Indigenous Agricultural Practices followed for Paddy Cultivation in Ariyalur District of Tamil Nadu

Paddy is the major crop in Ariyalur District of TamilNadu as it occupies an area of 24, 143 ha. Indigenous Agricultural Practices (IAPs) are the accumulated skill of the particular community and are unique and in harmony with the nature. An attempt was made to explore the IAPs adopted in paddy cultivation in two blocks viz., Thirumanur and T. Palur through Rapid Rural Appraisal, Personal interviews and also to work out the grand adoption percentage of IAPs in paddy cultivation. Data were collected from 120 respondents belonging to eight villages using proportionate random sampling method. The study revealed that there were 38 IAPs categorized under six cultivation practices and the highest adoption percentage was arrived for hand weeding (100%), trimming of field bunds (100%), summer ploughing (87%), sheep penning (85%) and shaking of seedling before transplanting (83%). The Grand Adoption percentage of IAPs in paddy at Ariyalur district was only 35 per cent and there is an ample scope to promote IAPs as a measure of sustainable agriculture by merging with other practices aiming at higher yield and income without harming environment.