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A Stitch in time saves nine, may
be ten
Gagandeep Kaur
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A slow but silent revolution to change agricultural habits,
rural eating and drinking habits is on in Punjab. This is a peep
into how it is happening. |
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 The
whole of Punjab is witness to an agro-ecologically torn society, the
one with a rickety, barren and dry surface of earth. Since ages,
this has been regarded as ‘Mother Earth. She has always served its
children with food, water, metals and much more. The children of the
mother have since the last three decades and more proved to be
unscrupulous -burning wheat-paddy straw and also being numero-uno in
the use of pesticides in the whole country. Any ray of hope?
A group of
around fifteen young women, mostly from agricultural families,
learning stitching at a local Gurdwara in village Jeeda of district
Bathinda recently attended a meeting to discuss the scope of home
growing home needs. Their sewing machines were still lying nearby
and some even held the cloth being stitched in their hands while the
meeting happened.
As discussion
ensued on healt h
matters, the effect of pesticides on health and particularly
reproductive health was discussed in detail. Every participant
realized that some thirty years ago, diseases like cancer, blood
pressure, uric acid, diabetes were never discussed in villages and
today no body seems to be spared of them.
Kiran Kaur from
the same village is volunteering the village level environmental
health status survey and many girls from the neighbouring villages
are supporting her in the effort.
Never in the
past did the farmer buy vegetables from the market. He grew all his
needs. He was self-sufficient. Today, the stark reality that the
girls discussed and were worried about is that although they all
belonged to farmer families, but all families purchased vegetables
from the local vendors. They do possess space for a kitchen garden
in their homes but is either not utilized or is underutilized.
After I
distributed the seeds for vegetables, all of them promised for a
return of double number of seeds of the ones distributed and will
also save them for the next season.
Bt. Cotton and
Soil and animal health took its turn and the women realized that
there are some cases of Bt cotton allergy in the village. The effect
of Bt cotton and the loss of yield on the subsequent crops was also
discussed.
Success stories
of women using millets in other villages excited the young girls to
conduct similar ventures in their own fields. A chart depicting the
nutritional comparison between Jowar and Rice, and Bajra and Rice
radicalized them to change their food habits and revert to the
traditional culture of
Punjab.
They are amazed
to know that Jowar and Bajra are miles ahead of Rice in many
nutrition supplements and may be it was not wrong to say that rice
stands nowhere in comparison.
While we
discussed the nutritional difference between millets and rice, the
typical response was, “nobody has told us about the significance of
jowar and Bajra in our foods and we always thought that bajra and
jowar are animal fodder.”
The women were
also made to understand that corrupt health officials deliberately
do not advise the use of millet rich diet, which is rich in iron,
protein, calcium and other micronutrients to a large section of
anaemia-suffering pregnant women.
The mouth
watering traditional drinks meeting at village Bhotna made them
realize the importance of such drinks. A large number of village
girls said a big no to soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi.
The meeting
kindled the skill sets of the rural girls and they vowed to be good
daughters of Mother Earth.
Next on the
agenda is the screening of “Millets – The Miracle Grains.” Perhaps
the stitching begun by young girls to sew the culturally and
agriculturally worn out society may save Punjab from a complete
devastation! A stitch in time will save nine, actually may be ten.
Gagandeep
Kaur is an ecologist working for Kheti Virasat Mission, Jaito,
Punjab.
27
May 2009
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