EXPLORING THE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE OF GURUNG COMMUNITY: A CASE STUDY FROM SYANGJA, NEPAL

Abstract

People have collected knowledge based on their experience and have been using such knowledge to develop new technologies. Every invention in today’s World is the result of empirical knowledge that our precedents collected which is also known as indigenous knowledge. In this paper, we have intended to study the indigenous knowledge and practices of a Nepali community. A study was conducted in Phedi Khola Rural Municipality, Syangja, Nepal to investigate indigenous knowledge and practices of the Gurung Community residing in the study area. The study covers various indigenous technologies used by the Gurung community in aspects such as seed management, crop management, disease pest management, storage, and other indigenous practices. Farmers had rich knowledge regarding the seed selection of different crop varieties. From the result, we can conclude that farmers often conserved local varieties of the crops by using their indigenous knowledge. The existing indigenous knowledge of farmers on crop insect pests and diseases management was not sufficient to secure food in the area. However, the rate of adopting new chemical pesticides and insecticides was negligible. There were various indigenous technologies of the Gurung community with great indigenous knowledge holding from generation to generation. They had both cultural and livelihood importance. The farmers possessed a great deal of local knowledge that can be documented, disseminated, and utilized. The survey provided the fact that these villages had road connections. It has been considered that once the area is totally connected or accessible to the market economy the valuable indigenous knowledge possessed by its inhabitants would be eroded forever. Hence, it was an urgent necessity to conduct a comprehensive study on the indigenous knowledge systems.