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<p>Mountain farming systems in the Garhwal Himalayas combine Indigenous Knowledge (IK) with Scientific Knowledge (SK) while diversifying toward high-value horticultural crops yet the composition of IK and SK in household practice and their association with crop income diversification remain poorly quantified. This study comparatively measured IK and SK adoption across five agronomic domains, formally compared their adoption indices, and examined their association with income-based diversification outcomes among 300 farming households across 12 villages stratified into three altitudinal zones (1000–1500&#xa0;m, 1500–2000&#xa0;m, and above 2000&#xa0;m MSL) in the Naugaon block of the Rawain region, Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India. Binary adoption data for IK and SK practices were used to compute domain-level composition indices (proportion of IK or SK practices in the combined IK + SK adoption set for each domain). Crop income diversification was measured using the income-based Simpson's Diversity Index (SDI). A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, multiple linear regression, and Pearson's correlation were applied for inferential analysis. IK constituted a larger share of the household practice portfolio in four of five domains (composition indices ranging from 0.72 to 0.81); SK had a higher share only in pest management (SK Index = 0.54). The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test indicated that IK index scores were significantly higher than SK index scores at the household level (Z =  − 13.301, p &lt; 0.001), with 86.3% of households recording higher IK than SK composition scores. Mean SDI declined with altitude (0.57, 0.52, and 0.48 across low, mid, and high zones, respectively). Regression showed that the SK Index was a significant positive predictor of SDI, the IK Index showed a significant negative association, and altitude was the strongest predictor. Full regression coefficients are reported in Table&#xa0;<InternalRef RefID="Tab5">5</InternalRef>. Perceived climate risk, specifically the higher chances of crop failure due to unpredictable weather (r = 0.730), and perceived income benefit, particularly enhanced farm income (r = 0.718), showed the strongest inter-perception associations with the diversification index (p &lt; 0.01). Five perceived risks assessed were climate-related crop failure, pest pressure, soil degradation, market price fluctuations, and management complexity; six perceived benefits were enhanced income, reduced risk, improved nutrition, cultural conservation, climate resilience, and soil health. Although IK constitutes a larger share of current practice, the SK component is positively associated with crop income diversification. This highlights the value of complementary SK adoption within IK-based systems, particularly in post-harvest handling, storage, and pest management, while also addressing altitude as an independent structural constraint. Findings represent case-study evidence from Naugaon Block and should not be statistically generalised to the broader Garhwal Himalaya.</p>

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Indigenous and scientific knowledge adoption and association with high-value crop diversification across an altitudinal gradient in the Garhwal Himalayas

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月29日

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  • Pratibha Rawat,
  • R. S. Negi,
  • A. K. Negi,
  • Santosh Singh,
  • Simran Saini

摘要

Mountain farming systems in the Garhwal Himalayas combine Indigenous Knowledge (IK) with Scientific Knowledge (SK) while diversifying toward high-value horticultural crops yet the composition of IK and SK in household practice and their association with crop income diversification remain poorly quantified. This study comparatively measured IK and SK adoption across five agronomic domains, formally compared their adoption indices, and examined their association with income-based diversification outcomes among 300 farming households across 12 villages stratified into three altitudinal zones (1000–1500 m, 1500–2000 m, and above 2000 m MSL) in the Naugaon block of the Rawain region, Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India. Binary adoption data for IK and SK practices were used to compute domain-level composition indices (proportion of IK or SK practices in the combined IK + SK adoption set for each domain). Crop income diversification was measured using the income-based Simpson's Diversity Index (SDI). A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, multiple linear regression, and Pearson's correlation were applied for inferential analysis. IK constituted a larger share of the household practice portfolio in four of five domains (composition indices ranging from 0.72 to 0.81); SK had a higher share only in pest management (SK Index = 0.54). The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test indicated that IK index scores were significantly higher than SK index scores at the household level (Z =  − 13.301, p < 0.001), with 86.3% of households recording higher IK than SK composition scores. Mean SDI declined with altitude (0.57, 0.52, and 0.48 across low, mid, and high zones, respectively). Regression showed that the SK Index was a significant positive predictor of SDI, the IK Index showed a significant negative association, and altitude was the strongest predictor. Full regression coefficients are reported in Table 5. Perceived climate risk, specifically the higher chances of crop failure due to unpredictable weather (r = 0.730), and perceived income benefit, particularly enhanced farm income (r = 0.718), showed the strongest inter-perception associations with the diversification index (p < 0.01). Five perceived risks assessed were climate-related crop failure, pest pressure, soil degradation, market price fluctuations, and management complexity; six perceived benefits were enhanced income, reduced risk, improved nutrition, cultural conservation, climate resilience, and soil health. Although IK constitutes a larger share of current practice, the SK component is positively associated with crop income diversification. This highlights the value of complementary SK adoption within IK-based systems, particularly in post-harvest handling, storage, and pest management, while also addressing altitude as an independent structural constraint. Findings represent case-study evidence from Naugaon Block and should not be statistically generalised to the broader Garhwal Himalaya.