The residents of Hakimsinan—a forest-fringed village in West Bengal’s Bankura district—have witnessed the deterioration of their local soil over time. The uplands, where indigenous crops such as grass (kodo), maize, and pulses (biri kolai) were once grown, have become uncultivable through the years. According to the villagers, the degradation of the local land and ecology were caused by changes in agricultural processes.