DEVELOPING RICE HUSH PRODUCTS FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT BY INTEGRATING CURRENT KNOWLEDGE WITH LOCAL WISDOM

Abstract

This research aimed at developing sustainable products from rice hush by integrating current knowledge to locally available wisdom in a selected rice paddy community. The research began with laboratory experiment basing on current industrial knowledge, to investigate possibilities in product development from rice hush, limitation, and opportunities in applying the knowledge in the local context. Subsequently, the adopted knowledge was integrated with locally available wisdom through community participation, comprising: people forums, interviews, workshops, and evaluations. The outcomes are as follows: (1) despite being treated as agricultural waste, rice hush was used as raw material for developing sustainable products for rice paddy communities; (2) integration of current knowledge and local wisdom was used in design to produce local trial products representing local identity; (3) innovation of production methods using natural rubber mold to shape up, and using plaster, cement, and cement grout for binding rice hush; (4) prototypes of products having rice hush surface texture reflecting the rice paddy farmers’ livelihood with beautiful culture can be obtained; (5) local people appreciate the products that are environmentally friendly from the production stage until they are no longer useable returning to the nature; (6) sustainable development concept for the community to save the natural capital sustainably.