Paper short abstract:

Diversified indigenous agricultural practices of Naga tribespeople are threatened by mono-culture for commercialization. Yet, the farmers are continuing to practice traditional agriculture indicating its hidden strengths and innovations. This paper attempts to document indigenous knowledge for further applications and replications.

Paper long abstract:

A prominent feature of indigenous agricultural practices amongst Naga tribespeople in North-East India is its high degree of agro-biodiversity. Traditional agriculture, an indigenous form of farming is the result of the co-evolution of local, social and environmental systems. It exhibits a high level of ecological rationale expressed through the intensive use of local knowledge and natural resources, including the management of agro-biodiversity in the form of diversified agricultural systems. Farming families, in order to sustain their livelihood, adopt and maintain diverse forms of agricultural practices, mainly (i) terrace rice cultivation (TRC), (ii) shifting (jhum) cultivation, (iii) home garden and (iv) firewood reserve forests, simultaneously. The greatest challenge to understand how indigenous farmers maintain, preserve and manage biodiversity is to recognize the complexity of their production systems. Today, it is widely accepted that indigenous knowledge is a powerful resource in its own right and complementary to knowledge available from western scientific sources. Therefore, in studying such systems, it is not possible to separate the study of agricultural biodiversity from the study of the culture that nurtures it.

The diversified indigenous agricultural practices of Naga tribespeople is threatened by the introduction of mono-culture for commercialization of selected marketable items displacing the normal indigenous crops that are cultivated for subsistence. Yet, the fact that farmers are continuing to practice traditional agriculture alongside adapting to modern agriculture indicates its hidden strengths and innovations. This paper is an attempt to understand the pressing necessity of documenting indigenous knowledge on agricultural practices amongst Naga tribespeople for further applications and replications.