The Baigas and their weavers
The buzzword these days in Baigachak is the Baiga Mahapanchayat. It is an effort of Nai Disha, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Sijhora …
Making sense of `Make in India'
Manufacturing needs to get a boost. But what to manufacture and how are two critical questions
Traditional irrigation fails themoney test
USER-FRIENDLY IRRIGATION DESIGNS Nirmal Sengupta Publisher: Sage Publications, New Delhi Price: Rs 185
Tears and the drama aside, the message survives
Prabhat Roy's award-winning Shwet Paatharer Thala is a tear-jerker, which nevertheless effectively preaches the lesson of family welfare.
The wood femine
Decline in supplies has badly affected many traditional crafts. Woodcarving in Saharanpur is one of them. Despite a revitalised export market, …
Science of the Common people
A recent congress highlighted the relevance of people-oriented science and technology such as the management of water, forests and agriculture.
The other course
Traditional curative systems like ayurveda, homoeopathy, acupuncture... are being revived as alternative medicine. But in India and the Orient, …
In crisis
The desert city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan is an excellent example of how Thoughtless processes of modernisation and urbanisation have destroyed an …
Knowledge seeks power
The rights of indigenous communities, which have nurtured traditional systems of knowledge through the ages, will be discussed at length at …
"Natural resources need to be protected"
For centuries the people in Bhinyad, a village in Barmer district, Rajasthan, been planning their agricultural activities while preserving the …
Power to the people
The Biodiversity Bill to empower local communities under scrutiny of parliamentary standing committee
Deserted Delicacies
Abundant, nutritious and tasty. Yet, traditional desert food is gradually losing out to commercially grown crops
There is a tendency, across governments and over time, to disregard local knowledge systems: Arati Kumar-Rao
Landscapes suffer because we do not learn from extreme events, the author of ‘Marginlands’ tells Down To Earth
Indigenous knowledge: Australian Aboriginal fire practices can help protect koalas from bushfires, study finds
‘Cultural burns’ encouraged regeneration of native plants, did not cause any stress in koalas and were cooler and slower than ‘…
Tried and tested
Traditional medical and agricultural practices, usually dismissed as unscientific, are regaining favour, with some help from Honeybee -- a …
Home remedies
Indigenous is the byword in the water harvesting techniques followed in India's northeast. In Meghalaya, an intricate network of bamboo pipes is …
Legacy of an empire
Encouraged by their ninth century benevolent rulers, Gond landlords and villagers had set up an intricate and immensely useful network of …
The State's non-bureaucratic role of encouraging the people
Indian rulers rarely built water harvesting structures themselves. They, however, encouraged their subjects to build them through fiscal …
Diverse technologies: a treasure trove
Our traditional water harvesting structures demonstrate the people's ingenuity at its best. Using unique modes and basic engineering skills, …
Hunting for the snark
Problems in conservation of sacred groves first have to be identified. The solution lies in measures that involve and encourage local people
A mythical tragedy
At the root of the tragedy of commons lies not the inherent selfishness of people, but the imposition of practices and projects alien to the …
Why we need to listen to hunters
Biologists have often used the hunter's knowledge for wildlife studies. But strict laws have silenced their voice
Weed on my plate
Tribals of central India vouch for the taste and health benefits of neglected wild vegetables
Forgotten healers
Traditional medicine system has time and again proved its worth. Then why the cold shoulder?
Water strongholds
Chittor and Ranthambhore. Proud traditions of valour, chivalry and patriotism are complemented by one of common sense in the storage and use of …