Banda Hamirpur Bundelkhand Paddy Oilseed Folk Culture UP

Banda and Hamirpur districts in the Bundelkhand region grow paddy, linseed, mustard, and chana gram on the shallow black cotton soils of the Ken and Betwa river basins — drought-prone agricultural areas that have historically experienced severe food insecurity. The Ken-Betwa river interlinking project (India's first approved river linking, 2021) will divert Ken river water to the Betwa basin to irrigate Bundelkhand's dry farmland, involving construction of the Daudhan dam in Panna Tiger Reserve. Banda's Bundeli folk traditions — Rai dance of Bundelkhand, Alha-Udal ballad singing, and the Bundeli dialect poetry — represent the cultural life of Bundelkhand's agricultural and pastoral communities.