Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(5): 2102-2117

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 5 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com

Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.905.241

Indigenous Traditional Tools and Implements Used in Agriculture and Allied Sector in

Utpal Giri1*, Niladri Paul2, Dipankar De3,5, Soma Giri4 and M. C. Kundu5

1Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture Tripura, Lembuchara, West Tripura – 799210, 2Department of Soil Science and Agril. Chemicals, College of Agriculture Tripura, Lembuchara, West Tripura - 799210, India 3KVK, , Chebri, Khowai, Tripura, India 4KVK, North 24 Parganas Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Haripur, Ashokenagar, 743223, India 5Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, PalliSiksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan 731236, Birbhum, West Bengal, India

*Corresponding author

ABSTRACT

Indigenous technology knowledge (ITK) refers to the exclusive, old-style, local thinking present and developed in and around the explicit situations of

men and/or women native to a specific terrestrial area. Lots of indigenous agricultural know-how is available with the farming communities K e yw or ds especially in tribal people of Tripura. Surveys were conducted in different of Tripura mainly in South Tripura, Gomati, Khowai, and West Indigenous technology Tripura during November 2018 to June, 2019 for identifying and knowledge, Tools, documenting the different Indigenous Traditional Knowledge used in implements, Agriculture and allied agricultural activities. Survey was done through the Tripura, Agriculture method of using local resource persons and In-depth interview of farmers Article Info and notes, photos, audio and video recording were used for documentation.

Accepted: Some Indigenous Traditional implements which are still used by the people 15 April 2020 of Tripura for agriculture as well as allied sectors like in fisheries, animal Available Online: husbandry etc. are documented. ITK is still an unprecedented resource in 10 May 2020 the development activities. It needs to be intensively and extensively

studied and incorporated into formal research and extension practices in order to make rural development strategies more viable and sustainable.

Special efforts are needed to understand, document and disseminate ITK for preservation, transfer or adoption elsewhere.

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Introduction needs a holistic approach; ITK, if properly tapped, can provide valuable insights into The attention on indigenous technical resources, processes, possibilities and knowledge (ITK) involving the use of natural problems in particular area; ITK is recorded elements for solving the constraints or and transferred through oral tradition; ITK is difficulties related to agricultural and other learned through observation and hands-on activities has induced in India in late eighties. experience; ITK forms an information base Indian farmers acquired knowledge to for variety; ITK reflects local tradition”. produce food and live in constraint situation where they usually used various ITK for Roles of ITK producing crops as their age-old tradition. The enhancement of the quality of life of the According to Prakash et al., (2019) the roles Indians who in great majority live in and of ITK are – “ITK can aid development depend on agricultural production systems efforts; ITK can facilitate local people’s would be impossible by keeping this rich participation; ITK is a valuable source of tradition of ITK aside (Prakash et al., developing appropriate technologies”. 2019).Indigenous technology knowledge (ITK) can be defined as any information Scope of ITK analysis originated out of farmers experience which has practical utility in solving farmers According to Prakash et al., (2019) the scope problems which is feasible, profitable and of ITK analysis are - “New biological and socially acceptable and adopted farmers own ecological insight; Resource management; conditions which moves from one generation Protected areas and conservation education; to another by word of mouth (Sabarathnam, Development planning; and Environment 1990). Indigenous technology knowledge assessment”. (ITK) refers to the exclusive, old-style, local thinking present and developed in and around Advantages of ITK the explicit situations of men and/or women native to a specific terrestrial area (Prakash et Prakash et al., (2019) described the advantage al., 2019). Indigenous Technology of ITK as – “It has low cost and is readily Knowledge (ITK) is based on the experiences available; ITK is found to be socially that gathered momentum through generation desirable, economically affordable, and are being developed and standardized sustainable, environmentally safe and through innumerable experimentation and minimum risk to research users and widely practices to enhance the life of the people believed to conserve resources; ITK provides who greatly depend on agriculture production basis for problem solving strategies for local system. communities; Use of ITK assures that the end user of specific development projects are Characteristics of ITK involved in developing technologies appropriate to their needs”. Prakash et al., (2019) described the characteristics of ITK as – “ITK is not static Tripura being one of the eight sister state of but dynamic; Exogenous knowledge and the North Eastern India, is a land of beauty endogenous creativity bring change to ITK; with a unique feature of land topography and ITK is intuitive in its mode of thinking; ITK cultural heritage. The state is covered by is mainly qualitative in nature; ITK study picturesque hills and dales, deep and green

