Farmers' knowledge of soils and the sustainability of agriculture in a saline water ecosystem in Southwestern Bangladesh

Small holder farmers throughout Bangladesh operate in small but diverse ecosystems and possess a deep intimate knowledge of local soils. They have developed soil management strategies that helped them to attain a high degree of sustainability. In this study, a group of small holder farmers from a village in the saline water ecosystem in southwestern Bangladesh were interviewed to explore the depth of their knowledge of soils. Data collected from a parallel scientific study done in the same village revealed that the village farmers possessed considerable knowledge of local soils, their classification, and management problems. Farmers' typology of soils differed from their scientific classification because of the diversity in objectives and approaches to study the village soils. Despite their lack of knowledge of the soil genesis and morphology and soil chemistry, farmers qualitatively identified major typology, properties, and constraints of topsoil, and have developed strategies through generation-long practical on-farm experiments that helped them to maintain a sustainable agricultural system in the village. Farmers' knowledge of soils is, therefore, a vast resource that should be tapped and incorporated in the national scientific database and utilized in formulating future agricultural development policies. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.