Abstract
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s rural poor depend on livestock as a critical component of their livelihood. Modern ethnoveterinary health delivery is not easily accessible for the rural population, who still depends on traditional medicinal practices. India has rich ethnoveterinary health traditions. Nevertheless, these practices are facing the threat of rapid erosion. The vast majority of the medicinal plants used in veterinary in India have been studied from a pharmacological point of view. These studies, although giving important insights into the local traditional ethnoveterinary medicine in terms of the therapeutical value of the plants, fail however to portray the socioeconomic impact of this form of medicine on local communities. This article aims to overcome this shortcoming by analyzing the socioeconomic and health values of medicinal plants among the rural communities in Tamil Nadu, India, as well as their role in human health.
Introduction
Ethnoveterinary is a system that is based on folk beliefs, traditional knowledge, skills, methods, and practices used for curing diseases and maintaining health of animals (Wanzala, Zessin, Kyule, Baumann, Mathias, & Hassanali, 2005). Ethnoveterinary medicine is gaining popularity because it is affordable in developing countries. The questionable quality of allopathic drugs, development of chemo-resistance in livestock and companion animals due to indiscriminate use of anthelmintics and antibiotics (for example, tetracycline) and their negative effects such as antibiotic and hormone residues in the milk and other animal products are some of the drawbacks that have diverted the attention from modern veterinary medicine to ethnoveterinary (Iqbal, Jabbar, Akhtar, Muhammad, & Lateef, 2005; Lans, Turner, Brauer, Lourenco, & Georges, 2001).
General observations and studies show that the farmers in developing countries are using ethnoveterinary practices for curing various diseases of their livestock. Recent revival of Western interest in traditional veterinary medicine followed a revived interest in traditional practices in human health. The importance of traditional medicine as a source of primary health care was first officially recognized by the WHO in the Primary Health Care Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978) and has been globally addressed since 1978 by the Traditional Programme of the WHO. Despite ethnoveterinary medicine being the equivalent body of knowledge for livestock that ethnomedicine is for humans, it still lacks a high level of institutional backing from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) or from FAO (Mathias & Anjaria, 2004).
In the last decades, there have been a few studies seeking to understand the use of medicinal herbs for veterinary purposes in India (Wanzala et al., 2005). Most of these works adopt a descriptive and pharmacological approach. In relation to the latest research, although these studies constitute an advance in the knowledge of the ethnoveterinary practices, they fail however to consider the complexities of the local socioeconomic and health contexts as they are mainly focused on the therapeutic value of the plants.
Against this background, the present article has the following objectives:
To document and assess the present status, the knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices used for maintaining the health and curing diseases of livestock in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, India. To analyze the socioeconomic impact of the existing ethnoveterinary practices on the local communities under study. To investigate the possible interlinkages existing between the ethnoveterinary practices and human health.
Relevance of Ethnoveterinary for Human Livelihoods: An Incomplete Portrait?
Indigenous knowledge is local knowledge derived from interaction between people and their environment and is characteristic of all cultures. It spans the entire range of human experience, including agriculture and husbandry (Lateef, Iqbal, Khan, & Jabbar, 2003). According to Mathias, Rangnekar, and McCorkle (1999), ethnoveterinary not only includes treatments like herbal preparations, surgical interventions, indigenous vaccination but also people’s ideas about disease causation, transmission including zoonosis, religious and cultural attitudes, beliefs and rituals, husbandry operations for overall good health, people’s perception of relationship between environment and animal health care, and social organizations having know-how about animal health care. Farmers and pastoralists have a long history of the use of traditional medicine. They make up the bulk of the population and have a deep knowledge of their environment (Fajimi & Taiwo, 2005) so medicinal plants for several centuries have been widely used as a primary source of prevention and control of livestock diseases.
In developing countries even if the extensive network of hospitals exist to provide the modern veterinary facilities, dwindling financial resources and poorly developed necessary infrastructures make government-run veterinary services unable to provide good quality animal health services (Fajimi & Taiwo, 2005; Matekaire & Bwakura, 2004; Ole-Miaron, 2003). In India, public veterinary health care reaches only 20 percent of livestock owners, leaving a big gap between the demand and the supply of health care services (Hariramamurthy & Udopa, 2005; Ole-Miaron, 2003; Somvanshi, 2006; Viegi, Pieroni, Guarrera, & Vangelisti, 2003). Great interest in ethnoveterinary is substantial and growing in the form of systemic ethnoveterinary studies that have been carried out mainly in Africa, Asia, Central America, and in Europe (Ole-Miaron, 2003; Uncini Manganelli, Camangi, & Tomei, 2001).
