Research work done during the last decade by a prominent agricultural scientist of India, Dr R.H. Richharia (former Director of Central Rice Research Institute in India) in the Chhatisgarh region of the state of Madhya Pradesh has revealed the high level of skills of the farmers of remote tribal villages still untouched by the official development programmes. This scientist's travels in Bastar district, one of the most remote areas in Central India, where tribal communities still lead a life of their own, brought him into contact with farmers who were taking comparable and even larger yields from indigenous rice varieties, compared to the HYVs being spread officially in other parts of the state. Another revelation was the very large number of rice varieties being grown by the farmers, who possessed detailed knowledge of each of their properties. Some of those varieties were remarkable for their high yields, some for their supreme cooking qualities, some for their aroma, and some for other cherished qualities.

In the late seventies, Dr Richharia wrote : "A recent varietal cum agronomic survey has shown that nearly 9 per cent of the total varieties grown in MP fall under the category of high yielding types (3,705 kgs and above per hectare).

A farmer planting a rice variety called Mokdo of Bastar who adopted his own cultivation practices obtained about 3,700 to 4,700 kgs of paddy per hectare. Another rice grower of Dhamtari block (Raipur) with just one hectare of rice land, told me that he obtained about 4,400 kgs of paddy per hectare from chinnar variety, a renowned scented type, year after year with little fluctuations. He used farmyard manure supplemented at times with a low dose of nitrogen fertilisers. For low lying areas in Farasgaon Block (Bastar) a non-lodging mildly scented tall rice variety Surja with bold grains can compete with Java in yield potential at lower doses of fertilisation, according to a local grower who recently showed me his crop. During my visit to the Bastar area in the middle of November, 1975, when the harvesting of new rice crop was in full swing in that locality, I observed a field of Assam Chudi ready for harvest with which the adivasi cultivator named Baldeo of the Bhatra tribe in the village Dhikonga Jugalpur block, had entered in a crop competition. The cultivator had applied fertiliser approximately equal 50 kg N/ha and had used no plant protection measure. He expected a yield of about 5,000 kg/ha.

In the Bichia Block of the Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh, our survey (1973-74) has indicated the following yields :

Dr Richharia stresses that the existing local practice of cultivation have emerged after centuries of experience, based on trial and error and have a sound base for their wide acceptance.

While studying traditional agriculture, attention should not be focused only, or even primarily, on farming methods and on crop varieties. What is more important is the overall harmony of the traditional mixed farming system.

Traditionally, man, animals, trees (including grass lands) and agricultural fields were inseparable and harmonious components of a single system. The villager looked after the trees on his fields and also contributed to the maintenance of the community grazing land. He looked after the animals owned by him, sometimes with the assistance of a grazing hand and cultivated the fields owned by him, with or without hired labour or share croppers.

The trees provided fodder for the cattle. They also provided fuel for the villagers. The leaves that fell were put to uses beneficial to the agricultural fields. Meanwhile their soil and water conservation properties were beneficial for the villagers and contributed to maintaining the fertility of agricultural fields, as well providing shade during the scorching summer, addition, certain trees provided edible fruits medicines, gum, toothpaste and a host of other commodities of every day use. In some villages trees were used for lac cultivation, and for raising silkworms and bees. Owing to their water conservation properties trees were also responsible in several villages for ensuring an adequate supply of drinking water.

Cattle provided milk and milk products and contributed to the nutritional content of the villagers' diet. Cattle dung provided organic fertilisers for the fields, while the poultry provided eggs and meat. The skins of dead cattle were used for making footwear and other leather products—all such activity being carried out in the village. Not least, bullocks ploughed the fields.

The fields produced foodgrains, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables for the villagers. The residues of those crops, of no direct use to man who could not eat them, were fed to the cattle. Poultry birds scavenged the wasted scattered grain.

