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Abstract: The objectives of this exercise were to make an inventory along with farmers of their varieties, characteristics, use and disuse patterns, preferences, and so on. Side by side, a truly participatory methodology and tools were also to be devised. At the end of the exercise, the basis for a seed exchange mechanism was to be laid down among farmers whereby they could increase their productivity. The area of study was the Himalayan region because SAHAYOG is concerned about the region and is familiar with it too. The choice of species to be studied was decided along with the farmers, keeping in mind local use. In order to make the process participatory, both men and women were involved in the process. The methodology included group discussions, key informant interviews as well as a joint meeting of various key resource persons of the different villages. The process was quite drawn out as women were not used to articulate what they know, and then the interviewer had to tune into the local nuances of speech and logic. One useful result of the exercise has been that farmers from neighboring villages have had an opportunity to share information at one place and some degree of dialogue has been initiated among them.

Introduction

Fortunately, the situation is not yet as bleak as the 'powers' that be would like it to become. In the remote corners of India, the farmers continue their traditional practices, unaware of the swift changes taking place all around. If no interventions take place at this point in time, these farmers could well be swept into the overwhelming process of change, and priceless treasure troves of crops, varieties, seeds and knowledge lost in the black hole of 'development'.

In such a situation it is imperative to find ways and means to enable farmers to assess their collective knowledge and resource base, establish their rights over it, and find avenues to use it more productively and improve the quality of their own lives. One major hurdle in this process is the fundamental difference in the way 'scientifically trained' people and traditional farmers approach, store and use knowledge. While the scientist is interested in distilling abstract principles for the technocrat to utilize, the farmer, being both scientist and technocrat, uses her/his collective experience of generations for survival. In such a situation it is necessary for us to liberate ourselves from the shackles of a 'scientific' approach', if we wish to assist farmers gain control over their knowledge and resources.

SAHAYOG is a voluntary development organization working in the Uttar Pradesh Himalaya in India with the mission of assisting the process of sustainable participatory rural development. Validating local knowledge has been an area of concern for SAHAYOG, and in the past it has been involved in an exercise to document and validate local knowledge and practices regarding the use of local medicinal herbs.

The possibility of conducting a similar exercise with crops was raised during discussions with Dr. Louise Sperling during her visit to Almora in 1994. The opportunity to do so was made available by IDRC in May 1995.

Objectives of the study

1. To make an inventory about the different varieties, their characteristics, and usage patterns of a few selected crops, along with the farmers of the area;

2. To evolve a participatory process, including appropriate tools by which the above is possible;

3. To start a dialogue between farmers of neighboring villages, with a view to exchanging knowledge and resources for better productivity.

Area of study

• Land holdings are small and fragmented;

• Nearly all crops are rainfed, and there is very little provision for irrigation;

• There are very few external inputs in the form of chemical fertilizers or high yielding seed varieties;

• Farmyard manure is the most widely used fertilizer;

• There is widespread cultivation of traditional crops;

• Most of the crops are grown only for local consumption;

• Women perform most of the farming activities: women are farmers; and

• Many able-bodied males migrate out of the region for work.

This region can be further subdivided in terms of altitude, climate, and farming patterns into three areas: the valleys, the higher reaches and the middle slopes. Table 1 provides an idea of differences among these areas. The area in which the study was conducted falls in the middle slopes category.

Table 1: Farming in the Mid-Himalayan region: intra-regional variations
UPPER MOUNTAIN REACHES	Altitude 1600-2500 m. There is considerable snowfall. Agriculture is not very intensive.	Main crops: 'phaphar', 'palti', 'napal', 'ooa' (minor millets); rajma, masur, matar (pulses); potato.	In the higher reaches with high snowfall, only one crop is taken, or else two crops. Minor millets are used as flour and 'sattu'.
MID-SLOPES	Altitude 1000-1600 m. Agriculture is rainfed and intensive.	Main crops: wheat, paddy, madua, madira, soybean, onion, garlic, coriander, ginger, amaranth, colocasia.	Either two crops are taken in 1 year, or 3 years. Diversity of crops grown is highest in this region.
RIVER VALLEYS	Altitude up to 1000 m. Broad river valleys, provision for irrigation exists, soil is fertile and there is periodic flooding.	Main crops: paddy, wheat, soybean, onion, garlic, potato, coriander, mustard, amaranth.	Two to three crops are taken every year, and there is widespread use of chemical fertilizer and HYVs. Irrigation is common and farmign is market oriented.

Crops that were studied

• The crop should be traditional;
• It must be one that is locally consumed; and
• It must be of importance to the villagers and be a major component of their subsistence farming.

