Science & Technology Development Journal - Social Sciences & Humanities

Indigenous knowledge of Vietnamese cultivation in the Mekong Delta

2020-10-20T00:16:43+00:00

Being passed from generation to generation, indigenous knowledge is unique and confined to a particular culture or society. This knowledge is generated and transmitted through communities, over time, in an effort to cope with their own agro-ecological and socio-economic environments (Fernandez, 1994). Vietnamese residents in the Mekong Delta during the development of cultivation activities have accumulated a lot of folk experiences, creating a large amount of indigenous knowledge in daily life and farming production. This knowledge has supported the Vietnamese people to adapt themselves to survive for several hundred years. However, throughout the time, under the strong impact of scientific knowledge, indigenous knowledge nowadays is no longer applied as much as before. In the context of increasing climate change, understanding and reevaluating the correct value of this knowledge, besides preserving, also contribute to public policy implications in environmental change adaptation strategies in the near future. With an interdisciplinary approach to geography and anthropology, via long fieldwork methods, face-to-face meetings with farmers and group discussions, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted on issues related to this current production model and production experience. Indigenous knowledge has been and is being applied in flooded areas with representatives being An Giang and Hau Giang provinces. The author has systematized the indigenous knowledge of Vietnamese people on cultivating to better adapt to nature.

Understanding the hydrologyand weather knowledge of the fishermen in the Southwest coastal area: A case study of An Thuy commune (Ba Tri district, Ben Tre province) and Song Doc town (Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau province)

2020-10-20T00:16:42+00:00

This paper aims to provide an indigenous knowledge system on the weather and hydrology system of the fishermen in the Southwest coastal area which is based on the research data in two specific communities: An Thuy commune (Ba Tri district, Ben Tre province) and Song Doc town (Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau province). The research results show that this knowledge is rich, diverse, and has been accumulated by the community for generations, especially to enable them to forecast the weather to preserve assets and lives during fish processing activities. The knowledge of the community related to weather and hydrology includes the insight of monsoon, water and storms. Offshore fishermen mastering each of this knowledge items can predict the weather to avoid the risks of sudden storms by choosing an optimal or preventive plan. This study is based on the data collected from qualitative research methods, including ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews with experienced fishermen together with field notes in two areas of An Thuy commune, and Song Doc town. Besides, the paper recommends a proper proposal to preserve this knowledge in current conditions. The research results of this paper have shown the differences in local knowledge of those communities due to the weather and hydrological characteristics of the two Southeast and Southwest regions of the East Sea.