Local knowledge and practices can help in drought prediction and extreme weather management

Abstract

Local knowledge and practices can help people in drought prediction and extreme weather management. The study was carried out to elicit and document local knowledge use in drought prediction and weather extremes management. Focus group discussions were used for this study. The appearance of certain insects, birds, animals and indication of weather are all seen as important signals of change with respect to timing and seasonality of natural phenomena that are well understood in traditional knowledge systems. The lying of pigeon on the ground by spreading its feathers is considered as the sign of drought. The sound of wild cat with <em>dhul</em> was also indicates the notice of drought. If the west sky appeared with bright red colour during sunset, that also warn the drought. Termites den and mound in dry soil was thought as the hint of immense drought and termites den and mound in wet soil was looked as the indication of immediate rainfall. People from Hindu families organized frog’s marriage to end drought. They find that local knowledge and practices are very much useful in drought prediction and management.