Indigenous Technological Knowledge (ITK)” or “local knowledge “or “traditional knowledge”

1. Sasanka Lenka
lenka57@gmail.com

2. Indigenous knowledge gained
recognition through
United Nations Conference on Environment and
Education in1992
World Conservation Strategy of International
Union and Conservations of Natural Resources in
1980
Brundtland Commission & World Commission on
Environment and Development, 1987
Which recognized existence of indigenous
knowledge in every country, society, culture

3. Indigenous technical
knowledge (ITK) is the
accumulated skill and
technology of a locality or a
community that has been
passed on from one generation
to another generation.
Traditional
knowledge
Local knowledge
People’s science
Rural people’s
knowledge
Ethno-ecology
Indigenous Technical
Knowledge

4. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is,
broadly speaking, the knowledge used by
local people to make a living in particular
environment
It can be defined as
“A body of knowledge built up by a group
of people through generations of living in
close contact with nature”

5. Grenier (1998) - indigenous knowledge is the traditional
knowledge of the local community existing within and
developed around the specific conditions of women and
men indigenous to a particular geographical area.
Basu(2009) – indigenous knowledge is not confined to tribal
groups or the original inhabitants of an area. It is not
confined to the rural people rather any community
possessing indigenous knowledge- rural or urban, settled or
nomadic, original inhabitants and migrants.
Indigenous knowledge is referred to not only to the
knowledge of indigenous people but also the intellectual
property of other communities.

6. Adaptive skills of local people usually derived from many years of
experience, that have often been communicated through "oral traditions"
and learned through family members over generations (Thrupp, 1989).
Time-tested agricultural and natural resource management practices, which
pave the way for sustainable agriculture (Venkatratnam, 1990).
Strategies and techniques developed by local people to cope with the
changes in the socio-cultural and environmental conditions.
Practices that are accumulated by farmers due to constant experimentation
and innovation.
Trial-and-error problem-solving approaches by groups of people with an
objective to meet the challenges they face in their local environments
(Roling and Engel, 1988).
Decision-making skills of local people that draw upon the resources they
have at hand.
Indigenous knowledge systems are:

7. Importance of Indigenous Knowledge
System
Indigenous Knowledge is an integral
part of the development process of local
communities
IKS provides the foundation for their
beliefs and traditional practices
Indigenous knowledge helps to promote
biodiversity conservation
IK learning attitudes and values for a
sustainable future
IK starting locally: From the “Known” to
the “Unknown”

8. Bio-diversity in India
As many as 167 species of crops, 320 species
of wild crop relatives and several species of
domesticated animals have originated here
And also there are
Rice (50,000 varieties)
Sorghum (5000 varieties)
Mango (1000 varieties)
Pepper (500 varieties)
Cattle (27 breeds)
Goat (22 breeds)
Sheep (40 breeds)
Poultry (18 breeds) and
Buffalo (8 breeds)
Kothari (2001)

9. More than 1000 species of plants are known to have
insecticidal properties
300 species with repellent properties
30 species possessing insect growth regulatory
(IGR)properties
There is wide scope for use of organic manures which
can be prepared from plant parts as well as animal by
products.
(Jayaraj, 2002)

10. 12/21/2018

11. 12/21/2018

12. 12/21/2018

13. ITKs are eco-friendly
Sustainable & time tested
Several insect pests have developed
insecticide resistance
Degradation of natural enemies
Secondary pest outbreaks
Environmental pollution has become more
persistent
Input cost on plant protection have increased
enormously
Adaptability is high
Compatible with the ecosystems and social
systems
Why ITK ?

14. How ITK were developed
Trial and error
Selection
Experiences of the farmers
Living in the eco-systems over generations
But not the freak of nature
Many technologies recommended by the
scientists are developed from the ITKs

15. Importance of ITK
There is an old African proverb: "When an old
knowledgeable person dies, a whole library dies”
Indigenous technical knowledge has two powerful
advantages over outside
• it has little or no cost
• it is readily available
knowledge (Kothari, 1995)

16. Changesin
Perspective
Shifting emphasis in Research & Extension
Dominating Discipline Considering farmers
as …
1950 - 1975
Production Stage
1975 - 1985
Economic Stage
1985 - 1995
Ecological Stage
1995 onwards
InstitutionalStage
Plant & Animal Breeding
Genetics
Recipients of external
knowledge
Sources of information
for technology designEconomics & Agronomy
Agro-ecology &
Anthropology
OD, HRD & Training
Full collaborators to Res.
& Extn., Develop alliances
between different Org.
Contributors of ITK, Victims
& Cause for Unsustainable
development

17. Sources of ITK
Farmers
Community leaders
Elders
Forklore
Songs and poetry
Ancient records
NGO’s
Extension agencies
Published materials of different languages.

