Indigenous weather and forecast practices of Coimbatore district farmers of Tamil Nadu

Traditional beliefs are abundant particularly among the rural community. In many cases, traditional beliefs are existing in the form of well defined indigenous technologies which are valued much and followed in their farming system. Indigenous knowledge includes both technical and non-technical fields covering various social and religious taboos, beliefs and customs, communication patterns, music, ecology, vegetation, climate and so on. A study was conducted at Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu of identifying the various indigenous/traditional weather forecasting methods known/practiced by the farmers. The study contained three categories of sample with a sample size of 30 each, namely Seasonal climate forecast farmers (SCF), Medium Range Weather Forecast Farmers (MRF) and Non-informed (NI) farmers. The farmers were selected using simple random sampling. The data was collected through a well structured and pre-tested interview schedule by employing personal interview technique and percentage analysis was used to analyze the data. Fifteen indigenous/traditional weather and climate related practices were identified. Among different indigenous practices, eleven practices related to rainfall, two practices related to pest and disease incidence and one each for drought and almanac has been delineated.