Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) is the actual knowledge of a given population that reflects the experiences based on tradition and includes more recent experiences with modern technologies. There is no systematic record to describe what they are, what they do and how they do what they do, how they can be changed, their operations, their boundaries and their applications. Hence, there is immense pressure on the people of India to collect, preserve, validate and adopt ITKs so as to reduce dependence on external inputs, to reduce the cost of cultivation and to propagate eco-friendly agriculture. Indigenous Technical Knowledge is the local knowledge – knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society.
ITKs in paddy cultivation
Rice is an important crop in India occupying 43 million hectares of land representing various ecosystems. The crop is cultivated 2 meters below the sea level in Kuttanadu region of Kerala and 2500 meter above sea level in Jammu Kashmir. This type of geographical and wide climatic variation provided the farmers ideal situations to develop their own indigenous practices in rice cultivation. Since rice has many types of varieties, cultivation practices, soil types, the management practices differ from place to place. This has provided ample scope for the use of ITKs evolved over generations. Some of the indigenous technical knowledge followed by the rice farmers are listed below.
1. Ash is dusted on the germinated paddy nursery before the occurrence of heavy rain. This practice prevents toppling of seedlings and also accumulation of seedlings on one side.
2. For early sprouting of paddy seeds, the seeds are soaked for 24 hours and filled in copper vessel called Anda, whose mouth is covered with paddy straw and bamboo sticks kept in criss –cross manner. Then the vessel is kept upside down in a room corner for 24 hours. The next day all seeds are sprouted.
3. In Andhra Pradesh the transplanting is done along with wind direction and not against the wind direction.
4. To prevent lodging in rice crop at maturity in water logging conditions. The upper portion of the rice plants is cut with the help of sickle. After 2 months of transplanting Excess growth of rice plant is checked due to pruning. Lower part of the plant becomes strong.
5. Economically poor farmers first harvest early paddy by deheading only the panicles and leaving the plant. If there is good late rain they get second crop from the tillers, which had not flowered earlier.
6. Ash of rice husk and cow dung cake is used in seedbeds to raise seedlings of rice by the farmers in most of the states. Ash provides a thin cover over the sown seeds and thus protects them from attack on insect pests, damage caused by birds and ants.
7. Common salt is dissolved in water and sprayed in rice fields for controlling major weeds.
8. Clipping off the tip of rice seedlings before transplanting is practiced all over the state of Assam, to ease transplantation; to facilitate uniform growth and to remove insect egg masses and other major insect pests present on the leaf tips is an alternative for chemical pesticides application.
9. Chopped pieces of colocatia and sometimes chopped peels of Citurs grandis are spread in rice field to drive away the insect pests. In some places Calotrophis gigntea in grown on bunds of paddy fields to check the insect pests.
10. Fixing of dead crabs, frogs or even pieces of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllas) to bamboo sticks in rice fields and Rope dipped in kerosene oil is drawn over the standing rice crop to check insect pest.
11. Leaves and seeds of custard apple contain chemicals having insecticidal properties. Insect/pests of paddy crop are controlled by broadcasting leaves or seeds of custard apple. The smell of leaves act as repellent, whereas, leaves are toxic in nature to plant parasites. Leaves are used raw, whereas seeds are processed and used as powder.
12. Ten kilograms of fresh cow dung is mixed with 1½ liters of kerosene and the mixture is made into small balls and allowed to dry upto 75% moisture content. Then the balls are kept near the burrows at 10 feet interval. The smell emitting from the balls acts as a repellant and drives away the rats from rice fields.
13. Roasted groundnut powder and mixed with little amount of jaggery and cement is used to kill the rats. This mixture is kept on the bunds of rice fields. Few hours after consuming it, the cement gets solidified like concrete and affects the digestive system of the rats which ultimately leads to their death.
14. Fumigating rat burrows with Milagu (Pepper Corns: Piper nigrum L) and Tippili (Jawa Pepper Corn: Piper longum) will instantly kill the rats in rice fields.
15. A solution is made up of extract of 1 kg of garlic, 200 g tobacco leaves and 200 g of washing powder dissolved in 200 liters water is sprayed on the affected crop of paddy. One spray controls the insect pest by 80 percent.
16. Some farmers mix cinnamon leaves and wood ash with paddy and store the grain in bags.
17. Red pepper (Capsicum Sp) is placed in bags of rice to protect the grains from stored grain pests. Eucalyptus wood ash is added with paddy to protect seeds during storage.
Conclusion:
The agricultural development process interacts with indigenous technical knowledge. To foster rapid transfer of technology related to rice cultivation, a sound understanding of indigenous technical knowledge is needed. ITK in rice farming is important for reducing the cost of cultivation, reducing the pollution and also safeguarding the natural resource base.
Hannah Krujia
SMS Agronomy
KVK Phek
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Readers may please note that the contents of the articles, letters and opinions published do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.
