Ethnoveterinary uses of medicinal plants among traditional herbal healers in Alaknanda catchment of Uttarakhand, India

P.C Phondani,C.P Kala,R.K Maikhuri

doi:10.4314/ajtcam.v7i3.54775

P.C Phondani, C.P Kala + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v7i3.54775

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Abstract

The people of far-flung rural areas still depend to a large extent upon plants and household remedies for curing veterinary ailments. The folk knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine and its significance has been identified by the traditional communities through a process of experience over hundreds of years. The paper deals with 34 ailments commonly found in nine different categories of livestock/animals (i e. buffalo, cow, oxen, sheep, goat, horse, mule, dog and cat) and their treatment with 73 medicinal plant species belonging to 70 genera and 45 families that occur in forests as well as close vicinity of the rural settlements. Out of the total population, majority of the people (more than 80%) was found dependent on traditional (herbal) system of treatments practiced by local herbal healers (Pashu Vaidyas), while rest of the people preferred modern (allopathic) system of treatments for curing veterinary ailments. In this study we observed that old aged people have more knowledge and experience particularly in remote areas for curing veterinary ailments. The traditional system of treatment is one of the most important prevailing systems in the area where modern veterinary health care facilities are rare or in very poor conditions.

Highlights

Animal husbandry is the backbone of the rural sector of the Himalayan region and development of this sector may improve the living standard of rural communities
In spite of environmental compulsions and hardships of remote areas, the spectrum of livestock diversity in this region is rich and varied. This is evident from the occurrence of different breeds of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, mules, buffaloes and poultry etc. In these remote areas, where modern veterinary health curative systems are very poor, the traditional societies have evolved several indigenous veterinary health care practices to maintain a variety of livestock populations (Palni et al, 1998; Samal et al, 2004)
The present study showed that the local people of Alaknanda catchment use several ethnoveterinary practices for curing animal ailments

Summary

Introduction

Animal husbandry is the backbone of the rural sector of the Himalayan region and development of this sector may improve the living standard of rural communities. In spite of environmental compulsions and hardships of remote areas, the spectrum of livestock diversity in this region is rich and varied This is evident from the occurrence of different breeds of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, mules, buffaloes and poultry etc. Ethnoveterinary practices are often cheap, safe, long time tested and based on local resources and strengths These can provide useful alternatives to modern animal health care systems (Kumar, 2002; McCorkle, 1995). These systems of healing domestic animals make use of many medicinal plants, most of which are endemic and some of them are at the verge of extinction due to over exploitation (Kala, 2005; Maikhuri et al, 1998) These indigenous practices play a crucial role in the livestock health care of traditional societies. Due to changing socio-economic and cultural values of the traditional communities, the indigenous practices of livestock rearing is gradually declining from the region (Farooquee et al, 1996; Purohit et al, 2002)

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