eChapters

INTRODUCTION

The medicinal values of plants are known since prehistoric times. Interestingly, 13000 BC old drawing on Lascaux caves in France suggests that humans were using plants for medicinal purposes. Ancient Egyptians chewed willow bark to relieve fever and headaches; and thousands of years later, scientists discovered that the bark contains salicylic acid- the active ingredient in aspirin. History reveals that in most of the countries natural products including plants, animals and minerals have been the basis of treatment of diseases both in human and veterinary medicines.
 
Plants as a source of medicine has been an ancient practice and is an important component of the health care system in India. The health management of people and domestic animals is based partially on the exploitation of natural resources, which needs proper documentation and research.

INTRODUCTION

Fish is a dependable source of animal protein in developing countries like India. In recent years, with the rapid development of the aquaculture enterprises, the infectious diseases caused by fungus, bacteria, virus and parasites became more severe, resulting in huge economic losses. Due to certain unavoidable problems for diagnosing and treating diseases, losses are being born by the poor fish farmers of the country.

The issue is more relevant to rural area like north-east India, where soil and water are highly acidic due to the high content of ferrous ions and high rainfall and their management needs high inputs. The situation gets shoddier when the farmers do not get the access to water and soil laboratory to test their pond samples. It is very hard for the rural farmers to monitor their culture pond condition without any scientific tools and technical knowledge. Moreover, stresses due to over-crowding, wide temperature fluctuations, cold stress, global warming, microorganism, pesticides, insecticides, chemicals, contaminants etc.

INTRODUCTION

Northeast India comprises the contiguous seven sister states.viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the Himalayan state of Sikkim. The Northeastern states of India are blessed with diversified fish fauna which assumes special interest due to the fact that the region is grained by two important drainages viz., Brahamaputra-Barak and Chindwin Irrawaddy. (Gurumayum and Choudhury, 2009). Riverine fisheries resources of Northeastern States comprise of 19,150 km of streams and rivers. Except the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys in Assam and Imphal Valley in Manipur, the Northeast mainly comprises of Hills and Mountains which form 65% of its territory (Suguman, 1998).

INTRODUCTION

Assam is a heartland of indigenous groups. Since hundreds of years, many indigenous groups have been living in the state, maintaining their originalities in every sphere of life with difficulties. The tribal-indigenous groups constitute almost 12.4% of the total population of Assam. (Sentinelassam.com). Fishing is one of the major livelihood option of many indigenous fishers as the state is blessed with huge water resources with about 3.91 lakh hectare of water area in the form of rivers, beel, derelict water bodies and ponds and tanks. Besides swamps and low-lying areas, two major rivers and their tributaries have a high growth potential for fishing and could play a pivotal role in the socio-economic development and employment generation in the state. Indigenous fishers have developed a close and unique connection with the water resources and its environment in which they are depended for generation to generation for their livelihood. They have generated unique system of knowledge, innovation and skills relating to the uses and management of fishing activities. Over centuries, people have learnt how to get food and to survive in different environment. Farmers are very keen to observe the problems arising during fishing and seek solutions to adjust to their local environmental conditions. They continuously adapt and manage their fishing systems and in this way, they develop a rich storehouse of practical knowledge on their situation.

INTRODUCTION

The enemies of plants have been harming the organized agriculture ever since man started depending on plants for food. Fossil evidence indicates that plants were affected by disease since 250 million years ago. Conditions of food shortage and famines have been created by these enemies of plants. Naturally, the man had been obvious of their presence and proposed explanations and methods of combating them according to the knowledge available at that time all over the world. It is not true that attention to plant diseases was first given in the western countries. In the ancient Indian literature many plant diseases and their remedies were mentioned.

INTRODUCTION

The origin of fish culture in India probably dates back to 2000 years. Possibly, fishery activity started when the human settlement moved away from the riverbanks to the hinterland. As the days went by, the Indian fish farmers practice their own indigenous technology as a common practice through natural resource management (National Commission on Agriculture, Gov. of India, 1976). The close and intimate observation of farmers through their age-old practices has developed the expertise of acquiring knowledge in aquatic ecosystem in particular. Admittedly, the multifarious knowledge and skill possessed by local people can substantially contribute to productive efforts and endeavors (Dasgupta, 1993).

INTRODUCTION

Fishing is one of the oldest professions of humans. As the day went by, the fish farmers carry out their own indigenous technology as a common practice through natural resource management. In this line, different traditional fishing communities of West Bengal gained a vast experience in every sphere of aquaculture. Their innovation is based on their own knowledge derived from their day to day effort of solving problems. Actually this indigenous knowledge is the accumulated information, skill and technology of the local farmers derived from the close interaction with the nature. The intimate interaction of the farmers with aquatic ecosystems through their age old practices has developed huge expertise which is essential to be documented and disseminated. It will be helpful for aqua resource management as they can be shared in a, cost effective, eco-friendly as well as socio economically viable proposition.

