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Blackwell Publishing Ltd Ethnopathology: Local Knowledge of Plant Health Problems in Bangladesh, Uganda and Bolivia

J. W. Bentley
Global Plant Clinic, CABI, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK

E. R. Boa
Global Plant Clinic, CABI, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK

P. Kelly
Global Plant Clinic, CABI, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK

M. Harun-Ar-Rashid
Agricultural Advisory Society, House # 8/7 (Ground Floor), Block-B, Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh

A. K. M. Rahman
Agricultural Advisory Society, House # 8/7 (Ground Floor), Block-B, Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh

F. Kabeere
Global Plant Clinic, CABI, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK

J. Herbas
PROINPA, Av. Meneces s/n Km.4 (zona EI Paso), Cochabamba, Bolivia

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

All peoples have names for and knowledge of plants, animals and other things in the real world. An ethnopathology (or, more strictly, ‘ethnophytopathology’) – study in Bangladesh, Uganda and Bolivia revealed that smallholder farmers label plant health problems with meaningful names. A local name for a plant health problem typically has two kinds of meaning. The first is a literal translation of the name, often a kind of shorthand description of the symptom. The second and most important kind of meaning is the denotative meaning (the thing in the real world which the name actually refers to). Local words for plant health problems often label the symptom rather than the actual disease. This is logical, since smallholders cannot observe microscopic causal organisms. Local concepts for plant health problems do not necessarily classify the natural world in exactly the same way that scientists do, yet local terms for plant health problems are still meaningful. It is not clear if folk classifications of plant health problems are phylogenetic classifications (e.g. ‘mammals’ vs. ‘fish’) or ecological (e.g. ‘seafood’ vs. ‘meat and poultry). Cross-culturally, local knowledge recognizes that plants are alive and that they may be ill or healthy, perhaps in analogy with human health.

Keywords: Ethnophytopathology, Folk knowledge, Plant disease, Symptomatology

Location: Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Knowledge Management

Commodity: Health hazard, Plant

Objectives:

In an effort to describe local names for the ill-health of crops, research was conducted in Bangladesh, Uganda and Bolivia, as described below. It is hoped that this description will show that folk names for plant health problems are logical and orderly, and that this will help plant pathologists and others who work with rural communities to appreciate local knowledge of plant pathology.

Methodology:

Bangladesh In 2003, Bentley and Kelly taught a short course that included practical exercises for about 16 participants, who learned how to interview smallholder farmers and describe their categories of plant health problems. This process consisted of, first, identifying the word for each plant health problem and writing it out in both Bengali and Roman (‘English’) letters. Secondly, the word was translated literally into English. Thirdly, the meaning of the term was defined denotatively (i.e. what thing(s) in the real world it labels). Harun-Ar-Rashid, a senior soil scientist who took the course, then applied the method in village meetings, with a team of people from the NGO Agricultural Advisory Society (AAS), which he directs. AAS hired Murshedur Rahman, a young entomologist, to help with the work. They held meetings in 35 villages, in three areas of the country (Natore, Norsingdi and Moulvibazar), during three successive cropping seasons: summer-I, summer-II and winter, 2004. The team interviewed 1591 farmers about 165 problems in 22 crops. At each meeting a facilitator explained the study and the need to understand the local plant health problems. The villagers made a list of their crops and the main problems in each one. Each local person was then assigned a plant which he (or she) collected in a nearby field. In a plenary session each participant explained the plant health problems, using the fresh plants as visual aids, while the researchers took notes. After a great deal of work, an enormous amount of detail was collected. The researchers and the farmers were all native speakers of Bengali, so they understood each other clearly. Over 3 days, Bentley helped the team to transcribe all of the folk terms into a Roman script (‘alphabet’) based on the IPA (international phonetic alphabet). After the field work, various colleagues, including some of the top agricultural scientists in Bangladesh, helped to identify probable causes based on symptom descriptions.

Source of Information: Plant Pathology (2009) 58, 773–781

Article Link (Online Journal): Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2009.02040.x

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

As plant pathologists, farmers are an occupational group highly interested in plant health problems. When smallholder farmers were asked about plant health problems, they consistently responded thoughtfully, showing diseased plants, explaining the names and discussing the symptoms. Sometimes they asked for advice on management, but they were always eager to discuss the topic. Folk names for plant health problems are often a kind of shorthand description of the symptoms, which is logical enough. Sometimes they are unanalysable, suggesting that they are old words that have been in the language for a long time. Smallholders may not understand all of the causal agents of plant disease, but local knowledge of and names for plant health problems are meaningful and practical. Learning their local meanings is a useful entry into dialogue with the largest and most important occupation on Earth. For example, plant pathologists interested in conducting surveillance of plant health problems in a tropical country may use local farmer reports of disease to complement other data on the geographical and historical spread of a disease, but only if the plant pathologists understand the meanings of folk names for disease.

Knowledge Management: Journal