TEZPUR, 7 Aug: A two-day international conference on ‘Food, community and culture: Agroecological practices in Northeast India’, organised at Tezpur University by the North Eastern Social Research Centre (Guwahati), department of sociology and community action resource (NCARe) centre, department of social work, Tezpur University, University of Melbourne and Stockholm University concluded on 5 August.
The conference began on 4 August, with renowned sociologist and head, social work department at TU, Prof Chandan Kumar Sharma informing them about the importance of reconnecting with agricultural practices for social scientists, natural scientists, and practitioners as well.
Prof Bengt G Karlsson of social anthropology at Stockholm University, one of the lead researchers of the ‘Practising food sovereignty: Indigenous people and agroecological relationships in the eastern Himalayas’, referenced the diverse history of concerns with food among social scientists. From the overtly political struggles of Latin American groups struggling for the rights of small and medium farmers against American corporations, to the aesthetic concerns of exponents of the slow food campaign in California, the idea of food sovereignty and security have now become a part of academic and policy discourse.
Prof Sharma then released a textbook titled Seeds and Food Sovereignty: Eastern Himalayan Experience that was published in 2022 by the North Eastern Social Research Centre, where members of the Practicing Food Sovereignty project, as well as community leaders in the field shared stories and experiences of agricultural transformations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Northeast India.
The second day began with the launch of the Tokhü Emong Bird Count (TEBC) by Lansothung Lotha, Range Forest Officer (Wokha), government of Nagaland and Prof Dolly Kikon, University of Melbourne. As a research collaborator in the TEBC campaign, Prof Kikon said that birding has become an inclusive act, where people can make sense of the changes in nature through the sounds of birds. Urbanisation and increased use of pesticide have led to decline in population of birds. Amplifying the importance of birds and the initiatives being undertaken by the government of Nagaland, Lotha said, “Most people are not very aware of what birds are doing to help propagate our forests and that this aspect needs to change in the future.”
He explained that the Tokhü Emong Bird Count is like the Bihu Bird Count that is also organised in Assam. His detailed presentation showed how birds are responsible for spreading seeds that grow forests, as well as feed people.
The launch was followed by a panel discussion on jhum.
Presenting her work on phadaing, or swidden cultivation among the Dimasa community in Dima Hasao, Dejna Daulagupu, research assistant, North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC) gave a detailed account of the challenges faced by indigenous farmers. She also emphasized that phadaing had deep cultural significance for the community and was responsible for maintenance of primary forests.
Dr Longshibeni Kithan, from the department of folklore studies, Central University of Karnataka, spoke about the new forms of agriculture that have coincided with jhum cultivation in Nagaland. Citing from her research work, she said that the dependence on cash and plantation crops are on the rise and this would lead to some loss of biodiversity.
Prof Vincent Darlong, director of the Centre for Sustainable Development Studies at Martin Luther University, Shillong said that jhum practices were repositories of at least four subsystems that coexist alongside one another. The agricultural subsystem, the fallow forest subsystem, the home garden and livestock subsystem, and the socially inclusive cultural subsystem are all integral to the practice of jhum, he explained.
Thereafter, a panel discussion on ‘Indigenous knowledge systems’ was chaired by Prof Dolly Kikon. Dr Kalzang Dorji Bhutia from the University of California, Riverside, presented his views on the cultural significance of three important grains for the indigenous Buddhist communities in Sikkim and eastern Tibet. These were rice, millets and corn.
Thereafter, Abeno Ovung, planning and livelihood expert (Nagaland Forest Management Project), showed the audience the various forest-based products that were collected by foragers in Nagaland.
Her talk was followed by a presentation on Mizo feasting and the importance of community participation by Catherine Lalnuntluangi, PhD scholar, Department of Sociology at Tezpur University.
Associate Professor Dr Nirmali Gogoi of department of environmental sciences at Tezpur University chaired the next panel discussion on nutrition. In this panel, Dr Phatik Tamuli, Principal, Lanka Mahavidyalay, gave a detailed presentation on the benefits of the various forms of fermented food consumed by indigenous communities in Northeast India.
This was followed by a presentation on the importance of adding insects to consumption of food by Dr Lobeno Mozhui, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Nagaland University. Thereafter, Rimchi Marak, Senior Associate, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) told the audience of the unique experiments of adding local food to diets of schoolchildren through the midday meal system in Garo Hills, Meghalaya.
The final panel discussion, on contamination, was chaired by Dr Namami Sharma, Department of Social Work, Tezpur University. Here, Prof Sanjay Barbora, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), informed the audience about the problems of arsenic poisoning of paddy fields irrigated by shallow tube wells across the Brahmaputra valley. Amplifying this message, Dr Ritusmita Goswami, Assistant Professor TISS Guwahati, explained her research work showing the way arsenic has entered the food chain in many parts of Assam, and described the effects that it would have on health. Dr Nirmali Gogoi presented the last paper of the session, where she showed the various methods though which contamination could be prevented by using local, indigenous methods of food preservation and packaging.