BIHAN PARAB HELD TO POPULARISE TRADITIONAL SEEDS Thursday, 01 January 2015 | PNS | BALANGIR | in Bhubaneswar

BIHAN PARAB HELD TO POPULARISE TRADITIONAL SEEDS

Thursday, 01 January 2015 | PNS | BALANGIR | in Bhubaneswar

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A two-day Bihan Parab was held in Bargarh to populaise traditional paddy varieties and farm practices.

“Since 2008 we have been organising this Bihan Parab to popularise, propagate and promote the traditional paddy in our area. We are not in favour of use of company seeds. The high-yielding seeds require excess use of chemical fertilizer and insecticide, leading to damage of soil and its ecology. Our traditional seeds are drought resistant and eco-friendly. It is wrong to say that traditional seeds cannot give high production, said Siba Prasad Sahu of Ahimsha club, Bhutibahal, which organised the show. This year we observed the Bihan Parab for two days on December 27 and 28, with support from Millets Network of India (MINI) and have displayed 100 traditional varieties of paddy collected from farmers, besides six varieties of minor millets including Shari, Kudo, Mandia, Gurjee and others, informed Sahu.

The traditional paddy varieties used in the region in past include Karni Phool, Harishankar, AaakashPatri, Dhob Sariaan, Suna Kathi, Radha Jugal,  Aakul, Dahikhul, Juhli, Dengberi, Kumarmani, Rani Saheba, Kamal Shankar, Rani Siiali, Suna Harin, Sunamukhi and many others. “Our forefathers were strong and stout as they consumed foods of crops which were grown without chemical fertilizer. The chemical fertiliser has damaged our ecology including killing friendly insects and small fish, gholi, and earthworm which increase fertility of soil. Hence, it is high time we got back to those farm seed types and practices,” said Kosli poet Haldhar Nag.

Bargarh BJD MP Dr Prabash Kumar Singh while appreciating the effort of the Ahinsha Club, Bhutibahal in propagating traditional farm practices, assured all support from the Government. He also supported for opening traditional seed banks in villages to preserve and protect paddy seeds. Bargarh Zilla Parishad president Gitaanjali Puta inaugurated the two- day BihanParab. 25 Kosali poets those who have written poems of traditional paddy seeds were honoured. A quiz competition on traditional seed and minor millet was held and successful ones got certificates.

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