Rice in Orissa
Rice in Orissa - History, Culture & Traditions
History of rice in Orissa
Rice has been the principal food crop of Orissa much before the 14th century AD. When Wang-Ta-Yuan, the Chinese writer of the 14th century visited the State it was being grown in abundance. Other historical texts, like the Manasollasa of Somesvara and the Mahabharata of Sarala Das, too point out that paddy cultivation was the mainstay of the people of this region which was endowed with fertile land and had plenty of rivers running through it. Wild rice, it is known, was tamed by the tribals inhabiting the Jeypore tract of Orissa which is considered to be one of the secondary centers of origin of rice. The similarity between the name Orissa and the Greek name for rice “Oryza” has led many to speculate that the name of the State derives its name from the crop known as Oryza Sativa.
Rice in Orissa - Life in Orissa
This article is written by Living Farms & published in the Paddy newsletter of the organisation Thanal.
Rice in Orissa is intricately interwoven with its history,culture and traditions, however the present reality of rice is bleak, overrun with greed and impatience and threatened with extinction, and rice conservationists and farmers are fighting a battle for the survival of this food crop which is the life of Asia.
Ratnakar Sahu, a senior sage-like and prominent organic farmer of Orissa who is so deeply entrenched in nature that poisonous snakes live as pets in his home, laments that with the rice culture fast disappearing people have become materialistic and can no longer enjoy the thrill of being a part of ones natural surroundings.
