Ethno-botanical remedies used by pastoralists for the treatment of livestock diseases in Cholistan desert, Pakistan

Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants and their utilization by indigenous and local communities of Dugda District, Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants have been used by the people of Dugda District in the primary health care system to treat various livestock ailments for generations, particularly, in underserved rural areas. However, these ethnoveterinary practices and medicinal plants are dwindling without proper documentation, due to undergoing socio-cultural and environmental changes. Hence, this study aimed at inventory and analysis of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants and the associated indigenous and local knowledge used in the treatment of livestock health problems in Dugda District.

METHODS

Data were collected from 378 local inhabitants through semi-structured interviews, 18 focus group discussions with 6 to 8 participants in each couple with participant field observations. Informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity-level (FL) and relative importance value (RI) were used to evaluate the agreement of informants on ethnoveterinary practices, healing potential of medicinal plants and the most multipurpose species. Using standard taxonomic procedures, voucher specimens were collected, identified and deposited at the National Herbarium of Addis Ababa University.

RESULTS

In total, 64 medicinal plants of ethnoveterinary uses, belonging to 33 families were reported to treat 37 livestock health problems. Anthrax, inappetence and diarrhoea were said to be the most prevalent veterinary health problems treated by traditional medicinal plants. Family Fabaceae was the most widely reported (7 spp.), followed by Apocynaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae (5 spp. each). Herbs were the dominant life forms (21spp.), followed by shrubs (20 spp.). The most commonly sought plant parts were leaves (55.25%), followed by roots (23.44%). The principal method of preparation was pounding remedial parts (46.85%) and mixing with cold water. The main route of administration was via oral application (72.67%), drenching diseased livestock. Withania somnifera and Kedrostis foetidissima were the most cited medicinal plants with 53 and 43 use reports (URs), respectively. ICF showed that respiratory diseases scored the highest value (0.94), while most of the reported medicinal plants were gastrointestinal agents. RI value analysis revealed that Croton macrostachyus had highest diversity of uses, followed by K. foetidissima and W. somnifera. Ethnoveterinary uses of some medicinal plants such as Phytolacca dodecandra, Calpurnia aurea, Cyphostemma cyphopetalum and Verbascum sinaiticum as prophylaxis against rabies were a new input for ethnoveterinary database.

CONCLUSION

The study revealed that the people of the Dugda District are endowed with rich ethnoveterinary knowledge and medicinal plants. However, ethnoveterinary knowledge associated with medicinal plant species significantly differ (P < 0.05) between general and key informants, young and matured age groups and informants' educational level. This infers the impact of mode of ethnoveterinary knowledge transfer, literacy, modern education and globalization on ethnoveterinary uses of medicinal plant species. And also most of the medicinal plants are found in wild habitats with nearly no conservation attention. Therefore, it is imperative to implement participatory conservation actions for medicinal plants in collaboration with traditional institutions (Gada system). The disparity of ethnoveterinary knowledge could be also minimized through awareness creation among local communities about the knowledge and its revitalization. Furthermore, medicinal plants, which are widely utilized and multipurpose, should be screened for their phytochemicals, pharmacological and toxicological activities to confirm ethnoveterinary uses and for future development of veterinary pharmaceuticals.

Herbal medicinal uses and their practices in human health care and livestock from district Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

BACKGROUND

In light of the increasing need, for global health care, traditional medical knowledge is receiving considerable attention in order to fulfil the public health needs not only for human health but also animal health.

OBJECTIVES

Thus, the aim of the study is to explore ethnomedicinal uses of plants in human and livestock health care of the study area.

METHODS

Data were gathered through arranged surveys and meeting techniques by focusing on 80 sources in the investigation region during 2018-2020. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices were calculated.

RESULTS

Eighty plant species (33 herbs, 21 shrubs, 24 trees and 2 climbers) belonging to 50 families, distributed in 74 genera, were being used in the study area. Forty-nine medicinal plants in the treatment of 42 human diseases under 52 natural recipes and 40 plants in 34 livestock diseases under 40 recipes were used, in which 9 plants are used commonly in ethnopharmacy and veterinary medicine. Jaccard index was used to predict the similarity and dissimilarity among cities of Pakistan and reflected the novel use of medicinal plants. Results showed that Boerhavia diffusa, Centella asiatica, Morus nigra, Nasturtium officinale, Rumex hastatus and Sageretia thea have the higher use value (UV). Comparative analysis with other studies strongly reflected the novel use of these plants because of the deep-rooted and unique sociocultural setup of study area.

