Dhiraj Kr Singh

ITK IN AGRICULTURE AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

Introduction:

Indigenous technical knowledge is not a very new subject. In layman’s language we can say that ITK is the knowledge of local people which they gain from their ancestors and from their own experiences to solve a practical problem. ITK is also known as LPK i.e. Local peoples knowledge or simply IK (Indigenous knowledge). In every society some old people know these ITK and they pass it to their son and other family members. The concept of ITK will be more clear if we will see some of the definitions given by renowned scholars. These are given below

I. Indigenous technical knowledge or ITK is the information base for a society which facilitates communication & decision making. It is a systematic body of knowledge acquired by local people through   accumulation of experiences, informal experiments & intimate understanding of the environment in a given culture. (Warren, D. M, 1991)

II.   Indigenous knowledge is the information base for a society which facilitates communication & decision making. Indigenous information systems are dynamic & are continuously influenced by internal creativity & experimentation as well as by contact with external system. (Flavier et. al. 1995)

III. Indigenous knowledge (IK) refers to the unique, traditional, local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific conditions of women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area. (Grenier 1998)

From above definition it is clear that ITK has a lot of importance as far as rural areas are concerned. This Term paper will deal with various aspect of Indigenous technical knowledge.

Some characteristics of ITK:

Based on various studies we can see some common characteristics of Indigenous knowledge. These are given below.

1. ITK is dynamic in nature. It changes time to time due to impact of outside knowledge. It may be lost as well as discovered in due course of time.
2. It is mainly qualitative in nature and very difficult to quantify.
3. It is transmitted orally and also through observation, demonstration and imitation.
4. ITK is learned by repetition which helps in retention and reinforcement of ITK.
5. ITK reflects the local traditions of a place and so can be of immense help while designing developmental programme for that area.

1. Proper study of ITK can provide valuable information regarding resources, processes, possibilities and problems of a particular area.
2. It is product of experiences of people and their trial and error method with testing in practical situation.
3. It is tacit in nature and cannot be easily codified.
4. It forms an information base for a community.
5. ITK covers almost all field including agriculture, horticulture, soil science, medical science etc.

Difference between science and ITK:

ITK

SCIENCE

§         It is produced in a community through Experiences and trial & error method. §         It relies on intuition and evidences availa- ble to senses. §         Its a closed system where people lack awareness about alternative ways of Solution to a problem. §         ITK cannot explain and predict a particular Phenomena §         Speed of accumulation of knowledge is very slow.

§         It is produced in research institute, University and by private firm using scientific approach. §         It break data presented to senses and reassemble in different ways for interpretation. §         Science is an open system & people engaged in it are  always  aware of alternate Solution to a problem. §         It is superior in explaining and predicting a Phenomenon. §         Here knowledge is accumulated very fast Compare to ITK.

Classification of ITK:

ITK can be classified based on various aspect. Here we will see most important classification based on the objects towards which thought is directed. It is given below.

1. Physical objects : examples are soil fertility, local soil and land taxonomy, climatology,

irrigation and water management, post harvest technologies and methods etc.

1. Biological objects: Examples are primitive varieties of crops, indicator plants, different types of weeds and their control & beneficial use, Pests and their control etc.
2. Medical field: Examples are treatment of various diseases using medicinal plants, bone setting methods.
3. Energy sector: Using improved chulha

RESEARCH TOOLS FOR ITK

1. Semi structured Interview: These interview help the investigators to see what actually people know about a particular indigenous technique and more important aspect of ITK can be discussed in detail.

2. Group interview: Here interview is carried out with a group of local people and exchange of local information gives a greater idea regarding peoples perception. But people with lower status should be interviewed in separate group.

3. Key informants interview: Some people in a community are known for special knowledge and they can be interviewed to investigate the ITK existing in that community.

4. Field visit: A group of people will observe the field and discuss the problem occurring in the field. This way they can show ITK.

5. Cultural expression: Folk songs, poetry and speeches given by local leaders show some significant messages and cultural values of the community.

6. Mapping, diagramming and ranking exercise: These can be used to express the perception of farmers. How they define & classify things. It include ranking of importance.

Exchange of indigenous knowledge

In general, ITK is exchanged from parents to their children and relatives mainly through personal communication and demonstration. Also many people may observe ITK and learn about it. But ITK is highly limited to a particular area. If we can document these ITK in proper manner & disseminate in different places, it may play greater role for solving some very critical problem. So exchange of ITK involves following six steps.

I.                   Identification of ITK: It is the 1^st step of documentation of ITK. We should see the problem solving nature of ITK. Identifying may be sometimes difficult because they may be mixed in cultural values. So we require some technical and social analysis.