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valley’s which add beauty to its landscape. Notes The State has rich natural resources; including Photos gas and forests. Tripura (22o56' - 24o32' North Audio-recordings latitude and 91o10' - 92 o 21' East longitude) is Video-recordings situated in one of the farthest corners of the country and three fourth of its boarder being Area of survey work shared with the on its North, South and West. Only communicable main Extensive survey works were done in land connection of the state is with Assam purposively selected regions Belonia and and Mizoram. Tripura having a population Rajnagar block in South Tripura , density of about 350 persons per sq.km., Bamutia block in , comprising a multitude of ethnic groups, Killablock in and Khowaisub- tribes, religions, languages and dialects, yet a division in for study and very much peaceful and sober state to live. documentation of ITKs used by the local The main livelihood of the people of the state people of Tripura. depends mainly on Agriculture. Results and Discussion Tripura is one of the hotspots of bio-diversity. Tripura peoples are still using the traditional Lots of indigenous agricultural know-how is knowledge in agriculture particularly Tribal available with the farming communities people. The survey work is carried out from especially in the tribal people. These November, 2018 to June, 2019. The results of traditional farming systems are products of research and survey for the year 2018-19 has centuries of accumulated experiences. been presented in this document, along with Farmers all over the world have developed the methods and scope for ITK in the state of their own indigenous systems of farming with Tripura. local inputs. Some of the ITKs are herewith documented with photographs and description Materials and Methods in Table 1.

Process and methods used for ITK In conclusion, indigenous technology documentation (Pandey et al., 2017) knowledge (ITK) is still an unprecedented resource in agricultural and rural development Identification and collection of ITK activities. The ITK requires to be studied intensively and exhaustively and should be Methods and techniques used during survey included into the research as well as extension works are – activities for sustainable rural development. Special efforts are to be needed for Use of local resource persons understanding, documenting and Hear-say method disseminating ITK for preservation, transfer Survey method or adoption elsewhere. Since, the ITK’s Detailed talking with cultivators. seems to be cheaper, locally and easily available in rural areas and have lesser side Documentation effects, the use of these ITK’s may be encouraged by formulating proper strategy Methods and Techniques for documentation mainly through training and demonstration. used in survey are -

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Table.1 Different indigenous traditional tools and implements observed during survey work in Tripura

Photo of the Name of the Sl. Name of the tools/implements Description of tools/ farmers from Place of No Function ITK implements whom collection . collected 1 Sudam It is mainly used by It is made up of bamboo by Mandira Hari kanto ( Traditional or Indigenous the local people. Debbarma para, Gabordi language) or people. It is used as a

Fishing Trap fishing trap to catch the fishes in pond, lake, river

or in any water bodies.

2 Twi hook It is mainly used by It is made up of bamboo by Meselha Darjeeling, (Kokborok Traditional or Indigenous the local people. It is round Molsom Killa Language) people. It is used for shaped at the top and carrying water bucket or becoming narrow towards

any hard items in more bottom. number.

3 Rusham& It is mainly used for It is made up of wood by the Tiyari Hari kanto Romo making flour specially local people. Instead of Debbarma para, Gabordi (Kokborok from paddy grain and mechanical grinder in market,

language) or sometime other grains are the local people use it for Denki or Man also placed for making making ground of paddy/ rice operated Rice flour. or other materials. It consists miller of one rod shaped woody hard structured and one round shaped which is concaved in the middle.

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4 Janta (in It is mainly used to break It is made up of stone or Sripati Datta Chittamara, Bengali/ local whole pulse grain by cement. It consists of two Belonia language) or crushing them into it to round shaped cemented

pulse breaker make edible pulse. structure of equal sizes. These two parts are connected with

iron rod which is fixed with one cemented part. The non- fixed part has an hole where through pulses or any other material which need to be grinded are placed.

5 Sishing It is mainly used for Fish It is made up of bamboo by TiyariDebbar Gabordi (Kokborok trapping the local people with a trap to ma language) or captured the fishes. fishing trap

6 Dengki or It is mainly used for It is made up of wood. It Nakul Salema man operated milling of rice. Earlier consists of long woody Debnath rice miller days when milling structured which is fixed at

machine was not one end with two stalks fixed

available, it was being with earth where pressure is used by the people for given by the legs to pull the preparing rice from other end like a liver and one paddy. relatively narrow peg is fixed at right angle at the other end which strikes the paddy grains kept in the container. The

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container is remained fixed with the earth.

