Diversity on the Deccan Plateau The poor growing conditions on the Deccan plateau in Southern India require the implementation of careful and complex farming strategies in order for farmers to produce enough food to sustain their families throughout the year. In such environments biodiversity and food security are inextricably intertwined. This article provides some clear insight how farmers in the region develop their diverse cropping systems in order to maximise the soil's potential. It also highlights the critical role of women is sustaining biodiversity in their cropping strategies, and their rationale for doing so. Indian agriculture is often talked about in relation to the Green Revolution and its heterogeneous record of successes and failures. Yet the majority of Indian farmers practice rainfed agriculture, an entirely different farming system from that practiced in the irrigated Green Revolution areas. Overall, almost two-thirds of Indian farmers rely solely on rainfall to derive a livelihood from the land. But the proportion vastly differs from state to state: in the Northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, rainfed areas only represent between 5% and 30% of the total agricultural land. Yet in States like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, they represent from 55% to 75% of all cultivated areas. Bearing these figures in mind, it is difficult to understand why rainfed agriculture has received so little attention in the agricultural policies since Independence. Even more bewildering, perhaps, is the idea that dryland farming is of little value and should therefore be done away with - an idea which still prevails amongst certain circles of agricultural scientists, extension workers and policy-makers today. This perception clearly guides some of the policies being designed at present in the country. One of the most notable examples is "Vision 2020," a strategy proposed by the Andhra Pradesh government to develop a heavily mechanised, high-input agriculture on large consolidated holdings (see box). Such policies totally ignore the basic principles underlying rainfed agriculture, as well as the reality of fragmented landholdings and pre-carious tenure to land for many small farmers. In India, small and marginal farmers make up around 78 % of all farmers, with landholdings measuring less than two hectares (as per the 1990-91 census). The average size of a marginal farmer's holding is 0.39 hectares (about one acre), while a small farmer typically farms 1.43 ha (about 3.5 acres). Deriving a livelihood from such a small area can be quite a challenge, especially in dryland areas, where rainfall is not only low (between 600 to 950 mm in the semi-arid Deccan Plateau) but also extremely unpredictable: the level of precipitation tends to vary greatly from year to year. As a result, water is a scarce resource and soil is fragile. Improving the organic content and water retention capacity of soils are decisive factors in minimising water run-offs and soil erosion. As a major provider of organic manure, livestock is crucial to the stability of dryland agriculture. Cattle also play an essential role in the conduct of farming operations like plou-ghing, harrowing, sowing and weeding. Returns from the land are sharply reduced when, due to a shortage of bullocks in the community, these tasks can not be performed in time.The sharp agro-climatic constraints of dryland regions have led farmers to develop strategies to deal with these limitations. They strive to diversify their sources of livelihood, by raising cattle, collecting uncultivated greens in the rainy season, gathering and selling useful leaves or wild fruit... Seasonal migration is sometimes a necessity to alleviate the scarcity of food encountered in years of low rainfall. Farmers also strive to minimise the risk factor inherent to arid regions through various agricultural practices. A study conducted in 1999 and 2001 with small farmers, especially women farmers, of the Medak District in Andhra Pradesh throws some light on some of these practices and on the multiple benefits of crop diversity in dryland agriculture. Making the most of poor soils In the Deccan Plateau (which extends through parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra), arable land consists of lateritic red soils, sandy soils, and black cotton soils. People differentiate soils on the basis of texture, colour, depth, capacity to retain moisture and capacity to yield. Soils are also imbued with a symbolic dimension since red soils are cons-idered to be female and black soils male. These gendered attributes get transferred to the crops, which makes jowar, grown on female red soil, a female crop, and cotton, grown on black soil, a male crop. An intricate understanding of soils determines what is cultivated where. Particular soil characteristics call for certain crops. For instance, red silt soils (of poor fertility) are reserved for crops with shallow root systems, such as pearl millet, little millet, sorghum, niger, grown in the kharif (rainy) season (June to Sept). Red sandy soils char-acterised by a low water holding capacity are preferably sown in field bean, cow pea, groundnut and redgram, as these crops are best suited to sandy soils, and help in fixing nitrogen. Crops like little millet, foxtail millet and niger can grow virtually in any soil, including very degraded ones. On the other