CONCLUSIONS

Our research shows that the wild plants used in the study area are extremely varied, both in terms of species and function, and folk medicine is one of the main health care systems in the area.

Quantitative ethnoveterinary study on plant resource utilization by indigenous communities in high-altitude regions

For millennia, ethnic knowledge has been intricately tied to local biodiversity and woven into the fabric of rural communities. Growing scientific evidence suggests that merging ethnic knowledge with new scientific findings can lead to socially acceptable and environmentally friendly approaches essential for the long-term prosperity of local communities. In the high-altitude region, where livestock raising is a key income source, and plant-based utilization for ethno-veterinary practices is widely practiced. In this context, this study was conducted with the aim of documenting the ethno-veterinary use of plant resources in different bio-geographical regions of Jammu and Kashmir's Himalayas (J & KH). Semi-structured interviews and group discussions were used to collect information. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson correlation were conducted to analyze the data. We documented 148 species from 53 families that locals used for various purposes: medicine, fodder, tonic, antidote, magic, and also used to protect themselves from ectoparasite such as Pediculus humanus capitis by the local inhabitants. There were significant differences in the relative usage of plant resources across the three biogeographic regions. Comparatively, the highest number (41%) of plant species were used for ethnoveterinary in the Jammu region, while the lowest number (28%) of species were used in Kashmir. Across the regions, Kashmir and Jammu had the highest level of species similarity (17%), while Jammu and Ladakh had the lowest (1%). A cross-regional assessment of plant resources revealed that 18% of plants were shared among the regions. The reported use of Amaranthus blitum, Morus alba, Ficus palmata, Vitex negundo, Juniperus semiglobosa, Ulmus wallichiana, and Rumex nepalensis are novel for the ethno-veterinary uses of this part of the Himalayan region. The various dry unique traditional fodder preparations (gaaslov, gass khor, pan baath, kaandbaath, Lovgooad, Karb, and Phungma) from plant resources are reported for the first time from the Himalayan region and can be ascribed to the novelty of this study. Plant resources were not only a source of fodder and medicine but also presented themselves as an opportunity for livelihood generation. Therefore, our findings bridge the knowledge gap by documenting key ethnoveterinary applications of native plant species from the study region that are used to cure livestock diseases and disorders by the mountain inhabitants.

Ticks and tick-borne diseases of bovines in a smallholder livestock context: The Pakistani example

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) substantially affect the health and production of ruminants, particularly in resource-poor, small-scale farming systems worldwide. However, to date, there has been no critical appraisal of the current state of knowledge of TTBDs in such farming systems. In this article, we systematically reviewed the situation in Pakistan-as an example of a country that is highly reliant on agriculture to sustain its economy, particularly smallholder livestock farms, which are continually faced with challenges associated with TTBDs. The main aims of this review were to gain improved insights into the current status of TTBDs in small-scale farming systems, and to identify knowledge gaps, through the systematic evaluation of published literature on this topic from Pakistan, and to recommend future research directions. We searched publicly available literature from three databases (i.e. Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PubMed) on bovine TTBDs in Pakistan. Of 11,224 published studies identified, 185 were eligible for inclusion; these studies were published between August 1947 and June 2021. A critical analysis of these 185 studies revealed that the diagnosis of ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in Pakistan has been based largely on the use of traditional methods (i.e. 'morpho-taxonomy'). At least 54 species of tick have been recorded, most of which belong to the genera Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus. The prevalence of ticks was higher, particularly in young, exotic and crossbred female cattle, during the summer season. Major TBPs include species of Anaplasma, Babesia and Theileria, with prevalences being higher in cattle than buffaloes. Additionally, pathogens of zoonotic potential, including species of Anaplasma, Borrelia, the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, Coxiella, Ehrlichia and Rickettsia, have been recorded in both tick and bovine populations. Information on risk factors, spatial-temporal distribution, genetic diversity, and control of ticks and TBPs is limited, the vector potential of ticks and the distribution patterns of ticks and TBPs in relation to climate remains largely unexplored. Future research should focus on addressing these knowledge gaps and the key challenges of poverty, food security and disease outbreaks in a small-scale livestock farming context in order to provide sustainable, environment-friendly control measures for TTBDs.