Harmonious as the system was, disturbing a single component could have a chain effect of far-reaching consequences. For instance, if for some reason the villagers did not properly look after the community grazing lands and trees or if these were destroyed by some outside force, say a timber merchant, then soil and water conservation would inevitably suffer. The fertility of the agricultural fields would not only be directly affected by also indirectly, because shortage of timber would mean that more dung would have to be used as fuel, thereby leaving less for fertilising the fields. The next consequence would be shortage of fodder, leading to a weakening of the animals. In addition, the villagers would be gradually deprived of several commodities of everyday use, including fruits and medicines.

Over much of India, the traditional harmonious mixed farming system has been disrupted. Thus around most villages the land is eroded, agricultural yields are low, there is shortage of fuel and fodder the bullocks are weak, and the milk yield is low.

Under such conditions it is vital that a massive tree planting programme in and around the village should be undertaken and the grazing lands be rehabilitated. Not only will such activities put agriculture and animal husbandry back on their feet, they will also help solve the problem of fuel shortage and help improve the drinking water situation.

Furthermore planners should study the numerous varieties of crops being grown in those areas, and should then make good quality seeds available to the villagers. Better field preparation and help with manuring, sowing operations, crop management and with post harvest storage will lead to better quality of crops as well as yields. All this can be done within the framework of the traditional system, that is, maintaining the essential harmony of agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry.

Any effort to rebuild or improve the traditional system of mixed farming must be done in a manner in which there is no conflict between agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and the real needs of the village. It is all too easy to go against the essence of the traditional system—for instance, through planting tree species which while meeting the requirements of industry do not provide fodder to the villagers nor increase the fertility of the fields. Furthermore, breeds of cattle can be promoted which cannot thrive on crop residues but must be fed on foodgrains that before were consumed only by human beings.

Thus some varieties of pine and eucalyptus, both of which are being promoted in the government's tree planting programmes, have leaves that cannot be consumed as fodder, while their acidic properties diminish the fertility of agricultural land as well as lowering its moisture content. Moreover with certain breeds of cow that have been introduced, it becomes necessary to use village land for growing green fodder as well as coarse cereals in order to feed the cattle, thereby diminishing the availability of food in the village, even though milk production is expected to rise. Within the traditional system, milk production does not rise at the expense of losing food grains since cattle are expected to consume only green tree leaves and crop residues. Moreover, the benefits of cross-bred cows and of higher milk production are likely to accrue at least initially to the better off villages, while the effect of decreased food production will probably be felt by the poorer sections of the community.

New agricultural technology in the form of tractors and fertilisers will again benefit the richer farmers, who will therefore be able to increase their agricultural production and cash receipts. On the other hand, their dependence on organic manure and bullocks is reduced, so that their requirement for fodder becomes less. All those factors may lead them to neglect the growth and proper maintenance of grazing lands. In fact, owing to the high value of any additional land, they may even be tempted to encroach grazing land and grow crops on it, using tractors and chemical fertilisers. In the process the rest of the village becomes worse off than before.

In recent years ambitious programmes of agriculture, dairy development and forestry have been undertaken and even more ambitious programmes will be undertaken in the near future. In view of the massive investments being made, the development planners should pause to think about the merits of the traditional system of the Indian village and the way in which the villagers made the best use of available resources with minimal wastage.

What Voelcker wrote nearly 100 years back may be valid today also: "I believe that it will be possible here and there to graft onto native practice the results of the western experience, but the main advance will come from an enquiry into native agriculture, and from the extension of the better indigenous methods to parts where they are not known or employed."

Source : The Ecologist, Vol.13, No. 2/3, 1983

Pages on this website relevant to chemical agriculture, the need for organic farming, traditional agriculture and related issues :

18 ways how "modern" farming affects our world

Natural farming succeeds in Indian village

Why organic farming?

Hunger, and why technology cannot feed the world

Dr. Richharia's story

Indian farmers rediscover advantages of traditional rice varieties

Use of indigenous seeds

Hybrid seeds

Diversity and productivity

Traditional knowledge systems

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