II.                Validation of ITK: It is very important step. All ITK may not be beneficial & some may be harmful e.g. Jhoom cultivation. So we should test its significance, how much it is reliable and what is its effectiveness? Also ITK can be tested if introduced in a new location for its similar impact.

III.             Recording and documentation: Indigenous knowledge is tacit in nature and documenting it in proper language is quite difficult. Before documentation ITK should be clearly understood in terms of their use. The recording requires some audio-visual aids, drawing, chart, printed material etc. which can be easily understood by the community.

IV.              Storage of ITK: This process is not so simple. Any information should be user friendly. So before storage it requires some classification, indexing & also its relation with other ITK. Storage should not be limited to text rather it should be in tapes, films, data bases etc .Proper storage make ITK accessible to all user, it preserve information and maintain it for longer time for future use also.

V.                 Transfer of ITK: ITK can be transferred to new area for it’s potential use. It can not be directly used rather it should be tested for its economic & technical utility in new environment. Its social & environmental impact should also be studied. Developmental organisation; a community group & researchers should help in these testings.so we should see the potential users situation before a successful transfer. Risk of failure of a new technology can be reduced if it is based upon existing local knowledge.

VI.              Dissemination of ITK:

It is the last step. Dissemination of ITK to a wider community will help in formulating developmental programmes for a particular area. Also the knowledge level of scientist & researchers will be widen & they can use ITK for better development of technology.

These activities may be public awareness campaign, public broadcasting, advertisements, seminars, workshops, printing materials etc.Government can help in dissemination & use of ITK by crating afavourable political environment& improving legal framework associated with ITK.

Importance of ITK in development

“Indigenous knowledge has two powerful advantages over outside knowledge- it has little or no cost and is readily available (Kothari 1995).”

Importance of ITK for development:

ITK is socially accepted quickly, less costly& mostly environment friendly. It can play a great role in development process especially in rural development. It provides problem solving strategy for poor peoples.

Learning from ITK help in better understanding of local condition & provide some information which may helpful in designing development initiative for rural people. Following areas emphasizes on use of ITK for development

Ø      First step towards any development project: Before introducing any new idea we should know 1^st what people know? Whether they are already familiar with technologies to be introduced. this information will minimise the possibility of rejecting new innovations.

Ø      Assist in adoption of new technology: If new technologies are based on local peoples knowledge the adaptation will be higher. Since local people understand their agro ecological and social environment& if they found new technology suitable they will quickly adopt it.

Ø      Adds in scientific knowledge: Scientific knowledge alone may not be sufficient in certain situation. So understanding the ITK and incorporating it into modern scientific knowledge should be a welcome step. ITK are time tested knowledge & sometimes even superior than scientific technology especially in harsh unfavourable situation.

Ø      ITK increase understanding between researcher and local people: If scientist will understand the ITK properly &if they see the reason behind its success, its of a great help to reduce the communication gap between scientist and local people. Also it helps in local people’s access to sources of information.

“Yet, IK is still an underutilized resource in the development activities. It needs to be intensively and extensively studied, and incorporated into formal research and extension practices in order to make agriculture and rural development strategies more sustainable (Scoones and Thomson 1994).”

Implications of ITK for R & D

In this section we will see what is present condition of Research & Development (R & D)? Currently most of the activities of R & D carried out in research station or laboratory. For example seed breeding programme requires controlled conditions of a research station for good result. Similarly for development of disease vaccine for cattle, it requires a well equipped laboratory. Despite, all this formal system of R & D is facing a lot of difficulty in providing technology suitable for particular environment.. It is because there’s great diversity in tropical environment in country like India. So it is advisable that most of R& D activities related to rural development should be conducted in rural environment and with rural people. It will help in producing location specific technology and also it can increase the rate of adoption of technology. Keeping above problems in mind following six proposals can be considered.

§         Rural exposure for extension and research staff: Extension and research staff can be directly exposed to realities to which their work is related with. This could be done both during initial training and at intervals thereafter.

§         Checklists: Checklists con be used to draw attention to those factors which might otherwise not be considered in determining research priorities or extension advice. Some examples of factors implications for women, profitability, effectiveness and efficiency, availability and access to inputs and complementary items etc.

§         Local-level influence on research priorities: To improve the criteria chosen in research, producers could sit on the boards of agricultural research stations, and further priorities could be set by national research committees which consulted at the local level.

§         A cafeteria system: Farmers could be offered different packages of practices and then left to decide for themselves which they want to adopt.

§         Starting with indigenous practice: Research should take existing indigenous practice as its starting point, seeking to refine this in various ways. This will remove ‘fences’ surrounding research institutions so that no aspect of the process of knowledge-generation fell beyond the purview of those whose livelihoods would ultimately be affected.