The crops that were selected for study were - madua (finger millet), madira (barnyard millet), wheat, rice and bhatt (soybean). In keeping with a participatory approach, farmers were free to discuss other crops too. In the process, a wide variety of crops were mentioned, although we kept our focus primarily on these five. It finally emerged that these five crops were not only important for the villagers but some degree of varietal diversity also existed within them. There were other crops, notably the bean rajma which had a much greater varietal diversity, but the crop was relatively less important. Table 2 gives some information about these five crops.

Table 2: The crops that were studied
Local name	English equivalent	Growing season	Use
Madua	Finger Millet or Eleusine coracana	Kharif May to September	Used as food. The grains are dehusked and made into flour, and chapati is made from it.
Madira	Barnyard Millet or Echinochloa frumentacea	Kharif April to October	Used as food and cattlefeed. Grains are boiled and used as rice. It is sometimes made into flour, and chapatis are made.
Gehu	Wheat	Rabi October to April	Made into flour and chapatis are made. Sometimes made into 'halwa' a sweetmeat during festivals and celebrations.
Dhan	Paddy	Kharif April to September	Used as rice. Also made into flour, and 'puris' are made during festivals.
Bhatt	Black Soybean	Kharif April to September	Used as a pulse, and also popped like corn, and used as a snack in winters. Also used as cattlefeed.

Conducting the study with the farmers: evolving a methodology

• The purpose of the study would not be only to collect information but also find ways of sharing it among the farmers who provided it;
• While we had decided on five crops, farmers would be free to share information about as many crops as they wished. We, for our part, would validate our choice from farmers, and change our list if necessary;
• We would explain the purpose and steps of the study in detail and encourage the farmers to redefine it if necessary;
• We would try to visit farmers in an informal setting, i.e. in their homes or fields and try not to intimidate them with formats or tape recorders; and
• We would be open to changing the framework that upon which we had first decided.

Initially we had decided upon an approach in which we would first visit key resource persons like old men and progressive farmers for information and seed samples, and then compare the data given by different individuals from different villages in village-wise meetings. As we started our study, we realized that the first interaction in the village needed to be a informal meeting, and only after having explained the purpose of the study in the meeting and having generated some interest in the community, could we proceed to individual interviews. The other thing we realized is that women are the greater repositories of knowledge and information regarding traditional crops and varieties, while men are more interested in improved seeds, new crops and practices. Thus the framework that finally emerged was:

• An initial village-wise informal meeting in which a large section of the community participated;
• Follow-up visits to key resource persons identified in these meetings; and
• A final workshop with the key resource persons from all the villages.

The informal meetings were attended only by those individuals who were familiar with SAHAYOG, and their numbers varied from six in one village to thirty-five in another. These meetings served as a forum for explaining the purpose of the entire study, starting the process of information sharing and seed collection, and identifying the key resource persons. Women tended to be silent in these meetings, and opened up only after they were separated from the men. Men were quicker in their responses, but the women provided more information. Women had difficulty in sharing information during abstract discussions, and became animated and articulate only after seed samples were displayed. It was necessary to display seed samples from other villages to motivate farmers to bring out their own seed samples. Seed samples of rajma varieties proved crucial to demonstrate the concept of varietal differences. A total of 98 farmers from five villages participated in these informal meetings.

After the initial meeting had introduced the exercise, follow-up visits were made to the key resource persons identified during the meetings. These farmers were visited once or twice in their fields or at home. During these visits, we directly observed ongoing farming activities (harvesting and threshing of wheat, sowing of madua and madira, seed selection and storage). Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to generate more information about the crops that we had decided to study. The farmers were also encouraged to rate and rank the various crops and varieties. A total of 24 farmers were interviewed at this stage.

The information gathered was compiled and collated on a variety-wise format. Seeds were collated in a village-wise and crop-wise manner. We were faced with some difficulty in deciding on the appropriate storing and displaying of the seed samples. Our main concerns were:

• Portability: it had to fit into a small backpack;
• Accessibility: farmers should be able to hold/feel the seed; and
• Durability: the packing had to be transparent and tear resistent.

We finally settled upon clear polythene ziploc pouches, and slide holding sheets, but this storage/display system can surely be improved upon.

Once these interviews were over, we held a one-day workshop at a central place with the key informants of the study. Fourteen farmers attended the workshop, a majority of whom were farm women.

The workshop started off with a sharing of the data collected so far in the form of a seed display from all the villages. As they handled the seeds, women became animated in discussing each others' village samples. The specific differences between varieties were defined, and identification was finalized. Some inter-village differences in perception became apparent at this stage. More data on characteristics emerged, and some information on the history of varieties was also elicited.

