Farmer's pride no longer

Fading into history

With change in agriculture practices, the indigenous techniques associated with traditional farming, have also vanished.

Amid cries for state-of-the-art warehouses and storage units, ‘wade’, the indigenous warehouse made of mud that preserved the grains for months, is vanishing. 

The farmers of yore used to store the grains either in the structures dug in the ground or in the granaries.

Several quintals of crops could be stored in the huge granaries which are made of mud usually. As remnants of these traditional storage system, a few granaries are intact at Nyatatimmaiah’s residence at Reddydyavarahalli of Gauribidanur taluk. The harvested crops are stored in granaries for domestic use or sale.

The granaries, with a height of eight to 10 feet, are built while constructing the houses. The granaries are covered with dry grass and mud. The storehouses had holes at the bottom which would be pegged with a coconut shell as lid.

As and when they require the grains, the coconut shell would be removed with a string and the grains would be taken out. The storehouse would preserve the grains from insects and rodents. Natural pesticides and insecticides such as neem are used. The size of the granary would be an indicator of social status and wealth of the farmers.

Besides, granaries would be built as independent structures too for the convenience of shifting them from one place to another easily. Jewellery and treasures would sometimes be secured there as thieves cannot easily reach the valuables hidden in the heap of grains.

Lakshmamma, a resident of Reddydyavarahalli, said: “We still have three to four granaries. Some of the granaries have given way and some others are not being used.”

As the grains are immediately transported to the market for sale, the farmers find the granaries to be of no use, she said. “Now, we don’t have even the potters who can build them,” she said.