Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge

Indigenous agricultural knowledge is created by the people in the long-term observation and production practice; it is the sum of experiences and knowledge that directly related to agricultural production activities. Therefore, it is not only the summary of production experiences, also the guidelines for production, is the characteristic of inheritance. Indigenous agricultural knowledge is “the knowledge of Farmers and agricultural workers' brain”, and it is the local agricultural technology that gradually developed along with the long process of people's adaptation to the physical and social environment. It is based on people's experiences, informal tests and a clear understanding of the environment from generation to generation. Te ways of land management, preparing planting materials, the prevention of pests and disea ses, maintaining soil fertility, weed controlling, harvesting and storage clearly reflect the local group's agricultural knowledge.Since modern times, all kinds of development research institutions and particularly the so-called “scientific community” did not treat local knowledge seriously, even completely ignored. A variety of innovative practices, improvements and technological inventions are considered to be an accident. The western science and technological knowledge are seen as an important tool to promote the economic growth and social change, and the local cultural knowledge is regarded as to hinder the development and must be discarded. However, in recent years, people are surprised that, Western science and technology does not solve all the problems, especially after the large-scale use of chemical materials, chemical fertilizers and pesticides have brought serious environmental pollution, ecological deterioration, crops' genetic variation in some villages, people pay more and more attention to the value, significant roles and exploitation of indigenous knowledge. Along with the sustainable and green development ideology, the application value and rationality of indigenous knowledge, especially the indigenous agricultural knowledge attracts special attentions of the natural science and social science.For every ethnic group or people, the generalized concept of “local knowledge” includes those knowledge, wisdoms, skills, agricultural tools, working styles, plowing culture as well as specific rural and indigenous oral culture that handed down from generation to generation. These indigenous knowledge is still the shelter of national spirit, and the foundation and the power source of local people's sustainable development. T he respect for and exploitation of indigenous agricultural knowledge is enough to arouse the local people's self-esteem and sense of responsibility. If these agricultural knowledge system completely collapse, and it is replaced by the modern science and technology with an external force, this mostly causes serious value dislocation and cultural chaos, produces disintegration of social structure and functions. Therefore, the revalue and re-exploitation of the indigenous agricultural knowledge are becoming an unavoidable issue in the process of modernization in various countries and nations.