North West (NW) Himalayas including Himachal Pradesh are one of the richest regions in terms of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) due to their geographical diversities and many ethnic communities. All local communities have some kind of traditional knowledge associated with their life from time immemorial. The ITK practices are farmer-friendly, socially accepted and environmentally sound suited to local conditions. In the present chapter, various indigenous agricultural practices of lower, mid and upper region of HP have been documented and discussed. They comprise the use of wastes from cattle sheds, application of FYM, use of ash, green manuring with leaves and twigs, bio-fencing, use of forest soil, transportation of soil from river beds, growing pulse crops on bunds, use of kitchen ash, sheep, goat, and poultry manure, etc. Some of these technologies and others like collection of droppings during grazing of sheep and goats by tying bags to cover anal parts is an indicative of indigenous wisdom of the farmers. Although through these ITKs there is less replenishment of nutrients removed by the crops, yet blending them with modern technologies is promising to meet the demand of higher production with long term sustainability. The blending of technologies like application of FYM or compost, prepared from organic wastes having no fodder value, result in less input of market purchased fertilizer even to the extent of 50%, post-monsoon in situ moisture conservation for timely sowing of rainfed crops thereby saving of pre-sowing irrigation of 7–8 cm, increase in input use efficiency and reduction in the cost of production. The blending also helps in restoring the much needed organic matter content of soils and to reverse the trend of declining soil fertility. Similarly, blending of time-tested ITKs with insecticides and bio-rational approaches saves crop losses even to the extent of 10–15% and reduces the cost of production. There is a need to adopt a location and soil-specific crop management system that promotes the use of organic manures, bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides. This is possible through integration of time-tested local farmers’ traditional knowledge with modern scientific technologies, as discussed in this chapter.

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Blending Traditional Knowledge of Farmers in Agriculture with Modern Scientific Technologies in the Lower, Mid and Upper Regions of Himachal Pradesh

  • J. C. Sharma,
  • Jagriti Thakur,
  • R. S. Chandel,
  • Saurabh Soni,
  • Amar Singh,
  • C. L. Acharya

摘要

North West (NW) Himalayas including Himachal Pradesh are one of the richest regions in terms of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) due to their geographical diversities and many ethnic communities. All local communities have some kind of traditional knowledge associated with their life from time immemorial. The ITK practices are farmer-friendly, socially accepted and environmentally sound suited to local conditions. In the present chapter, various indigenous agricultural practices of lower, mid and upper region of HP have been documented and discussed. They comprise the use of wastes from cattle sheds, application of FYM, use of ash, green manuring with leaves and twigs, bio-fencing, use of forest soil, transportation of soil from river beds, growing pulse crops on bunds, use of kitchen ash, sheep, goat, and poultry manure, etc. Some of these technologies and others like collection of droppings during grazing of sheep and goats by tying bags to cover anal parts is an indicative of indigenous wisdom of the farmers. Although through these ITKs there is less replenishment of nutrients removed by the crops, yet blending them with modern technologies is promising to meet the demand of higher production with long term sustainability. The blending of technologies like application of FYM or compost, prepared from organic wastes having no fodder value, result in less input of market purchased fertilizer even to the extent of 50%, post-monsoon in situ moisture conservation for timely sowing of rainfed crops thereby saving of pre-sowing irrigation of 7–8 cm, increase in input use efficiency and reduction in the cost of production. The blending also helps in restoring the much needed organic matter content of soils and to reverse the trend of declining soil fertility. Similarly, blending of time-tested ITKs with insecticides and bio-rational approaches saves crop losses even to the extent of 10–15% and reduces the cost of production. There is a need to adopt a location and soil-specific crop management system that promotes the use of organic manures, bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides. This is possible through integration of time-tested local farmers’ traditional knowledge with modern scientific technologies, as discussed in this chapter.