by
Anne E. Desjardins and Susan A. McCarthy
Every spring in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, farmers plow their terraced fields and plant maize (Zea mays), an American crop plant. Nepalese farmers plant yellow-seeded maize, orange, red, white, and multi-colored maize. Women grind the grain for a thick porridge to be eaten with lentils and vegetable curries at the two main meals of the day. Field workers carry popcorn and pots of fermented maize beer for their midday lunch. Farmers feed green maize stalks to their water buffaloes and goats when other fodder becomes scarce during the spring dry season. Dried maize stalks and husks are used for weaving fencing and mats. And during the ceremonies of the autumn harvest festival of Dasain, villagers wear tikas of rice and yogurt on their foreheads and pale yellow seedlings of maize in their hair.National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Agricultural Research Service, USDA and National Agricultural Library, USDA
