- In Nepal’s southern plains, Indigenous communities such as the Tharu and Yadav use traditional earthen storage bins (dehari) to safely store grains and seeds, relying on knowledge passed down through generations.
- Made from locally available materials such as clay, husk and dung, the bins naturally regulate temperature and moisture, helping protect crops from extreme heat, pests and seasonal flooding without electricity.
- Experts say these traditional storage systems are climate-adaptive, environmentally friendly and crucial for preserving local seed diversity and sustaining smallholder farming systems.
- While durable and effective, dehari have limitations such as vulnerability to moisture, pests and floods requiring careful placement, regular monitoring and adaptation to changing climate conditions.
DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations.
The 70‑year‑old learned the craft of making the pots from her mother. She eventually taught it to her daughters and granddaughters. “My granddaughter made this one, and that one was made by my mother‑in‑law,” Yadav said, pointing to the cylindrical and rectangular storage vessels.
Across Nepal’s Terai, members of Indigenous communities, including the Tharu and Yadav, keep their grains safe using the dehari (traditional seed storage bins) secured by ancestral craftsmanship and Indigenous knowledge honed over centuries. These continue to stand the test of time even amid climatic stresses.
“We use locally available mud and husk with some dung; we don’t use anything that isn’t available here,” Yadav said. “It takes around a week to make and a month to dry them.” If protected from water, a dehari can even outlast its maker.
Climate-resilient storage
In the Terai, Nepal’s hottest regions, where maximum temperatures cross 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit) during peak summer, keeping grains and seeds safe is always a challenge. During the monsoon, flash floods are common. Both challenges are likely to exacerbate amid a warming climate.
However, the materials used to make a dehari help protect grains from both heat as well as floods. “Soil and husk used to build a dehari work as natural insulation and help maintain moisture,” said Buddhi Ram Chaudhary, who earned a Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia researching the agricultural and cultural significance of Indigenous farmers’ knowledge in the western Terai region of Nepal.
“Sun drying the grains and keepingfew feet above the ground is key.” Placing a dehari in areas with increased aeration also helps reduce dampness and keep grains safe, he added.
“For generations, we have been storing food and seeds for the next farming cycle,” Yadav said. “We just need to keep the bin dry, and it remains reliable.” Smallholder farmers store most of their harvest for household consumption, making safe storage essential.
Farmers like Yadav sun dry their grains before placing them in storage containers. To store safely, it is recommended that farmers dry grains and seeds to 8-10% moisture level, reducing the chances of storage pests.
Because earthen vessels are vulnerable to floods, traditional dehari are historically kept slightly elevated, helping them stay dry and safe from floodwaters. Local communities traditionally use wooden pillars or bamboo to construct platforms, keeping the dehari at least 1 meter (3-4 feet) above the ground. To adapt to climate change-induced flooding, experts like Pitambar Shrestha, program adviser at the Community Seed Bank Nepal, suggest building concrete pillar platforms utilizing bamboo or wooden planks to safely hold the dehari in flood-prone areas.
On the other hand, Chaudhary noted that the dehari’s inherent nature of maintaining low humidity is a crucial feature that keeps grains safe even amid shifting weather patterns.
Eco-friendly post-harvest technology
Locals and experts say that dehari are environment-friendly and climate‑adaptive post‑harvest storage techniques. A 2022 study notes that post-harvest practices and technologies such as sun-drying after harvest and dehari or kothi (large dehari) grain storage technology minimize post-harvest losses from insects, fungus, rodents, and climatic stresses.Lead researcher Chaudhary said dehari have proved to be adaptive grain and seed conservation techniques tailored to the specific environmental needs of the region. “Dehari don’t need any electric energy to maintain temperature, so they save power,” he said. “On top of that, the use of dung, clay soil and husks doesn’t add environmental stress like plastics or other storage facilities that may require power to maintain temperature.”
Grain and seed storage for long periods in rural areas is an essential part of the agricultural chain and a key way of maintaining the food cycle. People working at the intersection of agriculture and Indigenous and local food grain and seed preservation say traditional skills, such as making dehari, bhakari or kothi, are environmentally well‑adapted and resilient forms of knowledge that have sustained rural livelihoods for centuries and help preserve endemic crop varieties.
“Our society has always been closely connected with the environment, acting in harmony with it by preserving it and using its resources wisely,” said Tilak Dhakal, president of Raithaane Agri Products Nepal, a Kathmandu‑based collective initiative dedicated to protecting and promoting traditional seeds and agricultural skills. “Post‑harvest storage skills like dehari in the Terai and bhakari in the hills and other parts of the country are deeply embedded in the local environment and climate. They have helped preserve local varieties of seeds that are more climate‑resilient.”
For generations, farmers in Nepal, especially smallholder farmers, have relied on an informal seed system of saving, producing, exchanging and managing seeds individually and as a community to meet their needs for the next planting season. In this process, traditional storage bins have functioned as vital community repositories, safeguarding local genetic diversity.
“If we truly want to conserve the environment and keep it safe for future generations, we must preserve traditional cultures and skills like dehari, which coexist with the local environment without causing harm while helping to preserve food,” Dhakal said. “There are other ways of storing staples and seeds that may be easier, but they are not well-suited for long‑term storage.”
He gave the example of plastic bins and tanks, which can store their produce for a short time but may not be suitable for longer periods. “For instance, rice and wheat contain some amount of moisture even after sun drying. If we store seeds in plastic tanks or bins, they may retain more moisture than needed.”
Not perfect but enduring
Even though traditional storage methods like dehari and bhakari have proved effective for generations, they do have issues. They do not provide enough protection to keep stored food safe from insects, rodents and birds without constant monitoring. Usually, dehari have two lids made of mud and husk — one on the top and another at the bottom for taking out the grain. Both are tightly closed, but they are not like airtight plastic bottles. Because of this, farmers may also lose stored cultivars due to dampness caused by excessive moisture if they are not kept in a safe space.
“Most farmers keep their dehari inside the house, specifically near the kitchen, to utilize domestic warmth to further suppress ambient humidity. If kept in exposed or cooler areas, the risk of grain spoilage increases,” Shrestha said. He noted that while the dehari has inherent limitations in high-humidity environments, communities effectively manage these risks through vigilant monitoring and periodic sun-drying.
“There are very few incidents of damage; if we don’t protect the dehari from rain — especially during the monsoon season — problems can occur,” Yadav said. “But we always keep an eye on it, and since it is inside the house, it’s not a big issue. I am happy that I passed this skill to my granddaughter.”
Banner image: A woman prepares food in her kitchen in a village in Dang. Standing behind her is a dehari where food grain is stored; keeping dehari near the kitchen helps to maintain low moisture, which helps to keep grain safe. Image by Tanka Dhakal.
Citations:
Chaudhary, B. R., Erskine, W., & Acciaioli, G. (2022). Hybrid knowledge and climate-resilient agriculture practices of the Tharu in the western Tarai, Nepal. Frontiers in Political Science, 4. doi:10.3389/fpos.2022.969835
Gauchan, D., & Shrestha, R.B. (2020). Community Based Seed Systems for Agrobiodiversity and Resilient Farming of Smallholder Agriculture in South Asia. In R.B. Shrestha, M.E. Penunia, & M.M. Asim (Eds.), Strengthening Seed Systems and Farmers’ Rights for Improving Food & Nutrition Security in South Asia (pp. 29-53). SAARC Agriculture Center (SAC) https://www.sac.org.bd/archives/publications/Strengthening%20Seed%20Systems.pdf#page=44
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