Use of Indigenous Technical Knowledge in Farming for Sustainable Development

The study was undertaken to determine the extent of use of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) by the farmers in agriculture for sustainable development and to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the farmers and their extent of use of ITK. Data were collected through personal contact by using interview schedule from a sample of randomly selected 105 farmers out of a total population of 1050 during February to March 2008. Correlation Co-efficients were computed to examine the relationship between the concerned variables. Extent of use of ITK was computed in three separate dimensions of farming by using Indigenous Technical Knowledge Use Index (ITKUI). In case of crop, among the 35 identified ITKs, 'setting up bamboo sticks and branches of trees in rice fields to let the birds sit and eat away insects' had highest extent of use by the farmers. In case of fishery, applying cowdung in the pond to feed the fish ranked first. Finally, ITKUI for livestock, poultry and duckery indicated that feeding rice mixed with KMnO4 to chicken to cure poul cholera ranked first as ITK. About half (47 percent) of the respondents was moderate users of ITK followed by 40 percent as low users. Only 13 percent of the farmers were high user of ITK. Age, family size and organizational participation of farmers towards the use of ITK were positively related to their extent of use of ITK. On the other hand, level of education, cosmopoliteness, extension media contact and rationality were negatively correlated with their extent of use of ITK.