Seeds from the past

For a decade,200 villages in Odisha have conserved and grown 190 indigenous rice and millet varieties with proven climate resilience

- SHAGUN RAYAGADA

THE PRIDE and excitement were evident among the women at Hurlu village in Odisha’s Rayagada district as they congregate in a sprawling courtyard to display a colourful array of seeds to Down To Earth (dte). It is early February and yet, temperatures have begun to rise in various parts of the state. But the weather at Hurlu is still pleasant, as if to reflect the spirit of its inhabitants. Soon, the women decorate one cot with red, black, white, green, yellow and grey seeds, neatly placed in bowls made from sal leaves. “These are the native varieties of kuyan (pearl millet), dokin (sorghum), kode kanga (cowpea), arka (foxtail millet) and dangrani (a type of pulse),” says Kirko Kilaka, a 70-year-old resident of Hurlu. Seeds on the other cot are of indigenous paddy varieties that the residents refer to, in their native language, Kui, as kanda kuli, dhangri mali, basna kuli and bodhana.

Over the past decade, villages in the forested foothills of Niyamgiri have identified, revived and are cultivating as many as 190 such traditional varieties or landraces of paddy and millets, which have demonstrated climate resilience and are resistant to pest attacks, according to Living Farms, a nonprofit working with farmers in Bissamcuttack and blocks of Rayagada.

"Paddy varieties like bodhana and kanda kuli do well even when there is not enough water. And it is never a total loss, even in the case of a crop failure. The suan variety grows well even in low water conditions, with little moisture in the soil,” Kirko Kilaka tells dte. “Our native varieties are also rich in nutritional content,” says Bindri Kradika, an octogenarian and the oldest woman in Hurlu.