Crop assemblages in the highlands of Odisha: Toward an ethnoarchaeobotanical perspective of crop choices

The highlands of Odisha are home to numerous indigenous communities, known as Adivasi, who traditionally cultivate various species of millets and rice in systems of shifting cultivation and permanent upland cultivation. National and international agricultural schemes have had notable impact on the crops cultivated in the highlands, increasing the consumption of (modern varieties of) rice at the expense of millets. Recent initiatives, such as the Odisha Millet Mission, are attempting to reverse the dependence on modern rice and reintroduce millets, in the highlands as well as in the lowland urban areas. The archaeobotanical records of South Asia and beyond illustrate that crop assemblages have always been dynamic, and understanding the choices that underlie these dynamics can contribute insights into the emergence of contemporary crop assemblages and related foodways, as well as their future trajectories. This contribution seeks to explore how crop choices are reflected in current crop assemblages in the highlands of Odisha and to examine how anthropological insights can contribute to an understanding of crop choices in the past and vice versa. This article is part of the theme issue 'Unravelling domestication: multi-disciplinary perspectives on human and non-human relationships in the past, present and future'.