Ethnoveterinary botanical survey of medicinal plants used in Pashto, Punjabi and Saraiki communities of Southwest Pakistan

Medicinal plants are highly used in the ethnoveterinary practice as considerable livestock resources in remote areas. The aim of the present study is to explore the ethnoveterinary medicinal practices in three different communities and discuss the cross‐cultural consensus on the usage of medicinal plants for the treatment of animals. The field survey was conducted by the animal healers of the area during the different seasons of plant growth. A total of 83 informants were interviewed through Semi‐structured interview involving experts of traditional knowledge in 21 localities of the three regions (Zhob, D. I. Khan and Mianwali) were conducted. Findings of the study were quantitatively analyzed through the informant consensus factors to identify the homogeneity information provided by the informants. Furthermore, cross‐culture consensuses were analyzed and recorded data were represented in a tabulated and Venn diagrams. In particularly, 59 species of plants were documented in the comparative analysis. Among them, 32 plant species were recorded in Pashto community, while Punjabi and Sarakai communities exhibited nine and four plant species, respectively. Whereas cross‐cultural analysis showed 14 medicinal plants that were commonly utilized by three different ethnic communities, that indicated low interregional consensus in regard to ethnoveterinary practices of medicinal plants. The current study showed that different communities and ethnic groups sharing some traditional knowledge and cross‐culturally approaches have been reported from traditional uses of plants against livestock's diseases. Therefore, current findings are the opportunities to scrutinize the plants for the discovery of new drug sources for humans and animals.

Ethnoveterinary plants of Pakistan: a review

BACKGROUND

Ethnoveterinary medicine is crucial in many rural areas of the world since people living in remote and marginal areas rely significantly on traditional herbal therapies to treat their domestic animals. In Pakistan, communities residing in remote areas, and especially those still attached to pastoralist traditions, have considerable ethnoveterinary herbal knowledge and they sometimes use this knowledge for treating their animals. The main aim of the study was to review the literature about ethnoveterinary herbals being used in Pakistan in order to articulate potential applications in modern veterinary medicine. Moreover, the review aimed to analyze possible cross-cultural and cross regional differences.

METHODS

We considered the ethnobotanical data of Pakistan published in different scientific journals from 2004 to 2018. A total of 35 studies were found on ethnoveterinary herbal medicines in the country. Due to the low number of field studies, we considered all peer-reviewed articles on ethnoveterinary herbal practices in the current review. All the ethnobotanical information included in these studies derived from interviews which were conducted with shepherds/animals breeders as well as healers.

RESULTS

Data from the reviewed studies showed that 474 plant species corresponding to 2386 remedies have been used for treating domestic animals in Pakistan. The majority of these plants belong to Poaceae (41 species) followed by the Asteraceae (32 species) and Fabaceae (29 species) botanical families, thus indicating a possible prevalence of horticultural-driven gathering patterns. Digestive problems were the most commonly treated diseases (25%; 606 remedies used), revealing the preference that locals have for treating mainly minor animal ailments with herbs. The least known veterinary plants recorded in Pakistan were Abutilon theophrasti, Agrostis gigantea, Allardia tomentosa, Aristida adscensionis, Bothriochloa bladhii, Buddleja asiatica, Cocculus hirsutus, Cochlospermum religiosum, Cynanchum viminale, Dactylis glomerata, Debregeasia saeneb, Dichanthium annulatum, Dracocephalum nuristanicum, Flueggea leucopyrus, Launaea nudicaulis, Litsea monopetala, Sibbaldianthe bifurca, Spiraea altaica, and Thalictrum foetidum. More importantly, cross-cultural comparative analysis of Pathan and non-Pathan ethnic communities showed that 28% of the veterinary plants were mentioned by both communities. Cross-regional comparison demonstrated that only 10% of the plant species were used in both mountain and plain areas. Reviewed data confirm therefore that both ecological and cultural factors play a crucial role in shaping traditional plant uses.

CONCLUSION

The herbal ethnoveterinary heritage of Pakistan is remarkable, possibly because of the pastoral origins of most of its peoples. The integration of the analyzed complex bio-cultural heritage into daily veterinary practices should be urgently fostered by governmental and non-governmental institutions dealing with rural development policies in order to promote the use of local biodiversity for improving animal well-being and possibly the quality of animal food products as well.

Pharmaceutical, Ethnopharmacological, Phytochemical and Synthetic Importance of Genus Aerva: A Review

Aerva plants are known widely for their exceptional medicinal uses. They have been employed conventionally for their medicinal properties by the common folk in several regions of the world. This indicates the efficacy of these remarkable herbs. They are also known for their multiple biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antilithiatic, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, anticancer, antihyperlipidemic and nephroprotective potential. These pharmacological actions are associated with the presence of valuable nutrients and biochemical compounds such as sterols/terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolics and sugars. The proper utilization of the substances obtained from these plants can enhance the finesse of the capabilities of these plants. These plants are not only medicinally important but are significantly serving several other scientific purposes. In the prospect of medicinal, scientific uses and the bioavailability of precious chemicals of Aerva species, a comprehensive review is compiled, which focuses on the detailed profile of biochemical compounds, pharmacological functions and biological activities of Aerva plants. The review also discusses the synthetic importance and the toxicity of these plants. The study aims to compile comprehensively what is already done and what more is needed to be done in the future investigations related to Aerva species.

