Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge Towards Achieving Sustainable Agriculture

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With modernization of agriculture comes the downside of intense application of pesticides, weedicides, fertilizers etc. It is widely accepted that such practices in the long run do pose major challenges to sustainable agriculture. Indigenous agricultural knowledge has the potential to provide a viable alternative here. This knowledge is the product of hundreds of years of experiences of the farmers and their experiments with nature. Such knowledge evolves gradually over the years through constant engagement with the natural processes, passes across generations, and thus, integrates the agro-climatic factors of a particular geographical area.In this chapter, we primarily attempt to rationalize the significance of indigenous agricultural knowledge in the present-day context. The concept of indigenous people, indigenous knowledge and indigenous agricultural knowledge are reviewed. The significance of indigenous agricultural knowledge in achieving the much talked about sustainable development goals are discussed. Its role in managing the contaminants from agro-ecosystems and ensuring sustainable yield are assessed in detail with a few empirical evidences of successful cases. We propose that an integration of indigenous agricultural knowledge with modern scientific knowledge has immense potential towards ensuring sustainable agriculture.KeywordsIndigenous agricultural knowledgeSustainable agricultureSustainable development goalsSDG-2Agricultural contaminants