7 Bailwng It is mainly used for It is made up of “beth”. It is Tiyari Gabordi (Kokborok winnowing of paddy. round shaped thin matter. Debbarma

language) or

Winnower

8 Takhuk It is mainly used for Bamboo made structured. It Khakuwchang Patni Para (kokborok Rearing of poultry. looks like a bag having small Debbarma Killa language) or door at one side of the poultry structure. rearing house

9 Ura or Tukri It is used for Storage Bamboo made structured. It Suchitra Killa or Bamboo purpose or carrying looks like a container with mohanJamatia made materials from one place round shaped.

container to another.

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10 Dol( It is used for store the Bamboo made plastered with Suchitra Killa kokborok paddy grain for long mud. mohanJamatia language) or purpose.

granary

11 Jangini It is used as a object in It is made off of bamboo and Suchitra Killa (kokborok which other material are looks like sieve. mohanJamatia

language) or kept and let them for

drying tool drying in sun.

12 Indigenous It is used for ploughing It is a wood structured. Durga Manik Noabari, plough the soil. Jamatia Killa

13 Jowal It is used for attaching Wood or bamboo made Durga Manik Noabari, (kokborok / two bullocks during material. Jamatia Killa Bengali ploughing by indigenous

language) plough. or Yoke

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14 Khupa It is used for closing of It is prepared by bamboo or Durga Manik Noabari, (kokborok cattle mouth during nylon net with rope which is Jamatia Killa language) ploughing. used to close the mouth of cattle during ploughing so that

they will not eat any grasses and do not waste any time.

15 Dapa It is used for smoking It is normally made of Durga Manik Noabari, (kokborok purpose. bamboo used for smoking of Jamatia Killa language) or hookah, cheroot etc. smoking tool

16 Washung It is made by bamboo. Subhash Twirupa Gudak DayalJamatia Bari, Killa It is used for making (Kokborok gudak or dry fish. language) or dry fish making tool

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17 Natai Thread is prepared from It is made by wood. KVK, Khowai Khowai cotton by Spinning the Or charki thread with this.

18 Baatibokhrok It is used for preparation It consists of one aluminum Hiran Tripura Chittamara, and patina of local alcoholic container, three earthen pots Belonia beverages or wine by the and two long channels made tribal people by boiling off of bamboo or wood. Ricce the rice which is kept for is boiled in earthen pot with soaking for 2-3 days. the help of hot steam which is evaporated from the

aluminum container by applying stem at the bottom of the container. The steam evaporated from the boiled riec is collected in other two earthen pots through the bamboo made channels and the earthen pots are cooled with cold water so that it becomes liquid which is the ultimat product.

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19 Bol or It is use for carrying It’s a bamboo made stick. Narendra Chittamara, Bamboo stalk harvested paddy from the Tripura Belonia

field to the threshing floor.

20 Bamboo Spraying of pesticides is It is bamboo made having two Raghuram Chittamara, made sprayer done in absence of nodes. One side has small hole Tripura Belonia sprayer and other side of the bamboo

has bigger hole where through

valve will be inserted. Small hole is made where through water or spray material will be emerged when pressure will be given at the other side through a valve type bamboo made parts by the hand.

21 Tanth (Man it is used for making This is mainly wooden made KVK, Khowai Chebri, weaving cloth. Handmade cotton having various parts. Different Khowai machine) “saree”, locally called parts have different functions.

“tanthersharee” is One man can produce 2-3 prepared by using this “sharre”s per day. tools.

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22 Pitcher Irrigation is given by Sometimes, one small hole is KVK, Khowai Khowai irrigation pitcher. Slow water made at the bottom of the technique release irrigation pitcher and it has been placed near the base of the plant or placed below the ground surface after digging and soil is pressed properly. Water is poured in the pitcher and it is released slowly as per requirement of the plant.

23 Tin made Irrigation purpose. It is man operated tin made Khowai irrigation tool irrigation tool. One man can

irrigate his field from the pond or other field where water is stored. So, without machine, irrigation can be done particularly where machine cannot be brought in the field or not available.

24 Chalon To clean Parched/ puffed It is made up of bamboo. Mr. Nirmal Chandrapur, (Sieve) rice After preparing the puffed Ch. Roy rice, it contains husk of paddy which needs to be cleaned.

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25 Seed For better seed Bitter gourd seeds are kept by Mandira Hari kanto preservation germination (Seed of wrapping with banana pseudo Debbarma para, with banana Bitter Gourd) stem for few days before Gabordi, pseudo stem sowing. It will increase the killa, Gomati germination percentage of

seeds and health of the seeds remain in good condition.

