ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Reviving Indigenous Farming Knowledge in an Input-Intensive Agriculture System: Evidence from Eastern Uttar Pradesh
Provisionally accepted
- 1Grameen Foundation USA, Washington, United States
- 2Sri Sri University, Cuttack, India
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Indigenous agricultural knowledge including practices such as organic manuring, intercropping, and traditional saved seed use has long supported sustainable farming among smallholder communities in India. In Eastern Uttar Pradesh, however, this knowledge is rapidly disappearing. Based on a survey of 1,768 smallholder farmers led by the Grameen Foundation India (GFI) across Varanasi and Mirzapur, using a stratified random sampling approach and a structured, pilot-tested questionnaire. This study finds that while an average sixty percent of farmers still use organic fertilizer but many apply them incorrectly, reducing their effectiveness and potentially affecting soil health and fertility over time, as perceived by farmers. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression were employed to examine patterns of indigenous knowledge erosion and misapplication. The analysis revealed that the majority of farmers follow monocropping systems, rely heavily on chemical inputs, and exhibit a critical gap between awareness and correct agronomic application of traditional practices. The study recommends community-driven approaches and future action research focused on farmer training, participatory awareness programs, and extension engagement to strengthen the revival of indigenous practices. Bridging this gap is vital for restoring soil fertility, enhancing resilience, and embedding indigenous knowledge in future sustainable land management strategies.
Keywords: indigenous knowledge, organic fertilizer, Monocropping, intercropping, SoilFertility, extension services, Awareness programs, Eastern Uttar Pradesh
Received: 13 Aug 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 MISHRA, S and Bhatt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: SARITA MISHRA, smishra2@grameenfoundation.in
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