MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

POUNDING AND PARCHING OF GRAINS.

Making of pohas and phutanas are the main activities coming under this head. The district being predominantly a rice producing one, the preparation of pohas is one of the occupations that provide opportunities for good earnings. The upward trend in the prices of pohas due to increased demand and other control measures has given an impetus to the occupation.

The old Chanda District Gazetteer (1909) has the following to say about the occupation:-

" A special industry of a rather peculiar type, which is confined to the western portion of the district, principally in the zamindaris and the adjoining tracts that contain plenty of forest, is the manufacture of pohe, a special preparation of rice. Mr. Hemingway gives the following account of this industry. The grain is prepared by tenants immediately the new grain is available; the unhusked rice is boiled directly after threshing, and is then pounded with the ordinary musal; in the pounding it becomes husked and flattened out; it is then roughly cleaned and is ready for consumption. It is prepared and exported in large quantities from the zamindaris and the Wairagarh pargana to both Nagpur and Hinganghat, and it is a most marketable commodity; it may be eaten raw, or with sugar or salt according to taste and means: and it is a favourite food for tenants to carry about with them on long journeys, since it needs no further preparation. It is a bulky grain to export; but the dhan cannot be taken to the bazar and prepared there, since a large amount of fuel is needed for its preparation: and it can be made only when the grain is perfectly fresh. For these reasons it is prepared only in the tracts where fuel is cheapest, and only during the months of November and December. "

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