26 Seed Store the seeds for next Seeds are kept inside the Mandira Hari kanto preservation year cultivation. bamboo for whole year. It will Debbarma para, in bamboo maintain the germination Gabordi, percentage of seeds and health Killa, Gomati (wasung) of the seeds. It acts as storage

of seeds.

27 Rat trap by Trapping of rat and The structure is placed at Bijoylal East R. C. Bamboo (Rat killing thereby to reduce mouth of the rat hole. It Majumder Ghat, killing the rat attack in crop. contains three parts – arrow Khowai Kaman - and two bamboo structure.

local name) One bamboo part is narrower than the other. The narrower part contains food item of rat which is placed with the help of jute rope in such a way with the bigger one that when rat has enter in the bamboo to eat, the rope needs to be cut. When the rope is cut, the

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narrower part is forcefully enter to the top portion of the bigger one as it is tight with the arrow and kill the rat.

28 Bird To protect the crop from One bamboo of small size is Chandan Das East R. C. controller bird attack. To run away splinted in two parts with one Ghat, (birds run- the birds from the crop. end remaining fixed. It is hold Khowai away from with hand at the fixed side crop; local end. After holding it, if it is name - shaken, it creates a typical Dongki) sound which crops are protected from attack of birds.

29 Mango To harvest mango. It is also bamboo made tool to Gouranga Das East R. C. harvester harvest mango. A long Ghat, (Local name bamboo is taken and the top of Khowai – the bamboo is splitted to make AmmParani) a oval shape structure with one side remaining open to enter the mango.

30 Pafla (Rain Protect the head from rain It is locally made by the Jharna Das East R. C. and sun and sun during the field bamboo and dry leaves or Ghat, protector) work. polythene sheet. It looks like a Khowai hat. It is used by the farmer during the field work to protect him from scorching of sun and splashes of rain.

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31 Fish net Harvesting of fish. It is locally made with nylon Sripati Datta Belonia, rope. It is used to trap fish in south Tripura

pond, lakes, river etc. It is mainly used by the people any time to catch fish from pond for immediate requirement.

32 Paddy marker It helps in marking the Initially the major problem Sri. Bikash North for SRI recommended spacing which farmers were facing Debbarma Pulinpur, under SRI. was to marking the land to Khowai maintain recommended

spacing under SRI. To overcome the overcome the Mr. BikasDebbarma developed a wooden device which helped in marking of land at a distance of (25x25). By applying his innovative idea, farmers are now adopting the SRI technology in a large scale which is helping the farmers in increasing the productivity of Paddy.

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33 Phuta It is used for keeping It is made up of bamboo or Suchitra Twirupabari, (kokborok specially onion, chilli and similar type materials. It looks Mohan Killa language) or other spices in the like a container which store Jamatia bamboo kitchen. different materials used for made cooking purpose. container

34 Langha It is used for carrying It is made up of bamboo or Durga Manik Noabari, Killa (kokborok material. similar type materials. It looks Jamatia language) like a container which is used to carry different materials.

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Acknowledgement Development. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & We acknowledge the Tripura Biodiversity Sociology. 15(3): 1-9. Board, Gorkhabasti, Agartala for supporting Prakash, N., Roy, S.S. and Ngachan, S.V. and funding the survey work and the farmers 2019. Role of ITK in Conservation who have helped in collection of information Agriculture: Blending Indigenous and about the indigenous tools and implements Scientific Knowledge, (ICAR Research used in agriculture and allied sector. Complex for NEH Region, Umiam – 793103, Meghalaya), References http://kiran.nic.in/pdf/publications/ITK. pdf downloaded on 18.06.2019. Grenier, L. 1998. Working with Indigenous Sabarathnam, V.E. 1990. Report of training Knowledge: A guide for Researchers, on Agricultural Research Management (International Development Research with an emphasis on technology Centre, Ottawa, Canada). management in agriculture in UNDP, Pandey, V., Mittal, R.and Sharma, P. 2017. (FAO Project at Iowa, USA, NAARM, Documentation and Application of Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500030. Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) for Sustainable Agricultural

How to cite this article:

Utpal Giri, Niladri Paul, Dipankar De, Soma Giri and Kundu, M. C. 2020. Indigenous Traditional Tools and Implements Used in Agriculture and Allied Sector in Tripura. Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 9(05): 2102-2117. doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.905.241

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