hand, dryland rice, finger millet and sunflower require relatively fertile soils. Deep black soils are seen as a boon, as they can host two crops, one in the kharif season as well as one in the rabi season (October to March). Shallow black soils are set aside and ploughed two to six times in the monsoon season, to ensure the maximum accumulation of moisture in the soil. The rabi crop solely thrives on this stored residual moisture : that is why this crop is said to "live on air" and is revered as satyam panta, a "crop of truth." Pest control and drought strategies Mixed cropping is also a strategy for crop protection. Many farmers who grow ginger or turmeric as cash crops maintain castor plants along the borders of their fields in order to check the spread of diseases and provide shade. In the wheat-chickpea association, chickpea serves to divert rats from the wheat crop. In order to slow the advent of Heliocoverpa armigera (a devastating caterpillar affecting pigeonpea and cotton) onto vulnerable crops, some farmers prepare and spread neem extract or a solution made from garlic and chili paste. The maturation period of particular crops and varieties is very much taken into account by farmers while planning their crops, especially for those with small holdings. Being an early maturing variety of sorghum, Kakimuttani Jonna is often grown by small farmers, because it procures food a little earlier than other sorghum varieties. This is why this variety is known as Gareeb Jonna, or "poor people's sorghum" as it meets their hunger needs when no other food is ready for harvest. Sown in association with blackgram, a three to three and a half month crop, Kakimuttani Jonna is less likely to suffer from lack of rain in the latest stages of growth than long duration varieties. Diversity within a single crop The multiple reasons invoked by farmers for growing up to five or six varieties of sorghum reveal that the logic of diversity applies not only across cropping systems and crops but also within the confines of genetic variability within a single crop. In the Deccan Plateau, genetic diversity is manifest in food crops like sorghum, millets, pigeonpea, chickpea, groundnut, but also in sugarcane and mango. The decision to grow one variety over another stems from a fine understanding of their respective characteristics. In order to allow these perceptions to be articulated on their own terms, twenty women farmers from Shamshuddinpur agreed to engage in a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) on the diversity of sorghum and pigeonpea landraces in the spring of 1999. In a PRA, the informers play a central role in defining the most relevant parameters to be discussed, ordering them according to their own criteria, and then representing them on the ground, using locally available material (seeds, sticks, stones, coloured powder...) This methodology allows for a collective and self-reflective process of description, analysis and assessment of people's own knowledge base (pertaining to natural resource management, agriculture, education...) In Shamsuddinpur, this exercise was conducted with a majority of Dalit (historically known as "untouchables") women farmers, in due recognition of the special role played by women in agriculture and in local seed production. Most of them cultivate small landholdings (less than 1 hectare), although a few did represent the small to medium category of farmers. The PRA revealed that 11 varieties of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and six of pigeonpea, or redgram (Cajanus cajan) were under cultivation in the village (Table 1). Some of their names give an indication of the colour or size of the variety : yerra means red; nalla, black; tella, white; chinna, small; pedda, large. Kakimuttani jonna designates the sorghum "which the crows do not touch." Sarkar means "government," referring to varieties that have been introduced from outside the community (but not excl-usively by the public sector). After a thorough discussion on the benefits and shortcomings of each landrace, three women prepared a large matrix, drawn in white chalk on the ground. On one axis, all the sorghum and pigeonpea varieties were represented by a seed sample (brought back by the three women from their houses). The other axis featured a range of over twenty collectively identified para-meters, each symbolised by whatever appr-opriate object comes to mind: pieces of straw for fodder, soil for soil fertility, coins for market valu, and so on (see Table 2). The participants then rated each variety of sorghum and pigeonpea, placing between 1 and 10 stones in each box of the matrix to represent the performance of a given variety for a particular parameter. Some were highly ranked for their taste or early maturity, others for their good storage characteristics or for their capacity to withstand late rains. Sorghum varieties for diverse priorities The following observations emerged from the matrix and discussions arising from it: o The rabi sorghum varieties are highly valued for not depending on rainfall (since the moisture stored in black soils is enough to see them through their growing period). They have more taste, can be stored longer, are considered to be healthy for people as well as cattle, and their grain can be consumed in a wider variety of ways. These numerous benefits translate into a higher market value compared to kharif