needs of human societies, participatory development and finally sustainable development was the main issue. Agricultural development was not an exception in this process. After the Second World War, development in agriculture was on the basis of transfer of science and technology from the developed to the developing nations and the extension agents were responsible for a widespread expansion of these technologies. Since most farmers in these countries were not able to adopt such technologies they resisted these changes and such resistance was considered backwardness and an old fashioned attitude. One of the examples of relative failure of transfer of technology to the poor farmers was the Green Revolution of the 1960s. This technology, based on high inputs, was initially supported by developed nations, but in the longer term farmers could not afford these inputs and therefore it was not widely accepted (1). Today new concepts have evolved in utilization of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in developing countries. However, this type of knowledge which has been developed on the basis of trial and error in a particular society is different in nature, content and methodology from conventional scientific knowledge which is fundamentally based on experiences and trials carried out by scientific institutions. Scientific knowledge has universal scales and it is experienced and observed and the discovery, documentation, records and training of this type of knowledge is different from indigenous knowledge. For the latter there is no honoring mechanism for the producers and no intellectual property right is observed, while for the former there is a distinct honoring system for the discoverer and strict property rights are enforced. Indigenous knowledge has an economic value unlike scientific knowledge which has no trading value. This type of knowledge is based on cheap, low input approaches and since they have been developed over a long time in response to the natural environment of the local societies, it has a strong ecological nature and participatory basis in contrast to the scientific knowledge which is based on individuals, objectives and technologically based attitude (6, 5).

doi:10.1201/9781482280463-20

Chapter

needs of human societies, participatory development and finally sustainable development was the main issue. Agricultural development was not an exception in this process. After the Second World War, development in agriculture was on the basis of transfer of science and technology from the developed to the developing nations and the extension agents were responsible for a widespread expansion of these technologies. Since most farmers in these countries were not able to adopt such technologies they resisted these changes and such resistance was considered backwardness and an old fashioned attitude. One of the examples of relative failure of transfer of technology to the poor farmers was the Green Revolution of the 1960s. This technology, based on high inputs, was initially supported by developed nations, but in the longer term farmers could not afford these inputs and therefore it was not widely accepted (1). Today new concepts have evolved in utilization of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in developing countries. However, this type of knowledge which has been developed on the basis of trial and error in a particular society is different in nature, content and methodology from conventional scientific knowledge which is fundamentally based on experiences and trials carried out by scientific institutions. Scientific knowledge has universal scales and it is experienced and observed and the discovery, documentation, records and training of this type of knowledge is different from indigenous knowledge. For the latter there is no honoring mechanism for the producers and no intellectual property right is observed, while for the former there is a distinct honoring system for the discoverer and strict property rights are enforced. Indigenous knowledge has an economic value unlike scientific knowledge which has no trading value. This type of knowledge is based on cheap, low input approaches and since they have been developed over a long time in response to the natural environment of the local societies, it has a strong ecological nature and participatory basis in contrast to the scientific knowledge which is based on individuals, objectives and technologically based attitude (6, 5).

Chapter

needs of human societies, participatory development and finally sustainable development was the main issue. Agricultural development was not an exception in this process. After the Second World War, development in agriculture was on the basis of transfer of science and technology from the developed to the developing nations and the extension agents were responsible for a widespread expansion of these technologies. Since most farmers in these countries were not able to adopt such technologies they resisted these changes and such resistance was considered backwardness and an old fashioned attitude. One of the examples of relative failure of transfer of technology to the poor farmers was the Green Revolution of the 1960s. This technology, based on high inputs, was initially supported by developed nations, but in the longer term farmers could not afford these inputs and therefore it was not widely accepted (1). Today new concepts have evolved in utilization of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in developing countries. However, this type of knowledge which has been developed on the basis of trial and error in a particular society is different in nature, content and methodology from conventional scientific knowledge which is fundamentally based on experiences and trials carried out by scientific institutions. Scientific knowledge has universal scales and it is experienced and observed and the discovery, documentation, records and training of this type of knowledge is different from indigenous knowledge. For the latter there is no honoring mechanism for the producers and no intellectual property right is observed, while for the former there is a distinct honoring system for the discoverer and strict property rights are enforced. Indigenous knowledge has an economic value unlike scientific knowledge which has no trading value. This type of knowledge is based on cheap, low input approaches and since they have been developed over a long time in response to the natural environment of the local societies, it has a strong ecological nature and participatory basis in contrast to the scientific knowledge which is based on individuals, objectives and technologically based attitude (6, 5).

