isca regional science congress final

8/13/2019 ISCA Regional Science Congress Final

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ISCA Regional Science Congress on

“Innovations in Sciences and Technology for Inclusive Development”

Amalgamation of traditional ecological knowledge and

agricultural science for future conservation and

cultivation of Allium species in Manipur

Presented by

KaustubhRakshit & Ashalata Devi*

Department of Environmental ScienceTezpur university



Allium species have high ethnobotanical andsocio-economic significance in Manipur.

Allium species are important to the people ofManipur and are widely used as spices /

condiment in fresh or dry form in everyhousehold in almost all the traditional dishes.

Introduction



Allium species like Allium

ascalonicum, Allium hookeri and

Allium tuberosum are growncommonly in most of homegarden or kitchen garden ofvalley areas.

The cultivation of Allium speciesnot only generates income for

the growers but also helps inconservation of these speciesand their germplasms.

Allium species

Allium ascalonicum

Allium odorosum Allium hookerii

Allium sativum



Allium species cultivation and its conservation could not

emphasize any scientific and systematic soundstrategies due to lack of research-based experience andinformation of the plants.

Agriculturalists and farmers of the area also take

interest largely in the cultivation of variety of paddy andvegetables.

Research question and problems



It is essential to have a combine approach of traditional

ecological knowledge and agricultural science forsustainable cultivation and conservation of Alliumspecies in the state.

Short scientific studies in which traditional methods arecalibrated against standard scientific methods couldmake it possible to webbing traditional ecologicalknowledge with scientific inferences for higherproduction and conservation of Allium species.

The approach towards solution



Conventional scientific research and monitoring can beexpensive, often require specialized skills ortechnology, and are usually not practicable in theremote places in which customary resource use occurs.In such places, local communities possess neither a

science capacity nor a tradition and trust in science.

MONITORING METHODS

USED IN TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS



Most traditional monitoring methods used by

indigenous cultures are rapid, low-cost, and easilycomprehensible assessments made by the farmers.

One of the characteristics of traditional monitoring isthat observers tend to note unusual rather than

average patterns and occurrences.Changes in the frequency of such unusual events areoften interpreted as signs of long-term alterations inecosystems or resource levels.



We turn now to a consideration of howagricultural science and traditional ecologicalknowledge could play complementary roles toimprove the prospects for sustainable

agricultural development.

COMPLEMENTARY USE OF

SCIENCE AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE



Combining scientific and traditional methods can not only build

partnership and community consensus, but also, and moreimportantly, allow indigenous peoples to critically evaluatescientific predictions on their own terms and test sustainabilityusing their own forms of adaptive management for Allium speciescultivation and conservation.

When it comes to determining the nature of the problem, there is asurprising level of agreement between traditional ecologicalknowledge and science (Lyver 2002, Newman and Moller 2004),particularly in the area of primary observational evidence ofchanging patterns in the environment.

Conclusion



However, because of their different world views and other factors,scientists and local communities often disagree about what is

causing the problem and how to go about solving it. Clearly,scientific and indigenous knowledge differ in their approach toagriculture monitoring, and these differences are the source ofmany disagreements.

However, an alternative view of these differences might be to treat

them as different areas of expertise that complement rather thancontradict each other.

isca regional science congress final

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