Assam is rich in oral traditions. The Assamese proverbs or the Fokora jojana have enriched the treasure of Assamese language and literature. These beautifully rhyming verses with excellent use of similes, metaphors, and hyperboles are wise sayings on almost every aspect of human life. They are also called Daakor Boson, after Daak, a wise counsel who had the solution to every human problem. The proverbs are based on people’s experience and observation of nature over the years. The Assamese society has been agrarian and hence there has been a good reflection of cultivation and farming in almost all the oral literature. The Assamese proverbs are the storehouse of the traditional knowledge of cultivation and farming. The present write-up is a humble attempt to analyse some of the proverbs associated with cultivation and farming. Not having a paddy field is considered inferior in society, the proverb says. There is mention of varieties of paddy cultivation, the season of sowing seed, preparing the ‘Kathiya’ (nursery bed), water management, space required between the crops; tiltation required for different rice varieties are wonderfully explained. The proverbs also give wise lessons on growing different trees and vegetables in the kitchen garden. Here, mention is made to the betel nut, pepper, and banana plant. The pit size for banana, types of organic manures needed for different varieties of banana, and how a person can become rich by cultivating banana is found in the proverbs. Good crops depend entirely on good weather. The proverbs give tips to farmers to understand suitable weather for crops from mother nature

Assamese proverbs, cultivation, farming, indeginous-knowledge