Ethnoveterinary botanical survey of medicinal plants in Abergelle, Sekota and Lalibela districts of Amhara region, Northern Ethiopia

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The study area is known by its huge livestock resources with extensive ethnoveterinary practice. This knowledge was not documented scientifically until we proposed to do so. The study can aid in future planning of endangered species conservation as well as for experimental studies in search of modern pharmacotherapy.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The study objective was to understand the extent of ethnoveterinary practice, methods, types of medicinal plant species used and to generate a comprehensive baseline data that can be used as a basis for further studies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The survey was conducted from November 2015 to December 2016 in different seasons of the year. Participant selection process was started by recording all the known animal healers by assigning village leaders, animal health professionals, and research field assistants to record all animal healers of the area. Assigned personals communicate elders, and other members of the communities of the 3 districts to recommend the traditional animal healer they know. Accordingly, 60 participants were recommended by the peoples of the 3 districts and the interview process was conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire to record the knowledge of ethnoveterinary practice of the 60 healers. After finishing the interview process, researchers had a walk in the woods, mountains, and rivers with informants to collect medicinal plants. Standard procedures were followed for the record of plant materials, drying, and pressing of plant specimens was performed in the field followed by labeling with the local name, collection date, collection site, and identification code.

RESULTS

A total of 53 medicinal plants that belong to 31 families used in treating 22 kinds of livestock diseases were identified.

CONCLUSION

We found the area has a huge resource of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants. However, overuse and environmental anthropological change resulted in the scarcity of medicinal plants. This condition was complained by healers during the survey.

Cross-Cultural Analysis of Medicinal Plants commonly used in Ethnoveterinary Practices at South Waziristan Agency and Bajaur Agency, Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

In remote areas, medicinal plants have an imperative role in curing various livestock's ailments. In Pakistan, people residing in remote areas including South Waziristan Agency and Bajaur Agency depend on traditional herbal remedies for treating their domestic animals. Medicinal plants are an important part of the medical system in these Agencies. The prime goal of the current study is to explore the ethnoveterinary practices in the two regions and discuss cross-cultural consensus on the use of medicinal plants. In this study, we have given detailed description on the ethnoveterinary usage of certain medicinal plants and their recipes. Moreover, we have also elaborated the ethnoveterinary potential of certain plants in relation to their ethnomedicinal, pharmacological and phytochemicals reports.

METHODOLOGY

Fieldwork comprised of two fields surveys conducted at South Waziristan Agency and Bajaur Agency. A total of 75 informants from South Waziristan Agency and 80 informants from Bajaur Agency were interviewed with the help of semi-structured questionnaires. Use reports (URs) were recorded for all the documented taxa. Data were quantitatively analyzed by using informant consensus factor (F_ic) index in order to find out information homogeneity provided by the informants. To analyze the cross-cultural consensus, the recorded data were tabulated as well as shown by Venn diagram.

RESULTS

Overall, 94 medicinal plant taxa were recorded in the comparative analysis. Out of these, most of the plants species (72 species) were used at Bajaur Agency than South Waziristan Agency (37 species). Cross-cultural analysis showed that only 15 medicinal plants were used in common by the indigenous communities in both Agencies, which indicates a low interregional consensus with regard to the ethnoveterinary practices of medicinal plants. Apiaceae was the dominant family in both regions by representing maximum number of plant species (11 species). Gastro intestinal complexities were common in both regions having higher F_ic values (above 90). Moreover, the current investigation reported new ethnoveterinary uses of medicinal plants from South Waziristan Agency, which were Sideroxylon mascatense, Raphanus sativus, Salix babylonica, Solanum nigrum, Sophora mollis, Taraxacum campylodes and Tulipa stellata. On the other hand from Bajaur Agency, Boerhavia erecta, Celtis australis, Chamaecyparis obtusa var. obtuse, Eryngium biehersteinianum, Gossypium arboreum, Narcissus tazetta, Opuntia littoralis, Streblus asper were reported with new ethnoveterinary uses.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study has an important contribution towards the preservation of indigenous plants' based knowledge. Several plants are carrying important ethnoveterinary uses being practiced by the local people mostly against the gastrointestinal disorders in both regions. Importantly, the cross-cultural approach has reported some new traditional uses of plants against livestock's diseases. Hence, this is an opportunity to investigate such plants phytopharmacologically and toxicologically for the discovery of new drug sources.

