Farmers store cheap, and flex muscle on market

Our village folk often blend innovation with simplicity to evolve effective systems for farming and storage of grains. Kudilgi is one such example, Shree Padre tells us.

Malehalli, Kudligi taluk, Karnataka, may not have very much to show, but the indigenously developed crop-storage system would certainly surprise experts. Time out of mind, farmers in the village have a superior method of preserving Jowar grains. The effectiveness of their system is eye-opening considering the fact that Jowar grains are hard to store thanks to their susceptibility to pest attacks.
Known locally as satta, these structures can keep the grains fresh for almost two years. With a population of 500, spread over 40 households, Malehalli has large land holdings: each farmer here owns up to 30 acres. It is well irrigated thanks to good groundwater table and an efficient system of irrigation. Jowar take more acreage as it is the main crop.
Basavaraj, a young farmer, takes us to the satta, which appears like a heap of fodder. “This is smaller when compared to what we were building a decade ago,” he says, slipping his hand into the heap. Clearing the top layer (made of dried jowar plants); he takes out some discoloured and powdered grains. “The two uppermost layers of grains may have gone, but the ones below them are very fresh.”
Constructed in open fields, sattas are covered with dried Jowar plants and the grain is stored inside the heap. Farmers uncover the heap to take out the corn and put them back. The dry plant is built like a wall over a raised platform, to protect the grain from moisture. Jowar earheads are filled in layers over the stored grain and are sandwiched by neem leaves.
Great care is being taken to prevent rain water seeping through the gap: the structure’s roof is examined once a year and even changed if required.
Another local farmer Parameshwarappa has 25 bags of grains stored in his 1.5 acre land. Harvested a year ago, the grain was more than adequate for his four-member family. Parameshwarappa is quite happy about this year’s yield, which, he believes, would result in a higher return on the Jowar. “I’d wait for the price to increase and then sell the stored grain,” he assures us.
Gonchigar Basanna has stockpiled the yields of 2003. As rates were down, he could only sell last year’s harvest. “We may lose an extra layer or two of the grains, if we store them longer than usual,” Basavaraj says. “The quality may be slightly low and so it may fetch a slightly lower price than fresh grain, but it’s possible to sell them far later than the harvest.”
However, demand for Jowar has reduced drastically, as the cotton mills in neighbouring Davanagere have disappeared a decade ago. Mill workers were once the chief consumers of Jowar and Malehalli farmers used to sell hundreds of tonnes of the grain to Davanagere merchants. Sattas that once stored up to 150 quintals, as a result, became smaller ever since. The falling prices of Jowar gave very little choice for farmers like Basavaraj, who switched to onion cultivation. He says an acre of Jowar could fetch
Rs 10,000 to 12,000; the same amount of onions now gets them at least four times more, if the rates are good. Farmers therefore prefer onion; though cultivating it costs more than Jowar.
Jowar grains may be particularly suitable for Sattas, as it has a thin plastic-like skin, which ensures its protection. Basavaraj says the grains are almost natural, as very little fertiliser and no pesticide is used. Even neem leaves weren’t used in the satta’s construction even 5 years ago.
While keeping the grains in open space could be an advantage (storing them in high-temperature environment attracts pests), local social worker Hanumantharaya B Kanni believes higher labour wages during Jowar harvest may have prompted the farmers to store it in Sattas without threshing. “Lack of space inside the house could also have impelled them to construct Sattas,” he says. But, Basavaraj mentions food security is one of the major reasons for Satta’s popularity: “This could be excellent for drought-prone areas growing Jowar.”
Thimmesh, another local farmer, says the system is also a good grain-bank: “If I require grains, I would borrow from neighbours and return it while I uncover my Satta. This custom has been around for several years and nobody would say no.” But, Jowar storage is rapidly declining, as areas of its cultivation are shrinking.
B Manjunath, agricultural officer based in Moka, Bellary district, observes that out of 40 houses in the village, only four have stored Jowar in Sattas. Apart from Malehalli, the nearby village of Hirekumbalagunte (Kudligi taluk) has a similar system called banave.
While we think taking the system to other Jowar-growing areas a good idea, it seems to be on the decline in its place of origin. The State Agriculture Department have done precious little in preserving it. There has been no documentation on Sattas, which is needed more than ever as the farming community abandons it. Basavaraj reveals a recent shift in the staple diet—from Jowar to Ragi—and the labour force’s insistence of cash rather than grain seem to have contributed to the Satta’s decline.
Though the system is dying in this taluk, it can be popular in Jowar-growing areas like Koppala, Bidar, Belgaum and Haveri districts, where it can definitely be useful.
Courtesy: Deccan Herald