After this, the participants split up into small groups and described the cropping cycles used for these major food crops. A sort of calendar emerged from this discussion. Following this, there was an attempt to do a ranking exercise for the varieties of seeds. At first, the preference criteria were defined, and it turned out that crop residue (for fodder) and low water requirements were very important. Also, a consistent productivity was expected, failing which a variety could be totally rejected. (Table 3 summarizes the methodological process.)

Table 3: Summary of the tools used and their utility
Activity	Tools used	Utility
Informal village meetings	- General discussions - Small group discussions (sex-wise) - Seed sample display - Ranking	- Explain the purpose of the study - Initiate sharing process - Energize participants - Collect seed samples
Individual interviews	- Semi structured interviews - Direct observations - Seed sample display	- Detailed sharing - Cross-checking information - Observation of farming practices
Workshop	- General discussions - Small group discussions (with reporters) - Seed sample display - Ranking/correlating	- Sharing and discovery between villages - Validating each others knowledge and experiences - Understanding differences - Starting a mutual relationship on the issue

Some issues and concerns

• As the study was restricted to individuals within the community who were familiar with SAHAYOG, it is possible that information gathered is incomplete;

• In meetings with both men and women, men tended to dominate. Women opened up only when they had separate space for themselves;

• Men were quick with responses, even though some of it proved inconsistent with what the women shared later;

• Only those men who had lived outside the area were keen farmers, and they were more interested in improved varieties and techniques;

• Women were not consistent in their preferences and were unable to rank in terms of good, better, best;

• The investigators were both male and had to enlist the support of female workers to establish rapport with the women. Familiarity with the language, customs and farming practices was useful in generating information;

• Farmers, especially the women, were unable to discuss information in abstract terms, and it was essential to use seed displays to generate interest and active participation;

• Considerable patience was required to elicit 'coherent' information from the women. They were responding according to their logic, which was difficult for the investigators to comprehend. They, in turn, must have experienced similar difficulty in understanding the 'logical' queries. Each party was restricted by their own operational logic and world view.

• The study was completed in a period of slightly less than one month, and this time was inadequate. Even though we interacted with each key resource person three to four times, getting information was a slow process. Visiting them further could result in 'interview fatigue'.

Results

One of the important considerations in this study was to identify the changes occurring in the varieties grown, crops, their uses, and also to determine how seed exchange takes place. What emerged was as follows.

Table 4: Sex-wise division of labor in different farming activities
Activity	Men					Women
	V-1	V-2	V-3	V-4	V-5	V-1	V-2	V-3	V-4	V-5
Plowing	×	×	×	×	×
Levelling						×	×	×	×	×
Sowing	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Hoeing and Weeding						×	×	×	×	×
Harvesting						×	×	×	×	×
Threshing	×		×		×	×	×	×	×	×
Collecting Seed						×	×	×	×	×
Processing and Storing						×	×	×	×	×
Seed Selection	×		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Head-loading FYM/harvesting	×		×

Table 5: Village-wise distribution of varieties of the different crops
Crops	Villages
	Chauma	Kitora	Kaduri	Bahtan	Khali
Wheat	- Lal Noyi - Safed Noyi	- Lal Noyi - Safed Noyi	- Lal Noyi - Safed Noyi	- Jhuswao - Safed Noyi - Dawatkhani	- Lal Noyi - Safed Noyi - Dawatkhani
Madua or Finger millet	- Garau - Putki - Dwiti	- Garau - Putki - Ganolli (extinct)	- Garau - Putki - Nangchuni	- Garau - Putki - Nangchuni	- Garau - Putki
Madira or Barnyard millet	- Lal madir - Safed madir	- Lal madir - Safed madir	- Lal madir - Safed madir	- Lal madir - Safed madir	- Safed madir
Bhatt or Black Soybean	- Lagili - Improved soy	- Lagili - Improved soy	- Lagili - Thumri - Bhangrail - Improved soy	- Lagili - Thumri - Bhangrail - Improved soy	- Lagili - Thumri - Bhangrail - Improved soy
Paddy	- Bandpas - Chhirku	- Chhirku - Baku	- Banpas - Bhattu	-	-

