Indigenous pest management practices in rice ecosystem of Assam, India

Abstract

The indigenous pest management practices (IPMPs) adopted in rice farming in Assam were identified along with the farmers’ perception levels on their efficacy and the scientific rationality as judged by the agricultural scientists. Data were collected from 120 farmers of Nalbari district and validated by 25 scientists of Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. The result reveals that out of 33 identified practices, - 6 are highly effective and 10 are moderately effective as perceived by the farmers. A total of 21 practices have been rated to be rational by most of the scientists. Out of the 8 plant-origin IPMPs, all were rational with high and medium efficacy score, whereas out of 16 cultural IPMPs, only 6 (37.5%) were rational with only 2 practices with high and medium efficacy. No botanical practice was judged as irrelevant by any scientist. The effective and rational practices may be validated further in other agro-climatic regions in order to popularize them as a part of Integrated Pest Management module. The rational IPMPs can also be screened to assess its efficacy against the recently invaded crop-pests in Assam.