A STUDY ON THE USE OF FERMENTED RICE BEVERAGE (SUJEN) BY THE DEORIS OF BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY: SOCIO-CULTURAL VALUES AND HEALTH RELATED ISSUES

Indigenous communities experience significant marginalisation and disadvantages, with common issues surrounding their traditional food systems, food security, and overall welfare. Their traditional food wisdom plays a vital role in improving their nutrition and health.Indigenous foods are acquired from the natural environment and form the cultural food pattern of Indigenous People. India is blessed with a variety of indigenous foods that carry unique cultural importance within local and ethnic groups.This traditional food knowledge encompasses unprocessed,small-scale,and low-tech human-managed natural resource systems, characterised by short distances from farm to plate. Over the last ten years, indigenous foods have gained international acclaim for their ability to enhance global food security and biodiversity simultaneously.These systems are recognized for their high nutritional value and substantial potential to advance overall health and nutrition. In this paper,we would like to focus the health and socio-cultural issues associated with the use of fermented rice beverage by the Deoris.