Application of Indigenous Technological Knowledge (ITK) for Plant Disease Management in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Most of the farmers in our country highly depend on chemical pesticides and fungicides to control pests and diseases in agriculture and horticultural crops. Abundant usage of these pesticides in crop fields causes harmful effects to human beings as well as to other living organisms. The harmful effects of these chemicals brings the emergency call for ecofriendly and hazard free sustainable agriculture. Indigenous technological knowledge (ITK) originates from local, rural communities and it can play an important role in organic agriculture. The ITKs are eco-friendly and compatible with various agricultural management practices particularly pest and disease management. Application of ITK in crop management, contributing towards chemical residue-free agricultural products. The farmers of Tamil Nadu state in India profusely use the chemical pesticides and fungicides to control crop pests and diseases even though most districts in Tamil Nadu have their own ITK practices with respect to location specificity. Hence, an attempt has been made to document some of the significant and effective ITKs followed by the farmers in Tamil Nadu for the management of crop diseases. This paper contains an overview of Indigenous Knowledge in Plant diseases management to help researchers in the future.