18. Difference of Traditional knowledge System and
Scientific system
12/21/2018
Traditional Knowledge system Scientific System
All parts of the natural world are regarded
as animate, all life forms as interdependent
Human life is generally regarded as superior,
with a moral right to control other life forms
Knowledge is transmitted largely through
oral media.
Knowledge is transmitted largely through the
written word
Knowledge is developed and acquired
through observation and practical experience
Knowledge is generally learned in a situation,
which is remote from its applied context
Knowledge is holistic, intuitive, qualitative
and practical
Knowledge is essentially
reductionist, quantitative, analytical and theoretical.
Knowledge is generated by resource users
in a diachronic (long-term) time scale
Knowledge is generated largely by specialist
researchers on a synchronic (short-term) time
scale
The nature and status of particular
knowledge is influenced by socio-cultural
factors such as spiritual beliefs and is
communally held
The nature and status of particular knowledge is
influenced by peer review and is held by
individual specialists
Explanations behind perceived phenomena
are often spiritually based on subjective
The explanation behind perceived phenomena
are essentially rational and objective
Knowledge is used to make suitable
decisions under variable conditions
Knowledge is used to put forward a
hypothesis and to verify underlying laws and
constants

19. Characteristics of ITK
ITK is not static but dynamic
Exogenous knowledge and endogenous creativity
brings change to ITK
ITK is intuitive in its mode of thinking
ITK is mainly qualitative in nature
ITK study needs a holistic approach
ITK, if properly tapped, can provide valuable
insights into resources, processes, possibilities,
and problems in a particular area
ITK is recorded and transferred through oral
tradition
ITK is learned through observation and hands-on
experience
ITK forms an information base for a variety
ITK reflects local tradition

20. Classes of ITK in Agriculture
Irrigation & water
management
Agronomic Practices
Post Harvesting
Techn. & Methods
Plant Protection
Soil Fertility
Local Soil &
Taxonomy
Climat
ology

21. Seed
Bank
Light Trap or
Fire Trap
BorderCrop,
TraporInter
Crop
Integrated Pest
Management
Pure Seeds
Tolerant to
Diseases and Pest
Nutrient
Management
ITKs Wheel

22. Roles of ITK
12/21/2018
ITK can aid development efforts
ITK can facilitate local people’s
participation
ITK is a valuable source of developing
appropriate technologies

23. Scope of ITK analysis
12/21/2018
New biological and ecological insight
Resource management
Protected areas and conservation
education
Development planning
Environment assessment

24. Decisions on Using ITK
in Agricultural R&D
Apply and promote improved ITK
Yes
Can ITK be improved? No
Test appropriate
outside knowledge
Yes Promote ITKIs ITK effective and sustainable?
No
Test appropriate
outside knowledge
Does ITK relating to problem
exist?
No
Yes
Identify Problem

25. Identification and collection of ITK: methods and techniques
12/21/2018
1. Documentation of oral histories
2. The Delphi method
3. Agro-ecosystem analysis
a) Mapping (ecological, agronomic, seasonal, spatial)
b) Transect
4. Manual discriminative analysis (ask farmers to discriminate practices and find
rationality)
5. Decision tree analysis
6. Use of local resource persons
7. Linguistic and historical analysis of concepts, vocabulary, and keywords
8. Ethno botany
9. Critical incident analysis (farmers’ seed exchanges and new variety introduction)
10. Analysis of peasants’ journals and newspapers
11. Arranging competition
12. Conducting documentation workshops
13. Continuous interactions during on-farm experiments
14. Anthropological methods (investigation into the social, cultural and other aspects of
rural tradition)
15. Local taxonomy
16. Hear-say method
17. Crop histories
18. Survey method
19. In-depth interview of farmers.

