Pulses

other food/crops

Many different types of pulses were cultivated and consumed in western Avadh - respondents talked about how they never ran out of them. Sabji, dal and even rotis were made out of chana, arhar and urad. Chana was the primary winter pulse, often intercropped with barley and wheat. Matara and matari (different types of peas), masur and kesari dal (grass pea), known as bhatvaas locally, were also grown in winter. The monsoon pulses included urad (black gram), moong (green gram), lobhiya (cowpea) and mauthi (moth bean) - these were often intercropped with millets and groundnuts. Arhar (toor, pigeon pea) was sown in the monsoon along with the other monsoon crops, and harvested 8-9 months later. The region was famous for pulses, with many dal mills operating in Sitapur town. Residents from across the state recall that pulses from Sitapur were popular and sold at a premium. These are an important source of protein, especially for vegetarians. Pulses were grown on unirrigated land and, as irrigation spread through the region, their cultivation dropped. One exception is masur dal, which is grown as a cash crop and shipped to eastern India. Very little of this masur dal is consumed locally. Pulses have been replaced by wheat and potatoes in local diets, leading to a sharp drop in protein intake.



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पश्चिमी अवध दालों के लिए मशहूर था। सीतापुर शहर की दाल मिलों से दालें पूरे उत्तर भारत में जाती थी। लोग इनके स्वाद को आज भी याद करते हैं। उड़द, चना और अरहर दाल से रोटी, दाल और सब्जी, तीनों बनती थीं। दाल जैसे कभी खत्म ही नहीं होती थी। सर्दियों में गेहूं और जौ के साथ मिश्रित फसल में चना, मटरा या मटरी (मटर के विभिन्न प्रकार) और मसूर बोते थे। उड़द, मूंग, लोबिया, और मोठ, खरीफ में मोटे अनाज, और मूंगफली के साथ बोते थे। अरहर को मानसून (आषाढ़) में बोया जाता था, और 8-9 महीने बाद काटते थे। दाल असिंचित जमीन पर बोई जाती थी, खासकर भूड़ इलाके में (रेतीली जमीन में)। जबसे सिंचाई के साधन बढ़े और हरित क्रांति से सरकार ने किसानों का रुझान धान, गेहूं और गन्ने की तरफ परिवर्तित कर दिया, तब से दलहनों की खेती घटने लगी और धीरे-धीरे खत्म हो गई। कहाँ लोग उड़द की रोटी भी बनाकर उसके साथ उड़द की दाल खाते थे, और कहाँ आज लोगों के खान-पान में दाल दुर्लभ हो गई है। मोठ पूरी तरह से खत्म हो गई है। अरहर और उड़द की मात्रा घट गई है। अब केवल मसूर की खेती होती है और यह मिलों से पूरे भारत में भेजी जाती है - सीतापुर में इसका सेवन बहुत कम होता है। हरित क्रांति के बाद से (पिछले लगभग 40 सालों से) भारत दाल आयात कर रहा है फिर भी गरीब परिवारों के लिए बाजार से दाल खरीदना बहुत कठिन हो गया है। शाकाहारियों के लिए दाल प्रोटीन का एक महत्वपूर्ण स्रोत है, और इसके गायब होने से प्रोटीन कुपोषण की बिगड़ती स्थिति और भी ज्यादा गंभीर हो गई है। अवध में केसरी दाल भी काफी लोकप्रिय थी। यह खराब जमीन में भी आसानी से हो जाती थी। लेकिन 1961 में केसरी उगाने पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया गया था, क्योंकि इसमें एक न्यूरोटॉक्सिन पाया गया जो पक्षाघात (लैथिरिस्म या पैरों में लकवा) का कारण बन सकता था। स्थानीय लोग इसे कई घंटे भिगो के, पानी फेंक देते थे, और फिर पकाते थे, जिससे दाल खाने योग्य बन जाती थी। इस दाल के साग को भी लोग खाने में प्रयोग करते थे। कुछ साल पहले वैज्ञानिकों के शोध से पता चला कि लंबे समय तक (3-4 महीने) केवल केसरी दाल खाने से (जो कुछ गरीब परिवारों ने अकाल के समय किया था) या उसे कच्चा खाने से परेशानी हो सकती है। इस नई जानकारी के बाद, देश भर में कई प्रांतों ने प्रतिबंध हटा दिया, क्योंकि इसको अन्य खाद्य पदार्थों के साथ लेने में कोई नुकसान नहीं पाया गया। लेकिन अभी भी इसका उत्पादन ना के बराबर है।



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जानकारी कार्ड
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Information Cards
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Caste: All

Geography: All

Caste: Savarna

Geography: Sandy soils

"The Arhar plants were used for firewood all year long, also for making brooms"

Caste: Savarna

Geography: Sandy soils

"Arhar was intercropped with groundnut; both harvests were good - in 1 bigha, we would get 2 quintals of groundnut and 1 quintal arhar"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"When working in the fields, labourers were given boiled or roasted chana, Jondhri and bajra. Sometimes, even the landowners ate this"

Caste: Dalit & OBC

Geography: All

"To make saalan, we would boil chane ka saag, and to it add chana, bajra, Saanwa and ber"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Chabena was made by roasting jau, moongphali, chana, jondhri, bajra, moth etc."