varieties. o Improved varieties are almost invariably considered to be of inferior taste compared to local varieties. People report problems of skin itching and swelling of gums when they consume hybrid sorghum. Moreover, improved sorghum varieties (in particular hybrids) are not seen as suitable for mixed cropping - which is a major drawback from the viewpoint of small women farmers. They are also perceived as drawing more fertility from the soil than local landraces, and the cattle refuses the fodder they produce. o Early maturing varieties (such as Kaki-muttani Jonna, Nalla and Sarkar China Togarlu) are less susceptible to pests and diseases than other varieties. LOCAL WISDOM AND BIODIVERSE FARMING Endowed with a small rocky and arid plot of land in Chillamamadi village, Shantamma cultivates pearl millet and pigeonpea in kharif. The rainy season is her only chance to get food grain from her land. Some of her neighbours, whose land is not as rocky as hers, opt for a mix of sorghum and pearl millet, which are sown in association with pigeonpea, greengram, mustard and mesta. In the next village, Edakulpally, there is more black land and less red rocky soil. So many farmers can grow a rabi crop, sown in October and harvested in February-March, composed of winter sorghum, wheat, chickpea, safflower, linseed, groundnut, niger and lathyrus. Winter sorghum, or rabi jowar, gives a flour of very fine quality, out of which the tastiest bread is made. Experience has shown Lakshmama, a small woman farmer and seed-keeper from Humnapur, that little millet is the best millet for the shallow red soil of one of her small plots. She grows it in association with jowar and black sesame. Little millet is well adapted to soils of low fertility, but needs a certain amount of rain. So Lakshmama also sows foxtail millet, which she trusts will mature even if rainfall is very scanty. Of the three varieties of foxtail millet - red, black and white - she knows the red one to be the most drought tolerant. Foxtail millet is the main ingredient of a porridge prepared for Peddala Amavasya, the day of the Ancestors. Samappa is one of the oldest and most respected farmers of Metlakunta. Unlike many other farmers who have sold off their cattle, he has been able to hold on to his two bullocks. Since fodder production is of critical importance to his livelihood, he keeps away from hybrid varieties of pearl millet, which his cattle refuse to eat. He grows Thoka Jonna, Kakimuttani Jonna, and two other millets on his small plot. Kakimuttani Jonna is not a particularly tasty variety, but it matures earlier than all other varieties and is generally pest-resistant. As elsewhere on the Deccan Plateau, in Shamshuddinpur, the Snake Goddess is revered on the day of Nagula Panchami. It is quite a dishonor to approach the anthill where she is thought to live without the proper offering: a few handfuls of puffed sorghum. Hence Nagamma grows a small patch of Pyala Jonna, the variety from which puffed sorghum is prepared. As she guides young women through the mysteries of pregnancy and through the experience of childbirth, Balamma, a midwife from Raikode, never forgets to advise them to eat the white variety of redgram, Tella Toggari, which helps in regaining strength after delivery.When women come to see her feeling weak, she advises them to eat Jonna roti (sorghum bread) with a curry of leafy greens collected from the wild, like Doggali Koora, Tummi Koora or Ponaganti Koora. It is evident that the women farmers have a complex understanding of the benefits and shortcomings of each variety (see Box). For instance, Gundu Jonna is a very good yielder, but its compact round shape is a great dis-advantage in the event of continuous drizzle or heavy rain when the crop reaches maturity. Water gets trapped in the earhead, causing the grain to rot. In 1997, several farmers lost their crop for this reason. Thoka Jonna has grain yield slightly lower than Gundu Jonna, but it provides fodder in great quantity, which makes it very valuable to farmers owning bullocks or buffaloes. Thoka Jonna features a loose and tail-like earhead which ensures good drainage of water, thus keeping the crop from rain damage. Storage pests do not affect Thoka Jonna much, and it grows well on many types of soil. Its grain is seen as equally nutritious as that of rabi varieties. These factors explain why this variety is considered to be very reliable as a staple crop, and is grown very widely in the kharif season in Shamshuddinpur. Diversity promotes autonomy Beyond the range of agro-climatic and nut-ritional factors determining what crop mix a given household opts for, there are reasons that belong to a much more subtle, almost subv-ersive, and definitely gendered dimension. Female and male farmers do not always share identical priorities. Undoubtedly, most small farmers try to minimise risk by growing more than one crop. "If we sow ten or twelve crop varieties every year, we are sure to get some returns for at least five or six of them, even if the remaining crops get spoiled because of adverse climatic conditions. This ensures that we will have at least some grain to eat," says Sammama, who belongs to the women's sangam of Bida-kanne village. Few men would disagree with Sammama's argument. Yet women do tend to feel more responsible for feeding the family, and some express a real urge to stock as much food grain as possible in the