INTRODUCTION

Over the past decades, as concerns about declines in local habitats, species, and livelihoods related to agriculture and allied sectors have increased, the potential contributions of local and traditional knowledge (LTK) to ecosystem research and management have been increasingly recognized (Thornton and Scheer, 2012). North Eastern region is well known as one of the 18 hotspot areas of the world and hence is blessed with rich biodiversity and fish fisheries resources. With more than 90% of population being fish eaters, there is heavy demand of fish but a wide gap exists between supply and demand. The region produces over 0.214 million tonnes of fish annually, with almost 50% coming from aquaculture.

INTRODUCTION

Ethno-entomophagy is the term used to describe the practice of consumption of insects as food by native human populations. Insects are an important source of protein for humans, either through direct consumption or as food supplements for livestock (DeFoliart, 1989). They are nutritious in terms of protein (40–75 g/100g dry weight) and minerals. Their protein is of high quality and has high digestibility (77–98%) with good concentration of essential amino acids (46–96% of the nutritional profile) (Verkerk et al., 2007). The biochemical composition and chemical analysis have revealed that they are comparable with other foods enriched with high proteins, fats, lipids, vitamins and mineral salts (Prasad, 2007). Insects generally have higher food conversion efficiency than other animals. They show a food conversion efficiency of about twice as efficient as pig and boiler chick and more than five times as efficient as beef cattle (Durst and Shono, 2010). Some of the important edible insects include grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetle grubs, adult winged termites, bees, wasps, winged ants, cicadas and a variety of aquatic insects.

INTRODUCTION

Jewellery has been a favorite form of adornment since time immemorial in all parts of the worlds and Indian is not an exception. The significance of jewellery in the country is evident from the fact that on many auspicious occasions, jewellery forms a part of gifts. Jewellery has not only been considered for the purpose of adoration, but it can also be sold to overcome the economic crisis. This way, jewellery also serves the purpose of insurance, which can be depended upon. To accentuate their feminine beauty, women use jewellery made of gold, silver and diamonds. Traditionally, jewellery has always been linked with wealth, power and status.

INTRODUCTION

The fermented products probably came into existence at least before the British Era in Northeastern states of India [before 1824, The Yandabu Agreement between British Govt. and Burma (now Myanmar)] when the British first introduced salt in the region. Interestingly, in all the fermented fish products of this region no salt is used as ingredient which is a major difference with the other fish based fermented fish products of Southeast Asian countries such as Nuac-mum of Vietnam, Budu of Malaysia, Patis of the Philippines etc. Even after the British Era, people used to treat salt as a highly valued and scarce commodity and they used to take an alternative commodity, for example khar in Assam, made from banana plant or papaya. Hence, they could not afford spending salt in fish preservation and they were bound to preserve fish in their own cheaper and easier way.

INTRODUCTION

Ethno-Veterinary Medicine (EVM) or Veterinary Anthropology refers to holistic and interdisciplinary study of traditional knowledge, skills, methods, practices and folk beliefs of the people about the health care of animal husbandry and production of livestock (McCorkle, 1986). It encompasses information on diseases and their control; remedies and clinical practices for treatment and prevention; management, feeding and breeding strategies; spiritual elements; and the use of human resources that hold the information and experience (Mathias, 2004).

INTRODUCTION

North East India is a rich storehouse of indigenous agricultural practices and local varieties of crops. The region comprising of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim can be physiographically categorized into the Eastern Himalayas, Northeast hills (Patkai-Naga Hills and Lushai Hills) and the Brahmaputra and Barak Valley plains. At the confluence of the Indo-Malayan, Indo-Chinese and Indian biogeographically realms, the NE region is unique in providing a profusion of habitats, which features diverse biota with a high level of endemism (Chatterjee et al., 2006). The northeastern region is rich in biological diversity and contains more than one-third of the country’s total biodiversity. This biodiversity and variability of the ecosystem are used and conserved by traditional communities through various informal institutions and using traditional ecological knowledge systems. Ethnic communities of the region practice their traditional cultivation practices of diverse crop suitable in different ecosystems solely on organic conditions without any external inputs to the system; and value the land and the environment for the sustainability of the system for future generations. There is no systematic record to describe what they are, what they do and how they do, how they can be changed, their operations, their boundaries and their applications.