§         Experimental work in rural conditions: The process might be taken a stage further, through full-blown experimental work on farmer’s fields and with farmer’s collaboration. In general, people are more likely to operate and exploit a new technology successfully if they have themselves taken part in its creation.

ITK and Extension:

Agriculture is not a vey new profession and its origin was way back to some 10,000 years ago. But what agriculture has attained in last hundred years is great when compared to previous period. The production has increased msny fold on the similar area and all this happened because of use of improved variety of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides etc. but this green revolution has some adverse effects on soil fertility, ecosystem and atmosphere causing pollution.

Also, the erosion of biodiversity taken place. Modern agriculture emphasised on monocropping.

These are some very serious problems and we need to look for sustainable development of agriculture where natural resources can be conserved for future generations. ITK can help in sustainable development of agriculture. Till now extension system has done almost nothing to use indigenous knowledge in extension strategies. Nearly all the development programmes are based on those technologies which are developed outside the social system. Also they gave excellent results and very high economic benefits to farmers. Extension scientists & agents went for progressive farmer approach. It means they target large farmers who can adopt their recommended technologies and they thought that these practice will trickle down to other small farmers who will copy the large farmers. These extension scientists gave honour to those farmers who easily adopted their recommended technologies. They gave the term “innovators” & “early adopters” for these farmers while farmers who stick to their traditional methods of cultivation & who had not adopted recommended technologies were given a derogatory term “laggard”.

So, slowly traditional cultivation methods were out of use since they are giving lesser yield & income a compared to those with new technologies. Also the new generation people did not give much importance to indigenous knowledge due to less economic benefit. This way a lot of ITK lost its significance in farmer’s community. But now, people are talking about sustainable agriculture and they are facing the problems of using modern techniques based on chemicals. In this scenario, people are now realising the importance of ITK. Most of the ITK’s are environment friendly so the best approach for rural development i. e. agricultural development is to integrate modern scientific knowledge with ITK. The ITK continuously changed, updated and revised as the conditions change. There are various local germplasm which are disease & pest resistance & also very hardy to adverse climatic conditions. These plant germplasm can be used to develop new varieties suitable fir a particular region. There is a need that scientists should appreciate farmer’s knowledge and incorporate it in their research work. Identifying, documenting & validating ITK & using it for agricultural development will be a welcome step. It will strengthen the agricultural extension programme & will help in developing a number of packages of practices. Farmers are free to use any of these practices which is suitable for his area. It will ensure active participation of farmers in their development process.

Documentation and networking efforts:

Some organisations have taken initative to document & disseminate ITK in whole world. Now internet is used extensively to share indigenous knowledge of different areas. Following are some important organisations dealing with documentation & dissemination of ITK:-

1.      The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge in Agriculture and Rural Development (CIKARD) It is foremost research and knowledge collection organisation in this field. This organisation focuses its efforts on ‘preserving and using the local knowledge of farmers and other rural people around the globe. It acts as a global clearinghouse for collecting, documenting, and disseminating information on indigenous knowledge of agriculture, natural resource management, and rural development.

2.      The World Bank Indigenous Knowledge Database:   To ‘increase and improve the available information on indigenous knowledge, its collection and classification as well its application is the main aim of this organisation.

3.   Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and

Institutions (SRISTI): It is an NGO working in Gujarat. It has created a “Honey Bee Network” which includes other NGOs , local community, scientist and state administration. It works for conservation of biological diversity and ITK.Till today Honey bee network is active in 71 countries. SRISTI developed very rich databases of information regarding ITK and it

can be easily accessed through Internet.

4. Centre for World Indigenous Studies. This organisation is ‘dedicated to wider understanding and appreciation of the ideas and knowledge of indigenous peoples and the social, economic and political realities of indigenous nations.

5. GIAN (Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network) is a Not-For-Profit society .Its aim is to promote, organize and conduct programmes, schemes or activities to scout, document, augment innovations by small farmers, artisans, pastoralists etc., primarily in disadvantaged rural areas. IIM-Ahmedabad is providing institution building support to GIAN and SRISTI is providing access to its data base of innovations and also other logistical help.

Conclusion:

From above discussion on the topic ITK we can see how much Indigenous knowledge is important for development of rural masses. These are time tested knowledge based on concrete experience and so can play a very important role in rural development. Modern scientific knowledge is no doubt an effective tool but if it will be incorporated with indigenous knowledge it could be really effective for the development of small farmers of developing as well as underdeveloped country. For this our government need to include ITK when framing strategies for agricultural and rural development. So lets try to preserve our ancestors wisdom and make use of it by properly validating, documenting and disseminating around the globe.

References:

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3. World bank (1998), Indigenous knowledge for development: a framework for action, Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank

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