Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Health and Fertility Management in Garakahalli Micro Watershed of Ramanagar District, Karnataka

The comparative approach aims to establish differences and similarities between local knowledge and scientific information only to focus on the management of soil and land resources. The aim of the study at Garkahalli micro watershed in a part of Ramanagar district, Karnataka was to study farmers’ perceptions about assessment of soil fertility and comparing them with the criteria of soil fertility used by researchers. To address this issue, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 251 households and major soil series with grid surface samples were collected for deriving thematic soil fertility map. The house hold interviews showed that the response of farmers in percentage against four sets of soil health indicators were listed as (1) soil organic carbon status (90%), colour (85%) and texture (80%), (2) 100% for yield under crop performance, (3) 100% for dry spells / rainfall distribution under environmental factors and (4) 100% for type and amount of farm yard manure and availability of irrigation (under agricultural management). The scoring of ten soil biophysical indicators used by farmers were found to be well in agreement with scientific method of soil fertility assessment and in designing integrated soil fertility management technologies at landscape level.