Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) relates to a person’s genuine knowledge, a population that reflects traditional experiences as well as more recent encounters with new technologies. It is assumed that there is no systematic record of their origin about what they do and how they can be modified, their operations, boundaries, and applications. It exists in as many distinct brains, languages, and skills as there are now in diverse groups, civilizations, and environments. In natural conservation and natural resource management, there is a much-needed role of ITK. At the same time, irrespective of language, culture, and social system, it can eventually aid a sustainable development effort.

Nepal has a diverse range of communities with varied tradition, culture and their knowledge which has been practiced for a long time. Since time immemorial, all of these cultures have had some form of traditional wisdom related to their lives. Indigenous peoples have contributed their knowledge of sustainable natural resource management, conservation, and restoration since the dawn of time. The issue that needs to be addressed is that none of any policy or legal boundness hasn’t been in place for the promotion, conservation, and documentation of ITK. It’s also worth noting that keeping ITKs is critical for aboriginal communities and farmers’ existence because they are ingrained or deeply embedded in their culture and customs.  Farmers appreciate ITK procedures because they are farmer-friendly, socially acceptable, cost-effective, environmentally sound, and tailored to the individual local and environmental conditions. Despite their usefulness, ITK methods are often overlooked or dismissed under the guise of being unscientific. But something unexplained isn’t always unscientific, and dismissing ITKs because they’re unscientific isn’t justified.

Nepal has accepted a number of treaties, including the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar 1971), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992), the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (UNFCCC 1992). There is a need that Nepal, as a member of the convention, has to develop appropriate national laws otherwise such treaties will not apply for the promotion of it.

Nepal has been practicing various methods of ITKs in Agricultural operation. Some of them are discussed as follows;

Traditional water resource management practices in Nepal

With its varied geographical variability, Nepal has encountered the problem of access to water supply for agriculture.  The majority of the agriculture cropping system relies on a rainfed basis. For the conservation of water, various traditional approaches have been used by farmers. Planting the medicinal plant, for example, Tulsi in a specific structure called “MAIRI” has been regarded as an important religious activity in every household. Meanwhile, a little pond is also created nearby to store the water. Similarly, rainfall harvesting is becoming more popular in Nepal, where people can afford to bring metal sheets to collect rainwater and transfer it into a tank via a gutter.

“PALO BANDHNE” is another typical type of water allocation, in which the entire town is divided into farm families, with each family receiving one full water day or a limited number of hours to irrigate their fields. Also in Nepal, traditional watermills “GHATTA” are used to grind wheat, maize, millet, and other grains. With heaped stones and brushwood weirs, the stream is directed into channels.

 Traditional Soil Resource Management practices in Nepal

Farmers have been practicing various participatory tools such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) to identify their soil texture, soil color for since long. Farmyard manure, green manuring in-situ manuring (such as maintaining animals in sheds or open fields and also utilizing migratory flocks of sheep and goats), mulching, use of nitrogen-fixing plants, crop rotation, fallowing, terrace riser slicing, catching flood water for fertigation, trash burning, use of forest soils and black soils, and burying of dead animals and mobile toilets are some of the examples of soil management practices in Nepal.

Traditional knowledge on Pest Management in Nepal

Plant materials are used by farmers to protect plants from pests and to improve the nutritional state of the soil. Tirupati, banmara, neem, and asuro were discovered to have an essential role in pest management in indigenous populations among the plants available locally. Similarly, in agriculture, weeds are the primary host of pests. Weed management is carried out by indigenous groups in order to control pests in the field. Hand or manual weeding is done during intercultural operations, and burning is still common. Flooding is used to control the growth of weeds in rice fields.

Some seed protection strategies such as Cow manure to protect seeds. Before being planted, the seeds are covered in cow dung. It aids in the protection of seeds from pests. Cow dung extract at a concentration of 2% is said to be efficient against ear head bug, BPH, leaf folder, stem borer, caterpillars, and other chewers in rice. Likewise, birds and animals that ruin crops are scared away by scarecrows. These are specifically preserved in rice, wheat, and maize fields, as well as vegetable and fruit fields.

Conclusion:

Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) is socially desired, economically feasible, long-term, low-risk, and focuses on efficient use of environmentally favorable resources. Indigenous knowledge and skills are vital assets to indigenous communities. They are employed by merging local populations’ traditional skills, culture, knowledge, and tools. The ITK showed its value and effectiveness in soil conservation, biodiversity protection, water conservation, insect control, and pest management. The majority of farmers utilize ITK-based practices without understanding their scientific rationale. There is a need for further documentation, validity, refinement, integration, and scientific recognition for the promotion of ITKs.  It is desirable to integrate the local ecological knowledge into school curricula. In a similar manner markets for indigenous and organic products should be developed. Communal resource management organizations should be supported reinforcing conservation principles. Long-term sustainability in agriculture can only be achieved through a multi-pronged holistic approach.