Borang Joktang (wild yam): More than the forgotten staple food

Borang Joktang (Yam): The forgotten staple food

Locally called as Borang Joktang in Sharchopkha, Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a perennial climbing plant with edible underground tuber. Among 600 known species, according to researchers only 50 to 60 species are cultivated and gathered for food and pharmaceutical purposes. As cited in (Jambay, 2015), there are however only 10 species for human consumption and economically significant. According to Jambay (2015), even from the taste and nutritional point of view yam is found to contain good nutritional value with 15-23% starch, 1-2.5% protein, 0.05-0.2% fat and other essential nutrients.

Offering of Lesser Yam (Borang Joktang)

From age immemorial, wild yam has been an integral part of Bhutanese socio-economic and cultural aspects. It is considered to be an important supplementary food in major remote populace of Eastern Bhutan. The yam species found in the locality of Shingkhar Lauri are (in local dialects) Borang Joktang, Phantang, Rantang, Khalaktang, Gong tshalu and Gong Balingmi. The Lesser Yam (Dioscorea esculenta), Borang Joktang is only predominant yam species gathered for consumption and offer making. The other aforementioned species are used to brew alcohol when people face shortage of maize stock for the brewery. However, this yam species are no more a people’s choice as the production of maize and other cereals have enhanced the productivity over the years due to improved seeds and other scientific interventions.

The ancestral tale has it that people used to go short of food supply in winters due to natural calamities and wild animal predation on their crops. Such disastrous attack on the cereal crops by the nature and wild animals would bring in famine and hunger in the society. Without giving the second thoughts on alternative food source, they used to resort to the forest products like yam, fern, and other non-timber forest products as these were available in abundance at the close proximity. In those days people used to collect wild yams in bulk for consumption, offerings and to barter it for rice and oil with neighboring Assam. It is also said that, they used to dry and grind it to make flour for the summer stock as we can’t get good yam during monsoon. In this way, the yam has also to some extent played a role in acquainting and establishing trans-boundary interdependence relation with the adjacent Indian.

Besides the family consumption as food, yam used to be one of the main Tshog (offering) items for any religious functions and other social ceremonies. Just like customary offereings of zaw and tengma in social functions nowadays, in those days the yam used to be the main offerings made. One can also make a good stand point by saying that the offerings of wild yam as tshog would fetch more merits than those ready-made package tshogs as it requires herculean tasks to gather it from the forest.

Tender plants of Yam

Local beliefs associated with Yam Gathering

In my community, we have long ancestral established beliefs on yam collection. One cannot simply disappear into the tick forest and get back with bags of yam easily. There are certain norms to be followed in order to get good loads of yam with least struggle in the process. One has to maintain the secrecy of the plan and execution of yam collection to avoid the malevolence of other ill-spectators. If any other people know about you going to collect wild yam, they will be chanting malicious lines which are believed to be very powerful in inviting obstacles in your ways, the malicious line in our local dialect reads as;

Joktangpa lung gromsho,

 Phantangpa shingtsha gromsho, 

In English it roughly translates as; 

let he who goes for wild lesser yams be obstructed by boulders, let he who goes for yellow yams be obstructed by roots of strongest tree.

Thus, to avoid such ill-luck one has to hide all those required tools in small bag and disappear into the forest without the notice of any. Then, one has to hunt for the yam plants with preferred yellow and matured leaves which are believed to have enough tubers due to its maturity. The ground breaking work should always be started from below the plants of about one meter expecting the wide spread of the tubers. The encounter of the first tuber should be placed at top of the working area gesturing the respect for the plant and the soil. Otherwise, as a result of malicious spirits instead of yam, one is believed to be encountering immovable boulders and large roots of the trees around.

The yam as an integral part of the food in most of the remote communities, the culture of yam gathering is still in practice though declining relatively. It not only supplements the dietary items of the people, it holds the socio-cultural significance. If domesticated and cultivated, it also has economic potential as there are ready niche markets for such local products. Bhutan lacks the research and records in this species which if left this way may potentially get degraded due to environmental degradation and unsustainable consumption of NTFPs.