Sikiya is an extra produce the Baigas get without even cultivating it. It has about 12 to 12.5 per cent protein.

Faced with crop losses because of erratic rainfall and extreme weather, tribal farmers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh turn to bewar and penda forms of cultivation on land considered inferior, that keeps them nourished all times of the year, but government agencies are bent on rooting out these farm practices

The Baiga adivasis of central India have mobilised to reclaim their rights over forests they have traditionally used.