Meal in the Valley - Nongtraw, Part 2: How it's grown

The village of Nongtraw is one of many villages in India that practices the traditional farming method of jhum, or shifting cultivation.

The hills surrounding Nongtraw are used for jhum

In Nongtraw, everyone is proud of their jhum practices. More so in recent times, as the practice is being revived now. My host Bah Jop took me to a friend, Pius Ranee’s place to learn more about it. Pius works at NESFAS in the field of agroecology. His work includes research on jhum around India and revival and protection of jhum practices in Nongtraw and the surrounding villages. He is also trying to encourage the practice of making participatory videos, by villagers themselves, to help document agricultural practices of the region and share their knowledge with others. Here's an interesting TEDx talk he gave on the subject. And here's the video made by the residents of Nongtraw about their village.

Pius and I spoke for almost an hour, during which he told me stories about jhum revival and seed exchanges

Pius told me about how in this region, the local the government had discouraged the age-old practice of jhum, because several studies had argued that it was harsh on the soil and atmosphere.

In the meanwhile, the government also began subsidising the price of rice and some other basic food items at the local markets, to fill the gap in the diet that had been left by a decline in jhum agriculture. And rice began replacing the traditional millet-rich diet.

Entrepreneurs around the district recognised the changing food habits as a business opportunity and began to market packaged convenience foods like noodles, and even various snacks like chips, which quickly gained popularity among the younger generations. Evidence of this could be seen in the foil packet-filled dustbins that lined the steps down to Nongtraw.

More recently, however, the people of Nongtraw, along with support from organisations like NESFAS, have begun to revive their traditional agricultural practices. They maintain that their methods are practiced keeping preservation of the natural environment in mind. 

In the years that jhum cultivation had dropped, the consumption of many indigenous foods like millets and various tubers had drastically fallen. Younger generations no longer seemed to understand the value of millets. The residents of the village recognised this and so did NESFAS. Together they have been organising indigenous food festivals and other activities, to try and revive the local knowledge and pride in traditional foods.

Now in their jhum fields, the residents of Nongtraw grow at least 20 different food crops in an intensive intercropped farming method.

The fields grow millets – 3 out of the 7 Indian millets that were grown here historically, are still being cultivated. Seed reserves for the remaining 4 have more or less been lost in these areas, and are being rebuilt through seed exchanges with other parts of the country. Millets in Khasi are called krai, and among the more popular millets that grow now is krai saw, which translates to red millet. This is none other than finger millet, or ragi as it is called in the south of India.

Mei, showing me some of her krai saw, or ragi

Back at Bah Jop’s house, I saw their stores of krai saw, and we exchanged notes on how we traditionally eat it in our respective regions. Apart from the sacks of krai stored in the bedroom for the family’s consumption, the best and hardiest seeds had been saved in a little bundle of cloth to dry out over the cooking fire. Even corn, the hardest seeds of the harvest, had been saved for the following years crop. Ears of this corn, the traditional Indian white variety, were hung in rows overhead in the kitchen, almost looking like decorative garlands.

Garlands of hard corn, drying, to be planted the next season

In this manner, heirloom varieties of food plants are grown seasonally throughout the year, each year. Various sweet potatoes like phan karo lieh (white sweet potato), phan karo saw (red sweet potato), and phan karo hehsla (yet another sweet potato with the big leaves) are part of the daily staple. And several other types of potatoes, too – phan joiti, phan tira, phan imslem, phan saw, phan shiria…

Phan karo saw, or red sweet potato

Phan karo lieh, or white sweet potato

Bah Jop asked me almost rhetorically, “You must be having all these in your place also, no?” I say rhetorically because he didn’t think it was possible not to!

I had to tell him that while we did have some seasonal varieties of sweet potatoes, we did not usually have such a wide range of potatoes to choose from in Bangalore city. And if we did have some different varieties, a majority of us probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from each other, the way he and his family could.

To me both look like regular potatoes, but in their vocabulary, there are no "regular" potatoes. These were two different varieties of potatoes, which could be told apart by the shape and size of the leaves on their plants!

I was fascinated that he had access to such a myriad of potatoes, and he found it absurd that I didn't! It was a rather amusing moment for us both.

The next morning, before leaving Nongtraw, I was served some phan karo lieh and phan karo saw – steamed, peeled and sliced, for breakfast. This was served with sha shiakrot, a special root tea made in these regions.

Shiakrot is a root that is collected from near the stream, further downhill from Nongtraw valley. It is boiled to make a deep red milk-less tea, which has an earthy flavour and is known in these parts to prevent or soothe stomach troubles. Shiakrot root has been added to the Slow Food Arc of Taste, to preserve it for future generations.

Shiakrot root

Mei, Bah Jop’s mother, coaxed us into eating a big breakfast that morning. Along with the phan karo and sha shiakrot, there were fried country eggs and some of Mei’s delicious homemade Meghalaya plum jam. We quickly agreed to that extra helping when she reminded us of the 2300-step upward trek we had ahead of us!

From Nongtraw, my own trail led to the rice plains, in the north of Shillong. Here, agriculture was quite different from jhum, and so were the daily meals. More on that in another post...