DOI link for needs of human societies, participatory development and finally sustainable development was the main issue. Agricultural development was not an exception in this process. After the Second World War, development in agriculture was on the basis of transfer of science and technology from the developed to the developing nations and the extension agents were responsible for a widespread expansion of these technologies. Since most farmers in these countries were not able to adopt such technologies they resisted these changes and such resistance was considered backwardness and an old fashioned attitude. One of the examples of relative failure of transfer of technology to the poor farmers was the Green Revolution of the 1960s. This technology, based on high inputs, was initially supported by developed nations, but in the longer term farmers could not afford these inputs and therefore it was not widely accepted (1). Today new concepts have evolved in utilization of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in developing countries. However, this type of knowledge which has been developed on the basis of trial and error in a particular society is different in nature, content and methodology from conventional scientific knowledge which is fundamentally based on experiences and trials carried out by scientific institutions. Scientific knowledge has universal scales and it is experienced and observed and the discovery, documentation, records and training of this type of knowledge is different from indigenous knowledge. For the latter there is no honoring mechanism for the producers and no intellectual property right is observed, while for the former there is a distinct honoring system for the discoverer and strict property rights are enforced. Indigenous knowledge has an economic value unlike scientific knowledge which has no trading value. This type of knowledge is based on cheap, low input approaches and since they have been developed over a long time in response to the natural environment of the local societies, it has a strong ecological nature and participatory basis in contrast to the scientific knowledge which is based on individuals, objectives and technologically based attitude (6, 5).

needs of human societies, participatory development and finally sustainable development was the main issue. Agricultural development was not an exception in this process. After the Second World War, development in agriculture was on the basis of transfer of science and technology from the developed to the developing nations and the extension agents were responsible for a widespread expansion of these technologies. Since most farmers in these countries were not able to adopt such technologies they resisted these changes and such resistance was considered backwardness and an old fashioned attitude. One of the examples of relative failure of transfer of technology to the poor farmers was the Green Revolution of the 1960s. This technology, based on high inputs, was initially supported by developed nations, but in the longer term farmers could not afford these inputs and therefore it was not widely accepted (1). Today new concepts have evolved in utilization of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in developing countries. However, this type of knowledge which has been developed on the basis of trial and error in a particular society is different in nature, content and methodology from conventional scientific knowledge which is fundamentally based on experiences and trials carried out by scientific institutions. Scientific knowledge has universal scales and it is experienced and observed and the discovery, documentation, records and training of this type of knowledge is different from indigenous knowledge. For the latter there is no honoring mechanism for the producers and no intellectual property right is observed, while for the former there is a distinct honoring system for the discoverer and strict property rights are enforced. Indigenous knowledge has an economic value unlike scientific knowledge which has no trading value. This type of knowledge is based on cheap, low input approaches and since they have been developed over a long time in response to the natural environment of the local societies, it has a strong ecological nature and participatory basis in contrast to the scientific knowledge which is based on individuals, objectives and technologically based attitude (6, 5).

ABSTRACT

Indigenous knowledge (IK) belongs to all individuals in the society and women play a significant role in the development of IK (15). As an example, in developing countries, women contribute a great deal in agricultural activities. Nomadic women are involved in dairy processing and handicraft production exclusively. In Iran these groups contribute 60% in rice production, 90% in vegetable production, 30% in fruits and 90% in silk worm raising (14). Women are also involved in conservation of biological diversity and in particular agricultural biodiversity and also in identification, classification and utilization of medicinal plants.