Social engineering of societal knowledge in livestock science: Can we be more empathetic?

Questions are raised in effective utilization of farmer’s wisdom by communities in their farming. Planners support to livelihood emphasize mostly of inputs from outside and not setting up sustainable goals. Formal institutions and planners of program are finding constraints and sceptical in wider dissemination of indigenous knowledge research system (IKRS). This is in spite of evidence that considerable number of farmer’s in livestock sector depends on IKRS. In this context, it is pertinent to showcase dissemination potential of these knowledge system(s) in larger geographical areas. The review illustrates different challenges encountered while control of livestock ailments like ectoparasite infestation through IKRS. Several times, it was opinioned to provide or share IKRS to thwart ailments in a specific region. This is interesting as it was narrated how formal system is unable to recognize farmer’s problem and challenges in integrating these sustainable practices. It has to be noted that disseminating activities seldom takes into account the experimental potential of farmers. This review paper articulates various evidences generated in enhancing diffusion thereby dissemination of IKRS. The nature of support extended by IKRS in entrepreneurial activity of smallholder farming units did not get adequate recognition. There needs to be minimum standard protocol in deriving benefit from such low-cost alternative technologies. This will enrich incremental innovation activities as per location specific need and provide scope for wider dissemination.

Observations on traditional usage of ethnomedicinal plants in humans and animals of Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh in North-Western Himalaya, India

ETHNOBOTANICAL RELEVANCE

Medicinal plants are frequently used by Gaddi and Gujjar tribes of Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh, India to cure various ailments in humans and livestock. Therefore, extensive field work was conducted to document the traditional use of ethnomedicinal plants by these tribes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Direct interviews of 208 informants were conducted. The data generated through interviews was analysed using quantitative tools such as use-value (UV), factor informant consensus (Fic) and fidelity level (Fl).

RESULTS

A total of 73 plant species in 67 genera and 40 families were observed to be medicinal and used to cure 22 ailment categories. The highest number of ethnomedicinal plants was recorded from the family Asteraceae followed by Lamiaceae, Apiaceae, Acanthaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Polygonaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae and Rutaceae. Leaves were the most frequently used plant part used to treat various ailments followed by whole plant and roots or rhizomes. Ajuga parviflora, Berberis lycium, Viola canescens, Vitex negundo and Zanthoxylum armatum were the most important medicinal plants used for treating human diseases, whereas Achyranthes bidentata, Aloe sp., Cassia fistula, Podophyllum hexandrum and Pogostemon benghalensis were the most important medicinal plants used for treating animal diseases as per use value. The important ailment categories classified on the basis of factor informant consensus were gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders.

CONCLUSION

The present study revealed that people of the study area are extensively using the ethnomedicinal plants to cure various ailments. Plants with high use value and fidelity level should be subjected to pharmacological investigation for scientific validation.

Socio-economic characterisation of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) growers and date value chains in Pakistan

Increasing food production to feed its rapidly growing population is a major policy goal of Pakistan. The production of traditional staples such as rice (Oryza sativa L.) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has been intensified in many regions, but not in remote, drought-ridden areas. In these arid, marginal environments dates and their by-products are an option to complement staples given their high nutritive value and storability. To fill knowledge gaps about the role of date palm in the household (HH) income of rural communities and the structure of date value chains, this project studied date palm production across six districts in four provinces of Pakistan. During 2012-2013 a total of 170 HHs were interviewed with a structured questionnaire using a snowball sampling approach. The results showed that most of the HH were headed by males (99 %) who were married (74 %) and often illiterate (40 %). Agriculture was the main occupation of date palm growers (56 %), while a few coupled agricultural activities with business (17 %) or extra-farm employment opportunities (government 9 %; private sector 8 %). Date sales contributed >50 % to the total income of 39 % of HH and 90-100 % to 24 % of HH. Overall farmers grew a total of 39 date palm cultivars and cultivated an average of 409 ± 559 mature date palms. The majority of the respondents sold dates to commission agents (35 %), contractors (22 %) and wholesalers (21 %), while 28 % of HH cultivated date palms only for self-consumption. Date palm growers had only limited knowledge about high quality date cultivars, optimized farm management and about effective post-harvest conservation. Changes in extension and marketing efforts are needed to allow farmers to better exploit value chains in date thereby reaping higher benefits from improved market access to secure their often marginal income.