Greens and vegetables

साग और सब्जियां

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A few decades ago, greens were largely uncultivated, with lehsuva, silvari etc. growing as 'weeds' in cultivated fields in the monsoon. These would be collected, mostly by women, and cultivators rarely objected as this was also to their benefit. Greens like bathua, a nutritious winter green, were also harvested from forests and near wetlands. The greens of the gram and pea plants were harvested when tender, however some cultivators objected to this, even standing guard in their fields. Vegetables like radish and pumpkin were grown in the fields, and fresh lobhiya and arhar were harvested to be cooked like vegetables rather than pulses. Within villages creepers were grown onto chhappar, the thatched roofs of homes, providing lauki, torai etc. These were often shared, as one creeper would provide more than a family could consume. Wild vegetables like kateela parval were collected from forests. According to the season, a wide range of vegetables and greens were consumed throughout the year. The conversion of forests and wetlands into cultivated fields led to a reduction in wild greens and vegetables, while modern farming methods and pesticides have sharply reduced the availability of uncultivated greens. As multicropped fields transitioned into monocropped ones and thatched roofs were replaced by concrete, the in-house availability of vegetables in agrarian households has dropped. However, vegetable farming as a commercial activity has picked up and village markets offer a variety of vegetables. However, this means that families are dependent on their cash earnings for vegetable consumption. The most commonly consumed vegetables now are onions and potatoes, and poor families rarely eat other vegetables. Young people only recognise palak, methi etc. as greens and have little knowledge of the wild and uncultivated greens of the past.



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कई प्रकार के पौष्टिक साग और सब्जियां अवध में हर मौसम में खाई जाती थीं। लोनिया, लहसुवा, सिलवारी, नारी आदि बरसात के मौसम में, और मकोईया और बथुआ सर्दियों में, खेतों से और झीलों से औरतें तोड़ लाती थीं। यह साग बिन बोए उग जाते थे, और खेतों में खर-पतवार माने जाते थे। इसलिए इनको तोड़ कर ले जाने से किसानों को कोई आपत्ति नहीं होती थी बल्कि इस से उन के खेत की निराई भी हो जाती थी। लेकिन चने और मटर के मुलायम हरे पत्ते किसान नहीं तोड़ने देते थे क्योंकि वे मुख्य फसलें थीं और पैदावार पर असर होने का डर था। सब्जियां खेतों में, घरों के आस-पास और छप्पर पर उगाई जाती थीं। कुछ जगहों में जंगली सब्जियां भी मिल जाती थी। लौकी, तुरई जैसी सब्जियां छप्पर पर लगती थीं और खेत में मूली और कद्दू। कच्ची लोबिया और अरहर की फली को भी सब्जी की तरह बनाते थे। कटीला परवल, जंगली करेलिया जैसी सब्जियाँ जंगल से लाते थे। 1990-2000 के बाद जंगल और झाबर खेतों में बदलने लगे तो बिन बोए साग-सब्जी मिलना कम हो गए। 2010 के दशक में खरपतवार नाशक दवाइयाँ प्रयोग में आने लगीं तो खेतों से साग भी गायब हो गए। मिश्रित खेती से एकल फसल प्रणाली के रास्ते पर चलते-चलते छप्पर की छत सीमेंट में बदल गयी और साथ ही खेत और घर से सब्जियां धीरे-धीरे कम होती गयीं। पहले मौर्य जाति के लोग विशेष रूप से सब्जी की खेती करते थे। अब कई किसानों ने इसे अपनाया है, खास कर जिनके पास सिंचाई की सुविधा है। ऐसे किसान बाजार के लिए हाइब्रिड बीज वाली सब्जी उगाते हैं। गाँव और कस्बों के बाजारों में यह सब्जियां खरीद सकते हैं, लेकिन कुछ ही परिवार इनको खरीदने की क्षमता रखते हैं। 2017 के हमारे सर्वे के अनुसार सबसे ज्यादा मात्रा में खायी जाने वाली सब्जियां हैं- आलू और प्याज। गरीब परिवार तो सब्जी खाते ही नहीं। दुःख की बात यह है कि आज की युवा पीढ़ी केवल पालक और मेथी को पहचानती है - साग सब्जियों की विविधता सब भूल गए हैं। हरित क्रांति के बदलाव के बाद, प्राकृतिक भूमि की सारी विविधता (जंगल, झाबर, झाड़ी इत्यादि) खेतों में बदल गई, जिससे कई बटोरे हुए खाने अब लुप्त हो गए हैं, और साथ ही उनसे जुड़ी जानकारी भी।