Table 6: Variety-wise differences: 'Madua'
	GARAU	PUTKI	DWITI	NANGCHUNI
PLANT	Stem is greenish white; tall and weak, can bend and break in the wind	Smaller that garau, stronger has a sweet taste	Small plant	Average height, prominent nodes on stem, tips can be broken off with fingers
SEED	Deep, brownish black seeds, round	Same	Same	Larger seeds
EAR	Like the spread out fingers of the human hand	Like the closed in fingers of the human hand	Midway	Like the closed in fingers
SOIL	Can grow in soil	Same	Same	Same
WATER	Irregular rains	Same	Regular rains	Regular rains
LABOR	Similar	Similar	Similar	Similar
DISEASES		Plant dries up
PRODUCE	High	Better	Less	Average
TASTE	Good	Better	Very good	Good
NUTRITION	High	High	High	High

Table 7: Variety-wise differences: 'Madira'
	SAFED MADIR	LAL MADIR
PLANT	A tall plant, can even grow up to 6 feet	Smaller plant than Safed Madir
SEED	Very small, greenish-brown	Very small, greenish-brown with a faint reddish tinge
EAR	Large, opened out, pale greenish-white	Large, opened out with reddish tinge
SOIL	Can grow in less fertile soil	Same
WATER	Rainfed	Rainfed
LABOR	Similar	Similar
DISEASES	Crubs and parrots 'kurmula'	Same
PRODUCE	Lower	Higher
TASTE	Good	Good
NUTRITION	High	Good

Table 8: Variety-wise differences: Wheat
	LAL NOYI	SAFED NOYI	DAWATKHANI	JHUSWAO
PLANT	Shorter stem; reddish tinge	Longer stem, yellowish white	White or yellowish stem	-
SEED	Brownish red	Brownish white	Reddish brown	Larger whitish
SOIL	Poor soil	Poorer soil	Average soil	Good soil
WATER	Rainfed	Rainfed	Needs more	Needs irrigation
FYM	Less	Less	15 baskets/nali	More
LABOR	In levelling field	Less	More than Lal and Safed Noyi	Most
DISEASES	Plant turns black	Seeds turn black and sooty	Plant dries up	Very susceptible
YIELD	Good	As good as Lal Noyi with good rains	Very good	Very good
TASTE	Good	Good	Good	Unsatisfactory
NUTRITION	High	High	High	Poor

Table 9: Variety-wise differences: Paddy
	BANDRAS	CHHIRKU	BAKU	BHATTU
PLANT	Average size	Average size	Short, white	Tall
SEED	Slightly reddish	Yellowish white	Reddish brown	Reddish black
SOIL	Average soil	Less fertile	Fertile	Less fertile
WATER	Rainfed	Rainfed	Needs more water	Rainfed
FYM	Good quantity	Same	Same	Same
LABOR	Less	Less	More	More
DISEASES	Seed dries up	Seeds turn black	Plant dries up	Seed dries up
YIELD	Good	Good	Good	Good
TASTE	Good	Good	Good	Good
NUTRITION	High	High	High	Average

Table 10: Variety-wise differences: 'Bhatt'
	LAGILI	THUMRI	BHANGRAIL
PLANT	Creeper, samll broad leaves	Small plant, leaves bigger than Lagili	Small plant
SEED	Small, flat, deep blue black	Small round, deep blue black	Flat and oval, brown and larger
FRUIT	Smaller than a finger	Larger	Similar to Thumri
SOIL	Less fertile soil	Average soil	Average or less fertile soil
WATER	Rain is enough	Same	Same
FYM	Average	Less	Less
YIELD	Average	High	Average
TASTE	Best	Average	Average
NUTRITION	Highest	Good	Good

Crops

Varieties

Two varieties of madua, Timasi and Ganoli, seem also to have disappeared-- more than thirty years ago. Local bhatt is being displaced by improved soybean, as the latter is a cash crop.

Usage

Seed selection and storage

Seed storage techniques are undergoing changes. Traditionally, seeds were stored in hollowed gourd shells, tumari, when the quantity to be stored is small, in wooden boxes, bhakar, or covered bamboo baskets plastered with dung, when the quantity is large. Seeds were mixed with oak ash to discourage insects. Tin canisters are now replacing the earlier storage vessels and seeds are being increasingly mixed with 'DDT' or some other insecticide powder.

Seed exchange

Government systems for seed distribution appeared non-existent at the village level. Interested male farmers visited the block office to get new seeds for wheat and soybean. A few women admitted to consuming seeds provided by the government as seed 'mini-kits'.

Conclusions

We will consider our efforts successful if they can initiate further dialogue among farmers of the different villages (and different castes) on seed variety and seed exchange, and if, in the long run, they can assist rural people to gain control over their rich indigenous knowledge base and their diverse resources.

Footnotes:

1 SAHAYOG, Almora. (See 'participant list' for full address of co-author.) (BACK)

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