Abstract
Indigenous people have depended on shifting cultivation since time immemorial. The clamour for sustainable development has, however, gained importance and much emphasis in recent years. Over a few decades, the practice of shifting/jhum cultivation has been abandoned among the Mao villages through the valuable inputs of scientific knowledge. They have taken recourse to terrace cultivation, where the plant waste is carefully buried and made as natural manure. This practice can be seen even in the wet paddy fields too. Though the land is limited, the people still export vegetables, fruits, and flowers to different parts of the country. Willow trees are planted in good numbers along the riverine to preserve soil erosion. Likewise, alder trees are grown amidst terrace cultivation for manure and soil retention. Besides, willow and alder trees are nurtured in plenty since the area is prone to frequent landslides and earthquakes. The authors employed a qualitative and participant observation method, which includes a semi-structured interview and the use of mass media to collect the data. This chapter attempts to conceptually analyse how indigenous knowledge and practices blended with scientific knowledge could be adopted for a sustainable future and, at the same time, better managed in the event of natural disasters.
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Acknowledgements
My special thanks to Dr. A A Mao, Director, Botanical Survey of India, Dr. Lokho Pfoze Jerome, Ph.D. in Bio-Chemistry, Dr. Fr Nepuni William, Principal, St Xavier College, Senapati, Mr. K. Sani Alexander of Chowainu village, Mrs. S. Esther Chiswute, Member of the Mao Flower Association for all the inputs and guidance during this undertaking.
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Kaje, B.K., Thomas, K.A. (2023). Indigenous Knowledge in Sustainable Development: A Mao Naga Perspective. In: Panda, G.K., Chatterjee, U., Bandyopadhyay, N., Setiawati, M.D., Banerjee, D. (eds) Indigenous Knowledge and Disaster Risk Reduction. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26143-5_12
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