Abstract
BackgroundThe Malakand valley of District Dir (Lower) is endowed with a diverse plant wealth. Ethnoveterinary knowledge provides the traditional medicines of livestock that are cheaper than standard treatment and are easily accessible.MethodsThe present study was conducted to document the traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices in Malakand valley, District Dir (Lower). Data was collected from February 2012 to January 2013 by interviewing 120 inhabitants through semi-structured questionnaires. Different questions were asked to collect appropriate data regarding the use of plants for livestock treatment. Direct matrix ranking (DMR) was carried out to find out the use diversity of medicinal plants.FindingsA total of 28 plants belonging to 23 families were collected and identified for the treatment of livestock in the study area. Majority of the plants were collected from wild (68%) habitat and very few from cultivated sources. The leaves (28%) were identified as the major plant part for herbal preparations. The most frequent ailments of livestocks in the study area were stomach disorders and Charmaikh (local disease name). Various ingredients were used along with ethnoveterinary medicines i.e. sugar, flour, milk etc. The elder people of the village had a rich knowledge as compared to the young generation. According to DMR output, Monotheca buxifolia ranked first and Dalbergia sisso and Melia azedarach ranked second due to high multipurpose uses among all species and was found most threatened in the study area.ConclusionIt has been concluded that the native of the region heavily dependent on medicinal plants for the treatment of variety of livestock ailments. Traditional knowledge always provides a baseline for further phytochemical and pharmacological investigation. The documentation of the ethnoveterinary practices in study area was necessary before this precious knowledge is lost forever due to rapid socioeconomic, environmental and technological changes.
Highlights
The Malakand valley of District Dir (Lower) is endowed with a diverse plant wealth
It has been concluded that the native of the region heavily dependent on medicinal plants for the treatment of variety of livestock ailments
The documentation of the ethnoveterinary practices in study area was necessary before this precious knowledge is lost forever due to rapid socioeconomic, environmental and technological changes
Summary
The Malakand valley of District Dir (Lower) is endowed with a diverse plant wealth. Ethnoveterinary knowledge provides the traditional medicines of livestock that are cheaper than standard treatment and are accessible. Majority of Pakistani livestock farmers are poor and own 5–6 animals per family [5] Most of these farmers cannot afford modern allopathic drugs due to financial constrains, which leads to poor livestock production and monetary losses due to poor health of animals. Under such conditions, ethnoveterinary medicine can be promoted as an alternative of modern drugs and it will help in poverty alleviation by empowering the people to make use of their own resources for healing of their livestock. In order to conserve the traditional knowledge, the documentation through systematic studies is imperative before it is lost forever
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