Study Of Traditional Indigenous Knowledge Techniques

To Identify Climate Change

Presented by:
05- Shreya Bamane 06- Mitali Belge
09- Twinkle Bothara 14- Shruti Chavan
40- Shweta Nikam 49- Lavanya Prasad
51- Shriya Raina 53- Aishwarya Salian
Introduction
Adaptive
Capacity

ITK Cultural
Belief

Cultural
Practice
❖ Changes in the atmosphere and its effects on the Earth’s oceans has led to rise in the average surface air
temperature which is also known as ‘Global Warming’

❖ Results in cause of serious catastrophic consequences such as melting of glaciers, rising sea level and rise
in the amount and intensity of climatic extremes

❖ Severity of this change in climate is going to endanger the very existence of human beings on the planet
which brought out the need of adaptation in accordance to climate change especially for the developing
countries.
❖ But the Adaptive capacity → closely linked to social and economic development is difficult to
approach.

❖ Global economy is on the path of robust growth → has led to global energy consumption go upwards.

❖ Also adaptation is a more viable option to reduce the vulnerability to anticipated negative impacts of
global warming.

❖ Integration of the mitigation and adaptation to fight climate change to safeguard the world.

❖ There are regions in the world where people live in the lap of nature without causing any harm to
nature and have developed special skills to cope with the occasional natural flurries.

❖ These skills of creating harmony between the power of nature and human greed are known as
‘Traditional Knowledge’ or ‘Ingenious knowledge’.
❖ Knowledge that is generated, preserved and transmitted in a traditional and intergenerational
context, which preserves and transmits it between generations and is an integral to the cultural
identity of the community which is recognised as holding the knowledge.

❖ indigenous knowledge is tied to a single culture or society gained through many years of
community experience by trial and error method.

❖ represents an alternative way of thinking; evolved through time, keeping in mind the need to
safeguard locals from variations in the local climate.
❖ as scientific as any other form of present knowledge as it evolved on the same principles of
experiments and trial and error methods which are widely followed in sciences

❖ These people have learnt the art of adapting to any changes in their climate and this knowledge
or skill can help the present generation to fight the present form of climatic variability.

❖ So, given the urgency to cope with climate changes, present study is an attempt to discover the
traditional skills prevalent among communities of India that can help to build future courses of
actions for the present generation.

❖ The regions of India vary from north to south and from east to west. So the ITK is different for
different regions which will we discussed below.
NORTHERN
ZONE
J&K, Ladakh, Punjab, Haryana,
Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan
❏ The fragile landscapes of the Northern region are highly susceptible to natural
hazards, leading to ongoing concern about current and future climate change
impacts in the region.

❏ Climate change concerns in these regions are multifaceted and encompass floods,
droughts, landslides, human health, biodiversity, endangered species, agriculture,
livelihood, and food security.

❏ The uncertainty of the coming monsoon also makes summer a season of anxiety for
farmers all over.

❏ To help reduce the uncertainty of the monsoon, farmers have developed a variety of
traditional methods for predicting the nature of the monsoon.
 INDICATORS
Floral Wind Red/Pink
01 Time and 02 Strength of 03
clouds
quality of rain rainfall
Possibility of
rainfall

04 Insect
05 Moon Phases
Movement Quality of rain
Rainfall

Animal Water Sources

06 08
Behaviour Mist Drying up of wells,
Increase in 07 Mist covering the
springs, rivers and
wetlands rapidly
temperature, hills and indicates good rain.
humidity & rainfall mountains, it is a
signal for good
rains
CENTRAL
ZONE
Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh,Chhattisgarh
 Cloud Colour and Pattern
Floral Indicators
● Red / pink clouds in the morning →the possibility of
● If flower petals of certain lower plants
rain ; Red / pink clouds in the evening→there would be
remain closed -> rain and bad weather.
no rain.
● Appearance of young leaves and grass in the
● Dark clouds preceding strong winds -> thunderstorms
mountains -> good rains.
in a few hours.
● Dropping of immature fruits / drying of
flowers -> arrival of very dry season.

Other Abiotic Indicators

● Shadow of the rainbow near the source of water -> clear weather.
● Bubbles in water during light rain -> more rain. If the bubbles appear
during morning showers -> the rain would last the whole day.

Moisture
● Moisture over the hookah -> rain.
● Moisture on dried chillies or tobacco leaves -> high humidity and imminent rain.

