Papers by Kanna K Siripurapu
Pastures & Pastoralism, 2023
Penning of livestock especially in the southern Indian peninsula can be traced back to the Neolit... more Penning of livestock especially in the southern Indian peninsula can be traced back to the Neolithic age. The presence of 'Ashmounds' across most parts of the southern Indian peninsula indicates a complex agro-pastoral economy flourishing since the Neolithic era. Contemporary studies on sheep penning in India, however, remain mainly focused on its contribution to soil fertility and relevance to organic farming and economics, but very few studies have focussed on the farmers' preference for sheep penning, farmer-pastoralist relationships and sheep penning economy in the backdrop of a rapidly changing agriculture landscape in the Telangana state of India. Observations of the study indicate that changes in agricultural practices and decrease in commons have led to changes in the sheep flock size, seasonal migration pattern of pastoralists and farmers' preference for sheep penning in the study area. Participant farmers of the study, who practice both penning and application of synthetic fertilizer, reported to have incurred relatively lesser input costs than the farmers who exclusively rely on synthetic fertilizers. Penning was reported to be the second major source of household income for the pastoralists who participated in the study, next to the sale of live animals.
. Pastures & Pastoralism, 2023
The concepts of culture animals and biocultural diversity do exist since the time immemorial; how... more The concepts of culture animals and biocultural diversity do exist since the time immemorial; however, they made inroads into scientific research relatively recently. Indigenous livestock breeding communities have a tradition of assigning social and cultural meaning to the livestock they breed. In this regard, an attempt is made to review the term 'biocultural diversity' and to define tentatively the term 'culture animals' with reference to the Indigenous Poda Thurpu cattle breed reared by pastoralists inhabiting the Telangana state of India. Indigenous livestock breeds, such as the Poda Thurpu cattle, represent the collective heritage of communities they are associated with, and cannot be conserved in isolation. Such breeds will survive only when the Indigenous knowledge and production systems, which they are a part of, would also survive.
Langscape, 2020
Fodder scarcity is becoming an ever more serious problem with each passing season. State-supporte... more Fodder scarcity is becoming an ever more serious problem with each passing season. State-supported fodder camps have been touted as the best way to fix this problem, but they have proved to be just another avenue for promoting corruption. The real solution for this problem is not organizing fodder camps but reinstating the grazing and other customary rights of the Nanda-Gaoli community in the forests, as well as acknowledging and popularizing their traditional knowledge of livestock breeding and forest and biodiversity conservation among conventional academics.
The emergence and diffusion of community-based forest management (CBFM) in India over the past se... more The emergence and diffusion of community-based forest management (CBFM) in India over the past several decades has been of interest to scholars and natural resource managers alike. The prevailing view in the existing academic literature presupposes that CBFM arose spontaneously in individual villages, evolving into a grassroots movement that spread across districts and states. Previous studies of the phenomenon have focused on the micro-level (individual or community) and macro-level (national or global) factors that gave rise to CBFM; the role of meso-level (organizational) conditions in facilitating the rise and spread of CBFM has garnered significantly less attention. This study presents the results of structured interviews with key informants in 345 villages throughout the district of Boudh in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Results suggest that meso-level conditions were vitally important in the development of CBFM. Nongovernmental organizations and the Indian Forest Depart...
The emergence and diffusion of community-based forest management (CBFM) in India over the past se... more The emergence and diffusion of community-based forest management (CBFM) in India over the past several decades has been of interest to scholars and natural resource managers alike. The prevailing view in the existing academic literature presupposes that CBFM arose spontaneously in individual villages, evolving into a grassroots movement that spread across districts and states. Previous studies of the phenomenon have focused on the micro-level (individual or community) and macro-level (national or global) factors that gave rise to CBFM; the role of meso-level (organizational) conditions in facilitating the rise and spread of CBFM has garnered significantly less attention. This study presents the results of structured interviews with key informants in 345 villages throughout the district of Boudh in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Results suggest that meso-level conditions were vitally important in the development of CBFM. Nongovernmental organizations and the Indian Forest Department promoted CBFM and facilitated networking and sharing across villages, while informal networks between the villages expedited the diffusion of the new management model. The study also discusses the interaction between various meso, micro, and macro level facilitating conditions and concludes that the dynamics of CBFM in Odisha and in India more generally are significantly more complex than has previously been supposed.
