Management of plant species for controlling pests, by peasant farmers at Lagoa Seca, Paraíba state, Brazil: an ethnoecological approach

Abstract

Ethnoecological knowledge may be understood as spontaneous knowledge, culturally referenced of any society's members, learned and transmitted through social interactions and that are targeted at resolution of daily routine situations. The traditional knowledge in small scale economy societies as well as the non-academic knowledge in urban-industrial societies might be included in this concept. An ethnoecological approach study was performed here on people living at the communities of Alvinho, Almeida, Chã do Marinho, Floriano, and Chã de Oiti, all located in the municipality of Lagoa Seca, Paraíba state, Northeast Brazil. The general objective pursued here was to study the knowledge that peasant farmers have on management of plant species utilized for pest control. For this, the methodological instruments employed here to investigate the ethnoecological knowledge were: direct observation, structured and semi-structured interviews, and tours conducted by local peasant farmers. We analyzed the data obtained under an emic/etic view and also by comparing the local knowledge with those obtained from the literature. The results showed that people in those communities utilize management alternatives for controlling pests, which are mainly: (i) fallowing; (ii) crop rotation; (iii) destruction of crop remains and fruits attacked by pests; (iv) alternations of crops with repellent plants; and/or (v) mixed cropping; (vi) insect's larvae covered with soil; (vii) crops irrigated abundantly; and (viii) soil preparation. The recovery and comprehension we get about this knowledge as well as the farmers' savoir faire, are extremely important to the revival of ancient agricultural practices, which have been forgotten due to advances in modern agriculture. The data obtained here showed that a huge body of knowledge the farmers have on many forms or strategies of management are generally compatible with scientific knowledge.

Farmers’ perceptions of tree mortality, pests and pest management practices in agroforestry in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia

“…This participatory multimethod approach was employed to overcome some Agroforest Syst (2008) 72:87-101 89 of the limitations of traditional survey research and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods. This combination of methods was also assumed to illicit a complementary understanding of the emic (insiderin this case farmer) and etic (outsider-in this case the scientist) perspectives (Guimarães and Mourão 2006;Price 2001).…”

“…The strong point of farmers' indigenous knowledge systems is that it is the product of frequent observation of crops during the whole cropping season, and it comprehends continuities within the diverse landscape and vegetation. Practices and principles grounded in the theory of ethnoecology are often used for capturing farmers' pest management knowledge and practices (Altieri 1993;Björnsen Gurung 2003;Guimarães and Mourão 2006;Price 2001;Price and Björnsen Gurung 2006). Ethnoecological knowledge may be understood as spontaneous knowledge, culturally referenced, learned and transmitted through social interactions and that are targeted at resolution of daily routine situations (Toledo 1992;Guimarães and Mourão 2006).…”

Delving into possible missing links for attainment of food security in Central Malawi: farmers’ perceptions and long term dynamics in maize (Zea mays L.) production

“…The combined participatory methods (FGD) reduce limitations met in conducting traditional research methods (relying on yield, production data only) (Kumar 1987). These methods enable joint understanding between the etic (scientist as outsider-in this case) and emic (farmer as insider-in this case) (Prince 2001;Guimaraes and Mourao 2006). Kumar (1987) defined group interviews as the use of different direct techniques in probing to collect information from people in a group set up of varying compositions or sizes.…”

Relating farmers’ perceptions to long term dynamics in maize (Zea maysL.) production: The production of improved maize is coming to a standstill in central Malawi

“…The combined participatory methods reduce limitations met in conducting traditional research methods (relying on yield, production data only) (Kumar 1987. These methods enable joint understanding between the etic (scientist as outsider-in this case) and emic (farmer as insider-in this case) (Prince 2001; Guimaraes and Mourao 2006). Kumar (1987) defined group interviews as the use of different direct techniques in probing to collect information from people in a group set up of varying compositions or sizes.…”