Arid agrobiodiversity and conservative desert dwellers

Over a large part of the State of Rajasthan, agriculture is a struggle against in hospitable nature. About a third of the state is stark desert - the Thar, which represents the harshest agricultural environment of India. Conservatism, as regards to agricultural practices and utilisation of agricultural produce is deeply ingrained in the cultivators of Thar desert and is the outcome of loosing everything year in and year out. In a bid to grow, multiply and utilise every blade of grass available, the desert dwellers have found out innovative means of sowing, managing, harvesting and utilizing agro-biodiversity around them. In fact, their livelihood and lives revolve around the genetic wealth which is used extensively and resolutely. Traditiopally, they have been very conscious of conservation and have allowed multiplication and regeneration of plants even when utilising it. Some of the practices of biodiversity conservation are unique in this land and have strengthened the life support system of the area for facing challenges of inhospitable hot deserts. The awareness of phenological stages of plants, the optimum time of harvest, the quantum of utilisation and the amount of conservation is ingrained in the traditions and folklores. Though natural catastrophes, overgrazing and over utilisation has threatened plant genetic resources since ages, but in this century it is the fast pace of human intervention, much faster than nature and natural calamities that are a threat to such fragile ecosystems. The need is thus to understand and practice the conservation of desert wealth with the involvement of conservative desert dwellers and their indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) thereby promoting the conservation ethics and retaining the traditional cultural values.