Human Response
● People with arthritis have pain in joins
 Star Constellation
● Movement of stars from west to east -> rainfall in 2-3 days
● Traditionally used to sense direction and time and if all stars are out at night it
indicates a nice day tomorrow.
Insect Related Indicators
● Winged termites coming out of soil -> Fine weather for some time
● winged termites after a dry spell of some days -> rainfall.
● Spider leaving their webs -> Rainfall

Bird Related Indicators

● Flock of small birds like common swallows together with proceeding black clouds ->
rain.
● Birds taking dip in water-> imminent rain.
● Crow spreading and moving its wings near rivers or source of water -> dry spell.
● Flock of sparrows flying around the sky with scattered clouds -> rain in the
afternoon.
Animal Behaviour
● Grazing cows / yaks, juppu in local parlance, returning home early-> rain or bad weather.
● Croaking of frogs during the afternoon-> imminent rain during all seasons.
● If the goats do not graze -> snowfall.
● If burrowing animals come out of their burrows and start to dig the ground -> some natural calamity.
● Weeping like the sound of animals -> a bad omen and correlated with natural calamities.
North Eastern
Zone
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura
and Sikkim.
❏ In NE India, where the economy is predominantly agrarian and rural, nearly 80 percent of
the population depends on agriculture.
❏ In all, 8 indicators pertain to distinctive features of birds, insects, fish, plants, and clouds,
relating to weather, drought, natural calamities. Some of them are mentioned below:

1. Cloud color and Pattern:

● When the clouds are thick and black in colour, and are
arranged perpendicular to the orbit of the sun in the
morning, it is said that rain is approaching.
● If a reddish colour cloud is seen at sunset one western
horizon, rain is predicted to come within two to four
days.

2. Moisture:

● During the spring and summer seasons, if the soil under

the rock or under the surface is moist it is thought
that summer rain is approaching.
 3. Floral indicator:
● If peach or plum flowers grow from the basal region to the terminal of the tree in the flowering
season, it is predicted that there will be good rain and higher crop production than in other years.
This indicator has been accurate until today.

4. Insect indicator:

● When insects come out of the soil in a group after a rainfall occurs, it is believed
that rain will not come again for some time. If there was no rain in the previous
day or week but the insects are coming out of the soil, rain is expected to come
soon.
● When there are a number of ants moving along a path carrying their food items
with them, a heavy rain is expected on the same day, or within one or two days.

5. Animal Behaviour:

● If the frogs croak in a water body in the afternoon until sunset, rain will be
coming soon, even during winter and spring season.

6. Bird Related indicator:

● If local domestic chickens search for food even during the rain, it is commonly thought that
the rain will last for the whole day. But if the birds stop searching for food when it is raining
and take shelter (in the morning or afternoon), the rain is expected to cease soon and to be
minimal.
Western
Zone
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa
 Rainfall indicators:
Nature’s indicators:

● Whirlwinds or dust devils indicate onset of dry season

● Reduction in water level in swamps, lagoons and Kenies leads to drought
● Cool breeze with moisture and warm breeze February-March indicate upcoming rain
● Occurrence of rain in presence of sunshine indicates absence of rain in near future
● If the sky acquires a faint yellow colour, there is less hope of rain.
● If the velocity of wind is not high during Mrighirsh constellation and high heat is not
experienced during Rohini constellations a drought can be expected to follow.
● If it does not rain in Adra and no winds occurs in Mrighirsh than a drought would
occur.
● If the wind blows from east during the month of Shravan and from southwest during
the month of Bhadrapada, a severe drought could be expected.

Animal-related indicators:

● Kachinda (Chameleon) climbs the tree and assumes black-white-red colours

helps predict Immediate rain, and Frogs, Snake, Camel, goat, crow,etc are
some of the animal indicators help predict immediate rain.
 Bird-related indicators:

● The titodi bird is an important factor for weather forecasting. Farmers will look at
the position of eggs. If the eggs are in an upward direction, it means a good monsoon.
● Sparrow, Batairs, Crows, Peacock help to predict the arrival of monsoon and droughts

Plant-related indicators:

● Bear plan, keshuda or flame of the forest, Mahuda, Bamboo species, Khejro, Kothi, neem,
etc are some of the plants that help predict the arrival of forthcoming weather related to
monsoon and drought.

Human response:

● Khazans are predominantly rice and fish fields. The khazan ecosystem is a human made
ecosystem, developed by traditional, primitive, tribal communities of Goa.The khazan
engineering system has a very simple architectural design, which is self-operating using
tidal, hydro and solar energy, and is one that integrates highly complex, eco-friendly
agriculture–aquaculture–salt panning functions, having been functional for the last more
Khazan
than 3,500 years.
● Khazan experiments successfully conducted by the traditional communities of Goa can be
replicated in other parts of the world as adaptation mechanisms to cope with the global
environmental change (GEC).
EASTERN ZONE
(Jharkhand, Bihar,
West bengal, odisha)
 Traditional disaster forecasting

CYCLONES/ kaibolsakhi:

● Dogs barking abnormally

● Birds flying to and fro
● Ants crossing roads in lines
● Clouds roaring like sea,
● no movement in trees of leaves
from 4-5 days

DROUGHTs:

● Increased occurrence of diarrohea and dyssentry .