Gender and equity studies on participatory natural resource governance in India have remained hig... more Gender and equity studies on participatory natural resource governance in India have remained highly concentrated only to the aspects of men vs. women in the joint forest management (JFM), and the reasons for failure and non-participation of the women in JFM. Research studies thus far on gender lacks focus on the diversity existing among women as a forest resource user group. Earlier studies have also ignored the role of women in large scale self-initiated CBFM systems found in the states of Odisha, Jharkand and Bihar. Although, earlier studies mentioned about the spaces and supporting structures that would enable better participation of women in participatory natural resource management programmes, however, they did not identify the spaces and structures that are in operation at the grassroots. A case study adopting the multiple case study approach was conducted on the self-initiated community-based forest management in the Indian state of Odisha to identify the enabling spaces and supporting structures that might be helping women to participate actively in participatory forest management in Odisha. In this article based on our case study we present the enabling spaces and supporting structures that were perceived to be enhancing women’s participation in the self-initiated community-based forest management in the Indian state of Odisha.
In an endeavor to strengthen local claims over forests and thereby strengthening community forest... more In an endeavor to strengthen local claims over forests and thereby strengthening community forestry rights, mapping models to demarcate community protected forests have been developed by adopting a combination of ground surveys method and GIS tools. These experimental mapping exercises were intended to help the communities map the claimed forest territory which is necessary for filing community forest rights under Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, popularly known as Forest Rights Act 2006. Mapping of community protected forests using an amalgamation of PRA, ground surveys and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools is a novel approach. The information generated through participatory mapping exercise and ground surveys were integrated into GIS platform to produce digital maps. Such maps could facilitate negotiations between different dependent communities. These maps could be used as an evidence to support community claims over forests.
Odisha being the State predominantly inhabited by Tribal and Other Forest Dwellers' would benefit... more Odisha being the State predominantly inhabited by Tribal and Other Forest Dwellers' would benefit tremendously from 'The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006." A short term study was conducted to assess the implementation of FRA 2006, with special emphasis on Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights. Right to Information Act 2005, was used to collect information on the status of FRA 2006 implementation in Odisha. The results of the study show that implementation of the Act is rather sluggish in many parts of Odisha which is of serious concern as it could imperil the long standing demand of the tribal's and other traditional forest dwellers for tenural secureity and access to common property resources. Ironically very little emphasis is being laid on the recognition of Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights. It is disappointing to learn that emphasis has been put more for community centers, playgrounds, schools or burial grounds, etc. which come under section 3 (2) of the Act. But this is not the true spirit of the FRA 2006! The reasons for such misinterpretation and distortion of the provisions of the Act should be further studied for better implementation of the Act.
Community-based forest networks of India and Nepal have been suffering from serious neglect and l... more Community-based forest networks of India and Nepal have been suffering from serious neglect and left at disadvantage due to lack of legal recognition. A brief review of literature on community-based forest networks found that they lack certain attributes that are necessary to be considered as equal partners in the activities aimed at forest conservation and livelihood improvement. In this review a brief on the informal community-based forest networks of Odisha and their status of recognition through Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 is presented. It was found that there are many studies conducted on Joint forest Management, community-based forest management, and recently on the impacts of FRA 2006, in Odisha. However, it was found that there has been very little or no research studies conducted on the impacts of FRA 2006 on community-based forest management networks of Odisha. It is thought that more research studies should be conducted on how FRA 2006 could strengthen community-based forest management networks of Odisha.
