author(s)
K Elango, E Sobhana, P Sujithra, D Bharath and Amit Ahuja

abstract
Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) refers to the unique traditional local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific conditions by women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area. This indigenous technical knowledge that people in a given community have developed over time and continue to develop it, is based on human experiences on mass scale, dynamic and changing, tested in most cases over centuries of use, endowed with highest possible adaptability to local culture and environment and put greater weight age on minimizing risks rather than maximizing profit. The indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) covers a wide range of subjects, viz. crop production, livestock rearing, natural resource management, food preparation, healthcare, insect pest management and many others. The use of non-chemical methods for pest control and crop protection is already gaining importance in several countries including India. The integrated pest management strategies developed and promoted by the Governments is now based on the use of plants extracts. If an effort is made towards production of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) based products on cottage scale, it can be an economically viable option for sustainable development of ecofriendly pesticides/insecticides.