Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)

Traditional Farming Holds All the Aces

By Manipadma Jena
Last monsoon season, 65-year-old Sunadhar Ramaparia, a member of the Bhumia tribe in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, mixed indigenous crops like ‘para’ paddy, foxtail millet and oil seeds in his upland plot.

Tribal Farmers Fall Back on Ancient Wisdom

By Manipadma Jena
While tens of thousands of Indian farmers succumb to the pressures of debt, hunger and poverty by taking their own lives, members of the Bhumia tribe are simply falling back on a 3,000-year-old agricultural system to ensure a steady supply of healthy food.


sibylle berg