Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Management of Soils - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 303

13 Traditional Knowledge

for Sustainable
Management of Soils

B. Venkateswarlu, Ch. Srinivasarao,
and J. Venkateswarlu

CONTENTS
13.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................304
13.2 Traditional Classification of Soils ................................................................. 305
13.3 Traditional Concept of Soil Fertility ............................................................ 309
13.3.1 Sheep, Goat, and Cow Penning ..................................................... 310
13.3.2 Manuring/Farmyard Manure ......................................................... 310
13.3.3 Fallowing ....................................................................................... 311
13.3.4 Crop Rotation ................................................................................. 312
13.3.5 Organic Farming ............................................................................ 312
13.3.6 Recycling Crop Residues and Incorporation of Weeds ................. 313
13.3.7 Tillage Practices ............................................................................. 314
13.3.8 Green Manuring ............................................................................. 315
13.3.9 Beushening in Eastern India .......................................................... 315
13.3.10 Maghi Cropping—Legume-Based Sequence Cropping ................ 315
13.3.11 Indigenous Organic/Liquid Manures ............................................. 316
13.3.12 Fertility Management through a Tree-Based System .................... 316
13.3.12.1 Alder in the Himalayas .................................................. 316
13.3.12.2 Khejri in Northwest India .............................................. 317
13.3.12.3 Aquilaria and Bamboo in Meghalaya ........................... 317
13.4 Indigenous Soil Conservation Practices ....................................................... 318
13.5 Traditional Concepts of Integrated Natural Resource Management ............ 321
13.5.1 Location-Specific Runoff Control Practices .................................. 322

13.5.2 Flash Flood Control in Himalayas ................................................. 322

13.5.3 Terrace-Based Land Management of Apatanis ............................. 324

13.5.4 Traditional Practices to Overcome Iron Toxicity ........................... 324

13.5.5 The Science of Traditional Jhum (Shifting Cultivation) ................ 324

13.5.6 Women and Jhum Cultivation ........................................................ 325

13.5.7 Slash-and-Burn Agriculture ........................................................... 325

13.5.8 Terrace or Bun Cultivation ............................................................. 326

13.5.9 Managing Marshy Saline Soils ...................................................... 326

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