A community's roots go on display at Joida's tuber mela

In the thick forests of Joida taluk in Uttara Kannada district, women make prime use of their backyards. Here, they cultivate scores of varieties of roots and tubers that feed their families through the year.

The tubers come in many shapes. Some like the big taro grow to about 5-6 feet tall, others like the tania are cylindrical with bulbous middles. Yam and roots are integral to the survival of forest-dependent communities but there is little awareness outside about the diversity of tastes, colours and nutrition that tubers have to offer.

It was for precisely this reason that the first roots and tuber mela was held in Joida eight years ago. Grown in backyards for household consumption, these sweet potatoes and yams now attract the attention of thousands of people across the nation.

This year, a total of 169 farmers arrived from 48 villages across Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala and Goa.

The women of Joida have an additional source of income as they mainly cultivate and sell the crop. Once limited to their food preparation, now it also brings them income.

As the popularity of these tuber varieties are growing, market value has also increased. To cater to the demand, women have taken up cultivation in small patches of land without affecting the forest ecosystem.

Balachandra Hegde, an ecologist and researcher who was instrumental in conceptualising tuber melas, says, “now women plan how much to grow according to expenses they have in mind. It has financially empowered them.”

Sparking curiosity

For the women of Joida, the mela has not only provided an additional source of income but has also become a forum that encourages learning and discovery.

Namrata Derekar (36) from Daria village, Joida taluk, was fascinated when she encountered varieties of yams that she had never seen before. It was in these melas that she acquired her first Suvarna Gadde (Elephant yam) from a farmer who hailed from Goa. “Now I grow the Suvarna Gadde regularly,” she says. This year, about 55 varieties of roots and tubers were on display at the mela.

The event has cultivated a shared sense of pride and achievement about a staple food source. “Everybody ate yams but nobody knew the value of it. Now people have come searching to buy them from us,” she says.

Stored underground in pits, yams not only provide food security for close to six months in areas far from markets but also form an important part of the diet and culture of the Kunbi people, an indigenous community who migrated to Joida from Goa in the 16th century.

The cultivation of yams is also a tradition that was passed down generation after generation.

65-year-old Rukmini Vishwa Gouda remembers cultivating the tubers when she was just nine years old.

“My mother and father showed us the value of the crop. They instilled it as part of our culture and tradition. I am happy to carry forward the legacy.”

Jayanand Derekar, secretary of the Joida Tuber Growers Association, recalls how childhood treats were often made of varieties of sweet potatoes. “It is very much a part of our identity,” he says.