INTRODUCTION

The North Eastern Hill (NEH) Region of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim lies between 20º5’ to 29º30' latitude and 89º49' E to 97º3' E longitude. The region possesses a great diversity in soil and climate as influenced by varied altitudes ranging from 18m MSL to more than 3000m MSL. In the entire region due to high rainfall (1800 mm to 3000 mm/year) humidity is very high (50-100%). The average minimum and maximum temperature is also comparatively low and ranges from below 0°C to a maximum of 35ºC. This region is very rich in natural resources with diverse flora and fauna.

Introduction

North East India, a mega-biodiversity centre and a hotspot (Myer et al., 2000) occupy 7.7% of India’s total geographical area supporting 50% of the flora (ca. 8000 species) (Rao, 1994), of which 31.58% (ca. 2526 species) are endemic (Nayar, 1996). It is a transitional zone between the Indo-China and Indo-Burma–Malaysian regions. This region is also a part of the vavilovian centre of biodiversity and origin of many important cultivated plant species and some domesticated animals (Agarwal, 1996). North Eastern Hilly (NEH) region of India supports a rich biodiversity spanning from tropical rainforests to alpine scrubs.  Takhtajan (1969) described the region as the “Cradle of Flowering Plants” because of its diversified angiosperms.  This rich biodiversity has a significant role to balance the ecosystem and has been used ethnologically by locals for various socio-economic and developmental purposes (Yumnam, 2008).

Introduction

Sustainable exploitation of fish stocks and conservation of fish habitat are matters of concern for fishery scientists and administrators all over the world. Worldwide there is a declining trend in natural fish catch (FAO, 2002) and India is no exception. Increasing harvest pressure, destructive fishing operations, introduction of exotics, are examples of factors from within the sector responsible for increasing pressure on fish stocks. The decline in open water catch has been a serious issue in fisheries as millions of rural households depend on fishing to maintain their livelihood incomes, and because fish is a major protein source in the globe. However, the government in several countries is addressing the issue in a number of ways, such as: (i) moving towards biological management from revenue-oriented management; (ii) involving resource users in capture fisheries management to maintain natural productivity; and (iii) starting programs such as rehabilitating of degraded habitats (FAO, 1999).

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic.While many would agree that one of the most universal and significant tools for the transfer of knowledge is writing (of many kinds), argument over the usefulness of the written word exists nonetheless, with some scholars skeptical of its impact on societies. People are often internalizing new information which they perceive to be knowledge but in reality fill their minds with false knowledge.

INTRODUCTION

Indigenous knowledge is the knowledge of the indigenous people inhabiting different geographical regions of the world with their own language, culture, tradition, belief, folklore, rites and rituals. In course of their close interactions with nature and natural resources, they are to make a certain decisions as to solve their problems they encounter in their day to day life while managing the land and environmental resources for survival.

Several researchers explained traditional knowledge as holistic, encompassing many fields of scientific knowledge, such as climate, hydrology, soils, plants and animals (Howes and Chambers, 1980, Jungerius, 1985, Wilken, 1987, Agrawal, 1995). Therefore, indigenous knowledge so developed is based on necessities, instinct, curiosity and observations of ethnic groups to mitigate the immediate problems. Several logical observation was used by them in the decision making process as to how, when and where to act depending on the situations.

ABSTRACT

The concept of the Kissan Call Centres-KCCs (Farmers’ Call Centres-FCCs)) was a logical outcome of the Government of India’s (GOI’s) commitment to leverage the ICT for overcoming the constraints of distance and time in providing new generation extension services to the farmers of the country by facilitating their direct virtual contact with the agricultural extension and expert personnel. The study on KCC has shown that farmers in the age group of 29 to 48 years are the biggest user group of KCC helpline. In terms of academic background, farmers with a minimum exposure of six to seven years to formal schooling (86%) seek to utilize the KCC support and relatively inexperienced farmers with less than 10 years of experience are more likely (47.5%) to call the KCC. The scope to enhance awareness and access among women farmers to the KCC helpline is huge as their current levels of participation are negligible. As regards the performance of KCCs, 84% of the farmers who called the KCCs expressed overall satisfaction from the advice provided through the helpline.

ABSTRACT
  
The present study was conducted with 100 internet users in Lahowal CIC and Barbaruah CIC in Dibrugarh district of Assam to critically analyze the various aspects of internet utilization pattern. Results showed that majority (66%) of the respondents were between 18 to 26 years of age and were students (50%). Education qualification of majority of the respondents (32%) was above seventh standard and below graduation and seventy per cent were above graduation and below post graduation and also undergone training in computer.