Traditional Farming Holds All the Aces

Inter Press Service -  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.

The rains came, then played truant for 23 days and in the scorching heat even lowland farmers’ hybrid paddy saplings burnt to dust. But Ramaparia harvested a full crop.

Deforestation and climate change have resulted in erratic rainfall, shrinking water bodies and severe soil degradation...read more.