Indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) used in agriculture by selected ethnic communities of Assam

Abstract

The role of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) in a range of sectors is being talked about. Over the years, people have tried to develop new farming techniques based on their experience and age old experiments for their farming operation. Assam consists of a large number of ethnic groups that have different ITKs relating to agricultural sector. The present study attempts to document the ITKs used by four major ethnic communities of Assam viz., Ahom, Mishing, Deori, and Karbi. Twenty respondents from each community were selected and data were collected by different Participatory Rural Appraisal tools from Sivsagar, Majuli and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam during 2020. Different ITKs such as, broadcasting goat’s excreta on the standing crop of paddy to control hispa, dried leaves of ‘Neem’ kept with rice grains in for its insecticidal properties, etc were used in agriculture. Most of the identified indigenous practices were found to be of biological origin. The documented ITKs need to be scientifically validated to be recommended at the state level. The result of the study is expected to help in a technology blending programme for generation of low-cost, eco-friendly and location-specific technology by modifying already existing technologies. Further, the documented data might help in national-level data bank management on ITKs.