Ganthia, and lived well because of them. Things that grew without fertilizer used to ripen quickly. Now, nothing is ripening from the hills, and they are not cultivating them anymore.

— Prakash ch Pradhani · Karubai, Rayagada, 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

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

Earlier, when we practiced traditional farming, many earthworms used to fertilize our soil, and cultivation was good. Now, various types of fertilizers, pesticides, and poisons are being used by us.

— KARUKAR MURMU · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha

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

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya 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

We farm using the old method.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

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

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

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 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

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

But we need to protect the traditional farming that was done before.

— Niranjan Bisi · Bissamcuttack, 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

I really miss the natural farming that used to happen 20 years ago, whether in my forest life or agricultural life.

— AbhiLL Ipsa

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

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

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

— Kachala Choudhary

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

Farming

— Sunita Kumari · Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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 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 environment was good before, now it doesn't rain on time, due to which farming is not good.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

Farming with ploughs is no longer seen in our village.

— Upendra Kumar Mahananda

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

My ancestors used to emphasize farming using organic methods.

— Madan Hantal · Pujariguda, Malkangiri, Odisha

Traditional agriculture and heritage

— KRUSHNA KHILLO · Semiliguda, Koraput, Odisha

It feels to me that in the coming times, farming remained very difficult, our work got a bit stalled, and now we can't do it as we understood previously.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

We farm using traditional methods.

— Sunil oraon · Bero, Ranchi, Jharkhand