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जानकारी जल्द आ रही है

Information Cards
Caste:
Geography:
Seasons:
Media Type:

Caste: Poor Muslims

Geography: All

"Onions were soaked in vinegar and eaten with roti"

Caste: Dalit, Poor Muslims

Geography: All

"Bathua was cooked with urad Dal or added to Roti directly"

Caste: Dalit

Geography: All

"We did not eat potatoes in this village when I came here as a bride, but in my maika (natal home), we used to buy potatoes from the Ramkot market"

Caste: Dalit

Geography: Fertile lands

"We would harvest lehsua, silvaari, nari and other greens from the tarai fields where dhaani grew. These were owned by big farmers who didn't object to us doing this. We helped clear their fields of khar patvaar (weeds) after all"

Caste: Savarna

Geography: All

"While poor families collected greens from forests or fields, we bought these greens from them"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Naari, a green, was cooked with chaulayi, another green"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Ghuiyya leaves were cooked with dal"

Caste: All

Geography: Homes

"Everyone grew greens and vegetables, either in their fields or on their thatched roofs. We could harvest greens from any field for our home use, or pick a lauki from someone's roof. No one objected."

Caste: Dalit

Geography: All

"Whatever vegetables were in season, we would cut and dry them to use at other times. For example, when it rained continuously for days and we couldn't get any fresh vegetables, we would soak these dry pieces and cook them."

Caste: All

Geography: All

"We ate bajra Roti with fresh revsa, pumpkin and other seasonal vegetables"

Caste: Dalit

Geography: Water bodies

"Jalghuyya, a root vegetable, was found on the banks of the Kathna river. It was found throughout the year and was used to make sabji"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Jimikand, a root vegetable, was boiled with tamarind leaves to get out the glue. After that, it was cooked"

Caste: Dalit

Geography: Forests

"Kateela parwal and other wild vegetables were found in the forests near our village"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"We ate Saanwa ki Roti with ghuiyya ki sabji"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"The greens of chana, peas and mustard plants were consumed in winter"

Caste: Dalit

Geography: Water bodies

"Bathua grew in fields or near water bodies. Often widows and others from very poor families would collect these greens and sell them in the market"

Caste: OBC

Geography: Fertile lands

"Traditionally farmers from the Murao (Maurya) caste cultivated vegetables. This was especially true in Pitouli village, where farmers would supply the local markets. Now other farmers also grow vegetables"

Caste: All

Geography: Homes

"Earlier, women used to plant vegetables around their house, now very few women do"

Time Line
1970s

The 'Garibi Hatao' campaign was launched nationally to give land to the landless peasants. Pressure from above drove revenue officials to identify available land and distribute it to landless families. In the process, many 'wastelands', where wild greens and vegetables grew, were converted into agricultural land

1980s

In the 1980s, land consolidation was taken up in Panchayats across the region. Many lands that were left fallow, where wild greens and vegetables grew, now began to be cultivated

As the use of herbicides and other chemical grew, edible weeds (wild greens) like Bathua no longer grew alongside the main crop. The shift from millets and pulses to monocrops of improved paddy and wheat varieties also reduced the availability of wild greens

2000s

Thatched roofs, once common in villages, were ideal for growing creepers like lauki (bottle gourd). As concrete roofs or tin sheets became more popular, with the former supported through government housing schemes, thatched roofs began to disappear. With them, vegetable cultivation at home also declined

As workers began to receive wages in cash, the practice of buying vegetables from the market increased. On the other end, more farmers began to undertake vegetable cultivation, selling vegetables in local or distant markets