A Systems Perspective on the Conservation and Erosion of Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge in Central India

• Published in: Human ecology : an interdisciplinary journal Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 99 - 120
• Main Author: BRODT, Sonja B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 01.03.2001; Kluwer Academic Publishers Group; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agriculture, land tenure, rural space; Agroforestry; Asia; Conservation; Crop economics; Crop management; Crop science; Crops; Cultural Change; Economics; Ethnology; Forestry; Globalization; Home gardens; India; Indigenous knowledge; Local Knowledge; Morphological source materials; Native peoples; Organic farming; Sustainable agriculture; Traditional knowledge; Trees; Central India; Madhya Pradesh; South Asia; India; Technological innovation; Village community; Traditional Economy; Globalization; Systemic analysis; Resources exploitation; Native; Traditional Environmental Knowledge; Resource administration; Development; Cultural continuity; Agriculture; Cultural change; Agroforestry
• ISSN: 0300-7839; 1572-9915
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1007147806213

Many scholars are concerned that globalization and "scientization" of local management systems threatens the survival of valuable indigenous knowledge of agriculture and agroforestry. This paper addresses such concerns by drawing on a field study of knowledge about tree and crop cultivation in central India to examine dynamics of knowledge system change. It uses concepts from systems studies, including hierarchy, adaptability, connectedness, and scale, to show how parts of indigenous knowledge systems might be more likely to be lost or preserved under various socio-economic circumstances. It then suggests some concrete lessons for those interested in conserving indigenous knowledge: that knowledge is best conserved in situ; that concepts can be more important to communicate and preserve than mere facts or practices; that researchers might identify those parts of a knowledge system most in need of conservation attention; and that technical innovation might allow local-scale indigenous knowledge to interface more effectively with large-scale global technologies.