Valuable wisdom in the Himalayas: ITKs in bullock rearing

Abstract

Rural community has been utilising natural herbs for treatment of health disorders since time immemorial. The indigenous wisdom possessed by them is of immense importance that must be documented and conserved for future use unless it gets lost or endangered with time. The Himalayan region is home to a number of medicinal plant species that are used for treatment of humans as well as domestic animals. Present study was carried out in the state of Uttarakhand to document various ethnoveterinary practices followed in the treatment of bullocks which form the backbone of hill agriculture. Data were collected in 2017-18 from 240 farmers randomly selected from four districts through a semi-structured schedule. The study revealed that the respondents were using 36 plant species (mainly herbs 52.77%) in combination with household items and other resources in different formulations such as decoction, drink, balls, powder, chutney, etc. to treat their bullocks. It revealed that carom seeds (<em>Trachyspermum ammi</em>), Nettle (<em>Urtica dioica</em>) and Cumin (<em>Cuminum cyminum</em>) had the highest use value (UV) of 1.00, 0.99 and 0.98 respectively. Identified ethnoveterinary practices were being used for different health issues mainly, injury (external and internal), digestive disorders, poisoning, muscular pain, foot and mouth disease (FMD), fever, infection, burns, etc.