● low rainfall and dried up hilly streams
FLOODS

● Coming down of wolf boar and wild cock (usually they dont come
out of hills).
● Very high production of jhum
● Irregular and heavy rainfall , strong wind for 3-4 days.
 HAILSTORMS

● Ants climbing houses in line

● .black stripes in sky , clouds rumbling before heavy
rainfall.

EARTHQUAKES AND LANDSLIDES

● High temperature low rainfall

● Dogs barking , birds flying to and fro
● Landslides were indicted by sudden rainfall and
continuous sunshine
DISEASES FROM LIVESTOCK

● Healthy animals die suddenly

● Increased in weeds in crops and insects attacking humans
● Rat attacks while its bamboo flowers and fruits are ripen
● Plants die while remaining green , due to pest attacks and
weed manifestation
● Low crop production
● High temperature after every rainfall
Traditional methods for these regions in agriculture by adapting such climatic changes.

1.Floating gardening Due to floods, as water hyacinth became less available, people had to collect water
hyacinth from distant places using country-boat. On average 1 man day was needed to prepare a platform.
Preparation of floating-platforms was completed in all villages by the early October – about two months later
than the usual time. A platform took another 3 to 4 weeks to rot and ready for cultivation.

2.Winter gardening Most of the winter gardens were made by the homesteads of concerned participants.
The average size of the land where floating platform residue was used. The initiative supplied five types of
seed, namely amaranth, amaranth (red), broccoli , kang kong and okra.

When destructive floods hit the regions of West bengal , and the super-cyclone Sidr in the mid November.
The north-eastern haorregion experienced little damage from the cyclone compared with the south-western
coastal area, but the devastation of floods was immense in region. Despite that the participants of floating
gardening worked hard in the post-flood months to practice this traditional agricultural system introduced to
them just before the flood.
SOUTHERN ZONE

Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka,Kerala and
Tamil Nadu
Winds
● Cool breeze with moisture and warm breeze in February-March indicate upcoming rain.
● Whirlwinds or dust devils indicate onset of dry season

Rainbows
● Rainbow in the west during S-W monsoon predict upcoming rain and in the east indicate
absence
● More depth and heavy coverage of the sky causes rainbows to appear in the west which is
considered as an indication of the onset of S-W monsoon.

Moon
● Halo around the moon indicates good rainfall

Thunder and Lightning

● Thunder and lightning indicates upcoming rain and thunder during nights in
October/ November indicate onset of N- E monsoon.
● N-E monsoon is due to the confrontation between two different types of air
masses, which leads to the formation of thunder clouds.
Temperature
● Drop in temperature at night indicates commencement of dry season
● Day time increase in temperature indicates triggering of rainfall
 Sunshine
● Occurrence of rain in presence of sunshine indicates absence of rain in near
future

Water Level
● Reduction in water level in swamps, lagoons and Kenies leads to drought.
● Due to abandonment of paddy fields and deforestation, the water table
recedes leading to drought.
Insects
● Termites flying in the evening hours is an indication that there will be rain.
● Frogs croaking in chorus is followed by a shower.
● Ants shifting their eggs to safe place, foretells the occurrence of rain
● When dragonflies fly low, it may rain

Clouds
● Morning cloud and evening thunder indicates the occurrence of
rain.
● Red clouds indicate no rainfall.
● Dark rolling clouds with cool breeze indicate heavy rainfall
● Widespread cloud cover indicate lighter on and off showers over
several hours
Indicators used by Fishermen:
● Increased water temperature indicates the abundance of seer fishes
and sardines. Cloudy and rainy-cloudy weather patterns are displays of
the abundance of the Scombridae family. Appearance of air bubbles in
the water is said to be an indicator of storm and the presence of
mackerel shoals.

● Appearance or aggregation of dolphins is an indicator for

sardine and mackerel shoals. If the fishers notice worms in
the fish catch or either observe many sea snakes hooped to
each other, it is believed to be an indication of storms in the
near future. Immediate change of water current and wind
directions are noted by the observations of dead/live
stranding of marine mammals, which is considered as a bad
indicator to carry out fishing.
 Conclusion

● The success of human endeavour to fight climate change will depend upon numerous things ranging
from technological change, change in his attitude towards mother earth but the most crucial thing
would be that how man has learned from his past.
● Adaptation to climate change includes all adjustments in behaviour or economic structure that
reduce the vulnerability of society to changes in the climate system.
● The study revealed a variety of coping strategies applied with mixed success, which suggests that
local traditional knowledge could provide the basis for development of more effective strategies.
● India is a diverse country with a more diversified climate which means there is a high possibility of
various indicators being the same in different areas .
● Indigenous people have been confronted with changing environments for millennia and have
developed a wide array of coping strategies, and their traditional knowledge and practices provide
an important basis for facing the even greater challenges of climate change.
THANK YOU