Rohan Mukerjee
The month of Mang, which starts around 22nd January, marks the commencement of the peak season for harvesting wild tubers by Pahari Korwas in the forests of Raigarh District, Chhattisgarh. Wild tubers make a vital contribution to the nutritional security of the Pahari Korwas. Some tubers are also commercially important NTFPs which are bartered or sold in neighbouring villages and markets.
While the forests around the Pahari Korwa hamlet of Amanara in Dharamjaigarh block are a source of several wild tubers, the real bounty is found in Nakna Jungle along the banks of Kurja river. Every year around the beginning of February the villagers of Amanara make a 15 km trek through the dense jungles of Thurri Pani and Dangra Mahua to Nakna Jungle. While smaller children are usually left behind in the village, older children accompany their parents to help in the tuber harvesting. The families set up make-shift huts, using poles and leaves from the forest, along the banks of the Kurja river. They reside here for around 15 days to reap the rich tuber harvest only making occasional visits to their homes in Amanara.
The villagers report that Nakna Jungle has always been a rich source of a variety of wild tubers. The major tubers harvested are Dindori Munde and Nakwa Munde which primarily cater to subsistence needs and the commercially valuable Jardhi Munde. Most tubers are located deep underground and tuber extraction is an arduous task which involves long hours of hard digging and shifting of rocks before the tuber is reached. The numerous pits, some of which are over 10 years old, scattered through out this forest patch are evidence of a long history of tuber extraction. However, villagers report that despite intensive harvesting the forest continues to deliver a bumper tuber harvest year after year. The villagers never extract the entire tuber leaving some amount in the pit which ensures regeneration.
While mostly men carry out the digging and extraction of tuber, women are responsible for bartering and selling the tubers in neighbouring villages. After extraction the women fill donas (leaf bowls) with the tubers, primarily Jardhi, and wade across the waist deep waters of Kurja river, to barter their produce in neighbouring villages like Jamargi, Khemer, Meri Guda and Bhawar Khod.
Currently one dona of Jardhi Munde is exchanged for 3 dona of paddy or 1 and a half dona of rice or 2 and a half dona of kanki (brown rice). If sold for cash one dona fetches Rs. 80.
While Nakna villa is located close to Nakna Jungle, the Oraons and Rathiyas who reside here depend primarily of agriculture and do not harvest tubers. This annual tuber harvesting ritual in Nakna Jungle continues to be a tradition exclusive to the Pahari Korwas of Amanara with generation after generation of villagers continuing the annual practice.