Caste: Dalit & OBC

Geography: All

"Bajra was pounded and cooked with Chana to make khichdi"

Caste: Dalit & OBC

Geography: All

"Moti (thick) rotis were made of chana, jau, bajra etc."

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Arhar, urad and lobhiya were extensively cultivated"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Moth (moth bean) and bhatmaas (kesari dal) were extensively cultivated, now they have disappeared"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Yellow mugarra (moong, green gram) was cultivated and eaten"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Aghaniya urad would take 5 months to grow. On the last day of Aghan (in November-December), vade were made of urad dal. Only after that would urad Dal be consumed"

Caste: Savarna

Geography: All

"We would get 60 man (1200 kg) of arhar, most of this would be sold for marriage expenses"

Caste: Dalit & OBC

Geography: All

"We stopped growing pulses in the 1990s due to the incursion of nilgai (wild antelope) into our fields"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Chana was boiled, ground and mixed with Gur to make bheli"

Caste: Dalit

Geography: Sandy soils

"We used to eat urad ki Roti with urad ki dal"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Jau and Chana rotis were made thick and by hand"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"We would make setua (sattu) with mauthi. Once you ate this sattu, you would not want to eat any other kind"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Bajra rotis were consumed with urad ki dal, Chana dal, revsa or lobhiya

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Lobhiya and Mauthi were ground into flour to make rotis"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Dal was more sticky – zyaada chiknahat"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"Sattu – roasted and powdered jau and Chana – was mixed with water or milk/buttermilk and consumed in the mornings"

Caste: Dalit & OBC

Geography: All

"Labourers were given roasted chana, now they get glucose biscuits"

Caste: All

Geography: All

"There was more jau and Chana in rotis and less wheat"

Caste: All

Geography: All

There was a saying about rain in the winter months. 'sothi baras gayi, mothi baras gayi' – if it rained during the time of the Swati nakshatra, the earth would be very fertile. Then one could get a good harvest of Chana and matri"

Caste: All

Geography: Sandy or mixed soils

"In uparhar land (uplands) we grew bajra, til, moong, moth and groundnut"

Caste: All

Geography: Sandy or mixed soils

"Arhar was intercropped with urad, jowar, saanwa, kakun, maize, bajra and other crops"

Caste: All

Geography: Sandy or mixed soils

"Jau and Chana were mixed and broadcast on upland fields"

Time Line
1950s

The Sharda canal was expanded in the decade after independence, and canal waters reached villages in this region. Farmers along the canal, mainly from dominant castes or the richer OBCs/Dalits, switched from mixed crops of millets, pulses and oilseeds to paddy, wheat and sugarcane in the irrigated fields

1970s

After 1970, the Saadatnagar minor canal was extended and reached villages such as Ambarpurva. Farmers along the extension, mainly OBCs and some Dalits, switched from mixed crops to wheat, sugarcane and peas (matar) in the winter crop. As these soils were sandy and canal water wasn't available in the monsoon, paddy was not cultivated

Tubewells were installed in villages such as Sundarpurva to provide irrigation to almost all the village lands. These tubewells ran on electricity. and water was available at 10-20 ft. Such tubewells operated successfully for atleast 10 years, and farmers switched from mixed crops to wheat.

As improved wheat seeds as well as Urea, DAP and pesticides began to be supplied at subsidized rates, rich farmers began adopting 'modern' techniques and switched from mixed cropping to wheat, transplanted paddy and sugarcane

1979-80

The severe drought of 1979-80 affected 1,37,492 hectares in Mishrikh tahsil, according to the Sitapur Supplementary Gazetteer of 1989. Many traditional seeds were lost at this time, and the drive towards irrigation increased. To provide relief, the government initiated many public works. Bunding and leveling were taken up, and farmers began growing paddy, wheat and sugarcane in these 'improved' fields

1980s

In terai land near the river, barnyard millet was broadcast along with dhaani (indigenous paddy). When the seeds sprouted and grew, the field was flooded and leveled with a 'patela' to control weeds. From the 1980s onwards, farmers began transplanting hybrid paddy and using pesticides to control weeds. They stopped growing barnyard millet

In 1980, during the drought, Brahmin farmers in Sharvanpur installed diesel-operated borewells. Their success drove others to install borewells, and switch from mixed crops to transplanted paddy, wheat and sugarcane

1990s

Private borewells expanded further. In Lakshmanpur, some Yadav farmers had installed borewells in the 1980s but didn't hit water. In 1990, more farmers tried and some were successful. They began growing transplanted paddy and sugarcane

2000s

Plastic pipes, which could be used to transport irrigation water up to a kilometre away, began to be used in the region. This allowed small and marginal farms to be irrigated. This led to transformation of cropping among Dalit marginal farmers.