Ganderbal: As the maize harvesting season reaches its peak, farmers across the upper reaches of Ganderbal district, particularly in Gund, Kulan, Gagangir and adjoining areas, are busy in their fields, cutting maize and bringing home the seasonal crop.
For many families, however, the harvest is about more than agriculture. It is a reminder of a time when farming was deeply woven into village life, with neighbours and relatives working together in the fields, sharing responsibilities and celebrating the completion of the harvest as a collective occasion.
Eighty-year-old farmer Sakhi Baniya recalls the 1980s and 1990s as a period when agricultural work strengthened bonds among families and neighbours.
“During those days, we did not collect our crops separately. We would work together and help one another during the harvest. The atmosphere was different, and relations among people were much stronger. It was a happy and good time,” he recalls while taking part in the ongoing maize harvest.
According to him, harvesting was once a community activity. People would arrive early in the morning, work in one another’s fields and later take the harvested crop for processing at traditional mills.
“We would leave for our fields early in the morning to cut maize. After collecting it, we would take it to the traditional mill, where maize and wheat were processed. Those days had their own charm,” he says.
But Baniya feels that the relationship between the younger generation and farming is gradually changing. With changing lifestyles, increased dependence on markets and fewer young people willing to take up agricultural work, traditional farming practices are slowly losing their place in rural life.
“Now the new generation is not as interested in farming. Times have changed,” he says.
For older farmers, the shift is visible not only in the fields but also in household food practices. While maize and wheat once formed an important part of the local diet and were largely produced and processed within villages, many families today depend increasingly on market-bought food grains.
The ongoing harvest nevertheless continues to provide an important source of livelihood for farming families in the upper areas of Ganderbal.
Sakhi Baniya’s son, Ghulam Rasool, says the family continues to cultivate maize not only for its economic value but also to keep their agricultural traditions alive.
“This is our livelihood. We want to keep this tradition alive because farming has been part of our family and village life for generations,” Rasool says while working in the fields.
However, he too acknowledges that sustaining the tradition is becoming increasingly difficult as younger people show less interest in agriculture.
“Our new generation is not very interested in farming. We want them to understand its importance and carry forward what our elders have preserved for generations,” he says.
For farmers in Gund, Kulan, Gagangir and other upper areas, the maize harvest therefore represents a connection between the past and the present. The sight of families working in fields, carrying harvested maize and taking it for traditional processing keeps alive an agricultural culture that has shaped village life for decades.
