Assessing Important Components for the Utilization of Ferula assa foetida L Based on combination of Approach of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge: A Case Study

Aims Today, scholars and researchers, while collecting and applying traditional methods, are an attempt to consolidate the indigenous and scientific approaches into a superior body. This study was performed to apply a consolidated approach for the assessment of harvesting medicinal plant Ferula assa-foetida in Tangsorkh Rangelands, Boyer-Ahmad county, Iran. Instruments & Methods In the descriptive study, a number of interviews were held with the local stakeholders along with a literature review to solicit information on the possible set of indicators determining different aspects of harvesting F. assa-foetida. The main method applied was the exploitation of indigenous knowledge based on a participatory-exploratory research method. For this purpose, the researcher traveled to the area during the harvesting season in the spring and summer 2015, to accompany the beneficiaries of F. assa-foetida in the Tangsorkh rangelands. During the interviews and direct observations, questions were asked to explore the factors affecting the utilization of F. assa-foetida and the results were qualitatively analyzed. Findings Indigenous and scientific knowledge shared similarities in terms of cutting intervals, plant viability and cutting age, yet differing in cutting method and frequency. The consolidated approach of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge suggested that conventional method, one and two-sided cuttings, four-day intervals, 20 cuttings per year and a plant age of 5-10 years as the suitable harvesting principles. Conclusion There are evident differences between the indigenous and scientific knowledge of harvesting F. assa-foetida, with Dominated convergence. It appears that scientific knowledge has been considerably concerned with plant viability to achieve a sustainable level of production.