26. Methods of ITK collection
Interaction with leaders and elders
Rural appraisals
Case study
History
Interview method
Brain storming
Group discussions
Field observation
Surveys
SWOT analysis
Notes
Photos
Audio-
recordings
Video-
recordings

27. Methods
Surveys / RRA / PRA
Observations
Documentary evidences
Survey
Laboratory Analysis
On-farm testing
Input to Research
On Farm Research Farmer
Participatory Research
Laboratory Studies
Guard & Legalize the ITKs
Ensure Ow nership to Local
Communities
Use Media Mix
Integrate Indigenous Netw orks
Publicize & Reward
Promote the Use of
validated and refined ITKs
Protect the Valid and
Refined ITKs
Refine the ITKs for
increasing its applicability
on w ider scale
Validate the ITKs / Assess
the ITKs for Scientific
Logic
Document the ITKs

28. Testing and Validation: method and techniques
Continuum Weightage
Very rational 5
Rational 4
Undecided 3
Irrational 2
Very irrational 1
1. Prepare a list of all the collected ITK practices
2. Decide the continuum for rating the rationality of ITK
with specific weightages
3. Send the list of ITK practices to experts for their opinion
and judgment on each practice.
4.Calculate the weighted mean score of individual
practices.
5. Select practices above mean score as rational.

29. Steps involved for developing the ----
Extension Programme
Selecting "research minded"
village extension workers
Identifying "research
minded" farmers who are
already involved in farmer
experiments; and
Establishing programs for
validating farmer experiments
Validation of Farmer’s
Experiment
Understand experiments in the
socio-cultural and agro-
ecological environments
Determine the impact of
the experiments on
productivity, profitability, and
sustainability of the agricultural
system
Understand the rationale behind
farmer experimentation
Recording the mode of
conducting experiments
Identifying farmers' evaluation
criteria

30. Strategies for Agricultural Research
Strengthening the capacities of regional research and extension organizations;
Building upon local people's knowledge that is acquired through various
processes such as farmer-to-farmer communication, and farmer
experimentation;
Identifying the need for an extension scientist/ social scientist in an interdisciplinary
regional research team;
Formation of a sustainable technology development consortium to bring farmers,
researchers, NGOs, and extension workers together well ahead of the process of
technology development;
Generating technological options rather than fixed technical packages;
Working with the existing organization and management of research and public
sector extension;
Bringing research-extension-farmer together at all stages is practically difficult
considering the existing bureaucracies and spatial as well as academic distances
among the personnel belonging to these organizations.
Outlining areas that research and extension organizations need to concentrate on
during the process of working with farmers.
Understanding that it is impractical to depend entirely on research stations for
innovations considering the inadequate human resource capacity of the regional
research system.

31. Training on Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Stage-I: Training/workshop for the state
level trainers of TTCs, ICAR Institutes and
agricultural universities from various regions
of the country.
Stage-II: The trainers will then provide
similar training for district-level extension
workers, subject matter specialists of KVKs
etc.

32. Inter-Disciplinary and Multi-Disciplinary Approach
Identifying the problems
Problem prioritization with the active participation of the
farmers, local people etc.
Formulating research project incorporating the identified ITK as
a major component
Conducting Participatory On-Station Research (POSR) or On-
Farm Farmers Oriented Research (OFFOR)
Evaluating the effectiveness of the ITK including additional
benefits
Testing the research output in farmers’ fields
Technology validation
Technology refinement (if necessary)
Technology demonstration / popularization
Formation of sustainable technology development consortium is to bring
farmers, researchers, extension workers, KVKs and NGOs representatives

33. Indigenous Technology Map

35. Blending of indigenous knowledge with modern
scientific technologies is the need of the day to
support the sustainable development of agriculture
and allied sector in our country.
Challenges-----
Protect property rights and
facilitate the process
Raw Materials
Agri products
Industrial
products
Knowledge
products
Information
products
Innovation
Networks
Technology
Industrial
Society
Agricultural
Society
Information
Society
Knowledge
Society
Societal Transformation

36. 36
Go to the people,
Live with them,
Learn from them,
Love them,
Start with what they know,
Build with what they have,
But with the best leaders.
When the work is done,
The task accomplished
The people will say
“We have done this ourselves”
-Laotsu-700 B.C.
Think Globally, but Act Locally------