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Marketing and knowhow key factors for tribals Statesman News Service
KORAPUT, May 9: Traditional knowhow combined with good marketing can
transform the life of people in tribal districts like Koraput,
according to professor Anil K Gupta, chairman of the 17th Shodhayatra.
He said this while inaugurating the padayatra in Pottangi today.
Traditional knowledge could be used for development, he said. For this,
children could play a greater role by forming a traditional knowledge
bank in their respective schools.
While praising the work of child reporters in the block in documenting
traditional knowledge, its problems and strengths, he said those
children could make a beginning by opening the traditional knowledge of
the locality.
The rally was jointly organised by Sristi and Honey Bee network,
Ahmedabad, with an aim to study the bio-diversity of the region and
document the traditional knowledge system of tribals.
The participants in the rally will also understand and honour the
creative and innovative knowledge of elders in the village, Mr Gupta
said.
The padayatra is aimed at generating awareness among students, farmers,
teachers and women about bio-diversity and natural resources through
contests, Mr Balaram Sahu, the research officer of Orissa Biological
Product Institute in Bhubaneswar, said.
The Honey Bee Database experience can be shared with the local people to strengthen the local knowledge network, he said.
Sristi and Honey Bee network jointly organise Shodhyatra twice a year,
one in extreme summer and the other during a chilling winter.
Koraput is one of the known tribal districts of India and is also
famous for its bio-diversity , scented rice, tribes and dhemsa dance,
he added. Now, there are 106 varieties of paddy and 26 varieties of
scented rice being grown in the district by tribals, he added.
The padayatra will cover 26 villages in the mountainous region of
Koraput before it reaches the district headquarters on 16 May.
A CD on the activities of Sristi was released by the BDO of Pottangi, Mr Murtalidhar Swain.
People from the locality ~ with knowledge about local ingredients ~ and
child reporters were felicitated. More than 150 persons from across the
country took part in the Sodhyatra.
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