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This article questions the premises of the concept of 'indigenous knowledge,' based on a case study of a seemingly exemplary system of indigenous knowledge, contemporary smallholder rubber cultivation in Southeast Asia. The analysis begins with a summary of the historical development of the technology of rubber cultivation, focusing on the transplanting of Para rubber from South America to Southeast Asia and the construction of knowledge of rubber cultivation both during and following this transplanting. This history of knowledge construction was characterized by two critical discontinuities, involving the separation of the rubber plant from its original conceptual context, and extensive experimentation with rubber production technologies. The resulting system of Asian smallholder cultivation is, like many other such systems, neither indigenous nor exogenous but rather hybrid in character, and representation of this hybridity is strongly contested by the principal parties involved, ie, the smallholders on the one hand and the government estate sector on the other. It is concluded that (1) the concept of indigenous knowledge is a type of 'dividing practice' that over-writes a history of interaction and contestation, and (2) that the concept of indigenous knowledge has gone through a 'life cycle' of initial reception and utility followed by subsequent rejection and disutility. 1 Photograph, 33 References. (Original abstract - amended)

This article questions the premises of the concept of "indigenous knowledge," based on a case study of a seemingly exemplary system of indigenous knowledge, contemporary smallholder rubber cultivation in Southeast Asia. The analysis begins with a summary of the historical development of the technology of rubber cultivation, focusing on the transplanting of Para rubber from South America to Southeast Asia & the construction of knowledge of rubber cultivation both during & following this transplanting. This history of knowledge construction was characterized by two critical discontinuities, involving the separation of the rubber plant from its original conceptual context, & extensive experimentation with rubber production technologies. The resulting system of Asian smallholder cultivation is, like many other such systems, neither indigenous nor exogenous but rather hybrid in character, & representation of this hybridity is strongly contested by the principal parties involved, ie, the smallholders on the one hand & the government estate sector on the other. It is concluded that (1) the concept of indigenous knowledge is a type of "dividing practice" that over-writes a history of interaction & contestation, & (2) that the concept of indigenous knowledge has gone through a "life cycle" of initial reception & utility followed by subsequent rejection & disutility. 1 Photograph, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

The research was carried out in Bodo city in Gokana Local Government of Rivers State, Southern Nigeria to evaluate the land suitability for rubber and cashew cultivation using the relevant land suitability guidelines for the cultivation of the two cash crops of interest. Mapping of the 100 ha of land in Bodo city was done using the rigid grid method of soil survey. The three mapping units (summit, middle slope and valley bottom) were identified and delineated. Three representative soil pedons of 2 m x 2 m x 2 m were dug and described by horizon from top to bottom (0 cm to 200 cm). Soil samples were collected from identifiable horizons and processed for laboratory analysis using standard routine laboratory methods most appropriate. The results showed that pedons 1 and 3 covering 86,000 ha of the entire study area were found to be moderately suitable for rubber cultivation with limitation in soil physical characteristics (texture) and fertility (low base saturation < 50 %). Pedon 2 covering 14,000 ha of the total land of the study area was marginally suitable due to limitation in soil fertility (low base saturation < 80 %). Pedon 1, 2, and 3 were also moderately suitable for cashew cultivation in the study area with limitation in soil physical characteristics (texture) and fertility (low organic carbon), while limitation in wetness (poor drainage) was peculiar to pedon 3 only. Thus, soils in the study area were moderately suitable for both rubber and cashew cultivation in the area.

SINCE Malaysian independence over two decades ago, rubber production there has undergone a significant and far-reaching structural transformation, in social as well as economic dimensions. This transformation represented the outcome of policy responses to changing world market conditions for the export of natural rubber, which coincided with a political transition to independence and parliamentary government. In its response, government policy since the mid-1950s released many of the earlier administrative constraints on the spread of new rubber planting. The ensuing entrepreneurial re-awakening led to large-scale re-planting and new planting with high-yielding rubber. This increasingly widespread wave of technological innovation was accompanied by the dissolution of marginal estate enterprises, which was more than offset by a parallel expansion of peasant participation in rubber cultivation. Productivity and therefore producer incomes generally tended to improve, notwithstanding cyclical fluctuations in world rubber prices. Yet, by the middle 1970s this policy trend favouring technological cumentrepreneurial innovation appears to have altered direction. Indeed,recent Malaysian rubber policy indicates that structural transformation has run its course, at least for present intents and purposes. As will be seen, the current policy goal has reverted to protecting the newly established economic and social order in the Malaysian rubber planting against further pressures for developmental change.