house. This adds an additional incentive for maximising diversity in their fields. A woman farmer from Chillamammadi explains that if she grows a single variety of redgram, the harvest will be around a quintal, and her husband may be very tempted to take the crop to market. Whereas if she sows three different varieties (black, red and white redgram), she may harvest 25 to 30 kg of each variety. As these quantities are not worth selling, she is almost certain that her crop will stay in the house. Apparently, her husband is quite aware of this strategy. To her and to many others, self-sufficiency in food gives her more control. "If I have enough grain in my house, I can do what I want. If people come and ask for grain, I can give it to them. I don't have to ask my husband." Crop diversity helps increase autonomy in the household and in the community. Nutrition, culinary art and celebration The diversity of dryland crops, including cereals (rice, minor millets, sorghum, wheat, etc), pulses (redgram, greengram, chickpea, lentil, cowpea, kidney bean, lathyrus, etc), oilseeds (such as mustard, groundnut, safflower, linseed, niger), vegetable (such as beans, gourds, onions, tomatoes, greens) and commercial crops like sugarcane, ginger, turmeric, chilies constitute one of the pillars of agriculture in semi-arid regions. Even though this complex cropping pattern is losing ground in the Deccan Plateau (to the benefit of cash crops like sugarcane, cotton, soyabean and sunflower), it still forms the basis of a balanced sorghum-based diet. Certain types of foods are suited to particular seasons. During the hot summer months, people are more drawn to "cooling foods," such as ambali, a liquid porridge made out of finger millet. Other food items perceived as "cool" include guava, apple, grape, curd, and butter-milk. On the contrary, pigeonpea, potatoes, jaggery (raw sugarcane extract), and papaya are avoided in the summer, along with items like ghee, eggs and meat which do not preserve well in the heat. Foxtail millet and pearl millet, considered to be "hot" cereals, are prefered in winter. The agricultural cycle is punctuated by a number of festivals honoring divinities that are associated with the land and crops. These festivals coincide with crucial moments in the life cycle of crops. Soonyam Pandugu takes place during the full moon (Amavasa) in the month of December, which is roughly the middle of the rabi season. This is the time when "The Earth is pregnant," says Laxshmama from Chillamamadi, providing a a special moment to worship Bhoothalli, the Mother Earth. On this occasion, women prepare a large diversity of dishes, like polle (a wheat chapati filled with a chickpea paste and jaggery, molasses extracted from raw sugarcane) and bajji koora (a variety of vegetable curries made from all available green vegetables). Chickpea and groundnut find a special place in such food offerings as they are considered to be rich celebratory grains. The dishes are placed in a large basket, covered with an oil lamp and taken to fields of semi-matured Saijonna, the winter sorghum. Protection against market dependency Crop diversity is tied to the practice of saving seeds. Indeed, producing their own seeds is the best way for women farmers to gain control over what they plant. If you do not have seeds, household security is less guaranteed. It is always possible to ask a neighbour. But seeds may then be procured late (after the lender has sown her or his own field), which will result in a loss of yield. Moreover, when seeds are borrowed, twice the quantity has to be returned after harvest for kharif crops, and one and a half times for rabi crops). Everyone respects this rule. Small farmers are well aware that in case of drought, the repayment of seeds become a heavy burden. The other alternative is to buy seeds. But farmers from Shamshuddinpur feel that if seeds had to be purchased, there is no guarantee that they would be able to grow as many crops as they do now. The price of seed may be an obstacle for small farmers, and the diversity may simply not be available on the market. Thus, if hybrids were the only seeds available for sorghum and millet, it would be almost impossible for farmers to continue growing sorghum in association with other food grains. Although this is not the case now, it could well happen in the future, given the current orien-tations of both private and public sectors. The few farmers who have shifted to hybrids of sorghum and maize in Medak grow them primarily as cash crops. This entails quite a radical change not only in cropping practices and skills, but also household access to food and the distribution of tasks and incomes within the household. What women farmers stand to gain or lose in a fully commercial farming system calls for a clear assessment. This is a critical issue which both the seed companies promoting hybrids and public sector research institutes have so far ignored. Reference for this story: Pionetti C & Reddy S, 2002, Diversity on the Deccan Plateau, Seedling, April 2002, GRAIN publications Website link: www.grain.org/seedling/seed-02-04-1-en.cfm Copyright notice: Seedling articles may be reproduced, translated and disseminated freely. We ask only that the original source be acknowledged and that a copy of your reprint be sent to GRAIN. GRAIN, Girona 25 ppal, Barcelona E-08010, Spain. grain@grain.org << country/story review Table 1 Table 2