Traditional Piscicidal Knowledge along the Chakpi River and other Water Bodies in Chandel District, Manipur State : Past and Present Scenario

The present study was undertaken with an aim to expound the various indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) practices centring around the stagnant or semi-stagnant water bodies in Chandel district of Manipur. The prevailing indigenous practices were considered and only three groups of indigenous practices were found to be rational in the present scenario which could be further assessed, documented and propagated for the benefit of farming community. The three group of indigenous practices involve the age-old methods of stupefying the fish in ponds or rivers using tree barks, roots and leaves of specific trees or plants having ichthyotoxic properties. Two filters were applied to identify the ITKs. The first filter being rationality therein only ITK practices having rationality score more than 2.4 being explained in the study. The second filter was mean perceived effectiveness index (MPEI). Of the 17 practices evaluated, 3 were rational (42.08%) while the remaining 14 were rejected as irrational (57.92%). The perceived effectiveness and adoption rate analysis of these age-old ITKs indicated that, the traditional use of stupefying barks was rated as rational (3.01), perceived as highly effective (2.60) and adopted by 78 per cent of the respondents whereas on the lower end, the method incorporating the juice extract of ichthyotoxic leaves was rated as rational (2.48), perceived as effective (1.9) and adopted by 48 per cent of respondents.