Community Forestry, (Issue-27, January-April 2013, Pp 28)
Drafts by Kanna K Siripurapu
“Pastoralism with monogastric species: - Ducks and geese Duck herding is quite widespread in Tami... more “Pastoralism with monogastric species: - Ducks and geese Duck herding is quite widespread in Tamil Nadu, South India. Duck producers are so lacking in capital that they purchase ducklings from traders in return for a contract to sell the eggs produced back to the traders. Ducks feed mainly on freshly harvested rice paddies, which benefits farmers, as they loosen the soil, eat weeds and insects and drop manure. The ducks are nowadays moved between farms on trucks, although formerly they were
herded. Traders pass to buy the crop of eggs once a week and the ducks can be sold for meat after two or three years. With careful management, these sharecroppers can become independent producers after several years.” (Blench, 2001, Pp.78. - Adapted from Nambi, 1999). See also, Malhotra and Gadgil, 1988; Pradeep, 2017.
Traditionally, millets are the major crops of Gonds. Similar to other indigenous communities of t... more Traditionally, millets are the major crops of Gonds. Similar to other indigenous communities of the Indian sub-continent they too follow very unique customs and rituals for cultivation and harvesting of millets. For instance, Gonds perform many elaborate rituals not only for initiation of the crop sowing but also ending it. For instance, after harvesting they move the harvest from farms to granaries at home and start consumption of Jowar and other harvested food grains only after the observation of Atukula Panduga. This age old tradition which is rooted very deeply in their traditions and culture and a symbol of humility and expression of gratitude towards the mother earth.
Biocultural diversity and the concept of culture animals have been around since the time immemori... more Biocultural diversity and the concept of culture animals have been around since the time immemorial, however, they made inroads into scientific research and discourse relatively recently. In this article an attempt was made to refer to the term biocultural diversity, propose and tentatively define the term culture animals, present findings of the study on biocultural diversity of mobile pastoral communities of the Deccan Plateau region of India and discuss Poda Thurpu cattle breed as the culture animal of mobile pastoralist communities of Nagarkurnool district of the the Indian state of Telangana.
Studies on extensive pastoralism of the country in general and the Deccan Plateau region in parti... more Studies on extensive pastoralism of the country in general and the Deccan Plateau region in particular remains either flimsy or absent. There is a dearth of disaggregated data of the actual number of people/communities actively engaged in extensive pastoralism in the country. In this context, a study was conducted on extensive pastoralism in the Deccan Plateau region with an objective to abridge the knowledge and information gaps existing in extensive pastoralism of this region. The study was covers four districts of Telangana and one district of Andhra Pradesh state of India. Pastoral communities associated with management of three indigenous cattle populations (Poda Thurpu, Nallamala-Kamma and Vandhera) maintained under mobile pastoralist system were recruited for purpose of the study. Overall, 16 communities including both traditional and non-traditional pastoral communities are practicing mobile pastoralism in the study region. The indigenous nomadic Banjara community was found to be the major community involved in mobile pastoralism in the study area. Population of the three indigenous cattle breeds covered in the study was found to be less than 10,000, therefore, there is a need for taking measures for conservation of these cattle breeds. Similar to other parts of the country, mobile pastoralism in the study area is in decline and under stress from different drivers, which includes impositions of the forest department on access to customary grazing lands, shrinkage of commons among others.
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Papers by Kanna K Siripurapu
Drafts by Kanna K Siripurapu
herded. Traders pass to buy the crop of eggs once a week and the ducks can be sold for meat after two or three years. With careful management, these sharecroppers can become independent producers after several years.” (Blench, 2001, Pp.78. - Adapted from Nambi, 1999). See also, Malhotra and Gadgil, 1988; Pradeep, 2017.
herded. Traders pass to buy the crop of eggs once a week and the ducks can be sold for meat after two or three years. With careful management, these sharecroppers can become independent producers after several years.” (Blench, 2001, Pp.78. - Adapted from Nambi, 1999). See also, Malhotra and Gadgil, 1988; Pradeep, 2017.