Bhubaneswar: ST & SC Development Department has taken up a virtual tour to Odisha State Tribal Museum on every Sunday. Visitors can visit the indigenous knowledge system: Collection of Roots and Tubers by Tribal Communities of Odisha by opening the Facebook and Twitter pages @stscdev, @scstrti, said Director SCSTRTI Prof. (Dr.) A. B. Ota.
Odisha is a home to several tribal communities. Living in scattered villages deep within the forest these tribal communities rely on the natural bounties of their environment to meet their daily needs. They practice subsistence farming using a combination of wetland and shifting cultivation alongside horticulture and forest produce collection, hunting and fishing.
Tribal communities cultivate paddy, minor millets, pulses and vegetables which they consume along with a variety of seasonal fruits, leaves, edible flowers, insects, mushrooms, roots and tubers collected from the forest. The wild roots and tubers collected by these communities are highly nutritious.
They may be roasted, boiled or prepared as a curry. There are several varieties of wild roots and tubers. Some grow just under the surface, while others may be dug out from deep within the soil. This film depicts the collection of various tribes and the process that they follow for collecting and preparing the tubers for consumption.
