A Report on the Survey of Organic Manures, Farms and Documentation of Indigenous Procedures, Practices and Techniques followed in Manipur, India

Techniques of agriculture followed in the traditional agriculture system were observed to conform the principles of organic farming. An understanding of the indigenous knowledge would help us in increasing the knowledge base of viable organic agricultural practices suited at the local level. Again the ideas and techniques could be addressed and refined for acceptance in the modern agricultural systems. Hence a study is worked out to document the various traditional practices relevant to organic agriculture being practiced in Manipur. Field visits, observations and contact discussion with elder farmers were carried out in rural areas of Manipur for collection of information regarding the traditional organic agriculture. An attempt had also been made to assign scientific rationale of the various practices followed by the traditional farmers. From the study it has been revealed that most of the practices could be assigned scieniific rationale although it was not aware to the traditional farmers.In fact the traditional practices were time tested and particularly suited at the local areas concerned. They could be treated as specialized form of practice suited for the location specific region or locality. The practices were partly intermingled with the religion, culture and beheft of the local people. The practices were sustainable and utilize locally available resources at the optimum for maximization of output. The waste from the fields, households, and other human activites were used as a source of soil input to enhance soil fertility and soil physical properties. The soil inputs ranges from cattle manure, garden waste and even kitchen waste. These were cost effective and easy to handle and they were ideal practices for nutrient recycling. In the disease management front, the principle of exclusion was the, most prominent mode of practice. Although practice were mostly confined to small marginal land holders yet a study would help in underssandirg the vast knowledge pursued by traditional farmers which is expected to enhance the knowledge base for selection of appropriate practice for organic crop protection and sustainable agriculture.