Despite the importance of ethnoveterinary for the lives of many people in rural areas, the existing literature on this topic mainly consists of studies in ethnopharmacology which aim to document the uses of the plants and of natural remedies to cure the different diseases of the livestock. For the greatest part, these ethnobotanical inventories present botanical and pharmacologic data disembodied from their socioeconomic and cultural contexts; they cannot accommodate theoretical or conceptual issues, and in fact contain little by way of analysis, or even interpretation (Somvanshi, 2006). They lack careful attention to the specific circumstances and contexts in which plant utilization occurs, that is, data regarding mode of preparation and gathering of medicinal plants. In contrast to general inventories are few studies that attempt more broadly to contextualize features of perceptions about plants and of plant use, pharmacology and sociocultural aspects of ethnoveterinary (Pieroni, Howard, Volpato, & Santoro, 2004). These studies explore both biological and behavioral and cultural parameters to formulate questions within the broad outlines of a human ecology that seek to understand human–plant interactions in the most comprehensive sense and to assess the impact of such behaviors on local culture (Mwale, Bhebh, Chimonyo, & Halimani, 2005; Samal, Shah, Tiwari, Mehra, & Agrawal 2003; Uncini Manganelli et al., 2001).
Up to the present, the literature offers little data on the socioeconomic impact of ethnoveterinary medicinal practices. The livestock subsector has a significant role in the rural economy. Dairying especially is of vital importance to the livelihood security of rural poor. Around 80 percent of bovine owners in India belong to the below poverty line (BPL) population. They consist of landless, marginal, and small farmers. Animal diseases continue to be a major drain on the income of the poor in India, leaving a big gap between demand and supply of health care services (Hariramamurthy & Udupa, 2005).
Mathias and Anjaria (2004) give evidence that the use of ethnoveterinary medicine can have economic advantages for the households, and Misra and Kumar (2004) highlight how herbal remedies may be much cheaper than equivalent allopathic alternatives. Any detailed study exploring the ways in which ethnomedicine contributes to the household revenues and to other possible social outcomes has been carried out yet in much detail.
Another novelty of this article is to investigate the existence of possible interlinkages between the use of ethnoveterinary practices and the health of human beings. Although there are a number of studies analyzing the relevance of traditional medicine for human health (Lans et al. 2006; Muhammad, Khan, Hussain, Iqbal, Iqbal, & Athar, 2005; Nagnur, Channal, & Channamma, 2006), there are not any studies at present which examine the relationships between ethnoveterinary medicine and human health.
Methodology
In order to document the utilization of indigenous medicinal plants, research was conducted between July and August 2010 in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, in the districts of Dindugal and Virudhanagar in three different villages. These villagers have been selected as their inhabitants belong to the lower castes, and being landless or marginal farmers, they heavily rely on livestock breeding for their living. In these villages, the traditional ethnoveterinary practices have been revitalized and incremented due to the intervention of the Covenant Centre for Development (CCD), a local NGO based in Madurai and its partner organization, the Foundation for the Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT). These NGOs have promoted ethnoveterinary practices through methods which included documentation of this form of knowledge and the creation of home herbal gardens in rural areas of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu maintained by local villagers for improving livestock health.
Thirty-five households and ten traditional ethnoveterinary practitioners have been interviewed. The majority of households in this area belong to Scheduled Castes 1 and are considered to be economically and socially disadvantaged. The majority of the families do not own land and are tenant farmers or daily farmers. The illiteracy rate is still high among the scheduled castes. A questionnaire was used in interviews as well as open questions. These interviews were conducted with the help of translators who were conversant with the local Tamil language. In the area under study, the people mainly involved in animal keeping activities belong to tribal communities, who have this knowledge from their ancestors through an oral tradition. The questionnaire allowed descriptive responses on the plant prescribed, such as part of the plant used, medicinal uses, mode of preparation (that is, decoction, paste, powder, and juice) and administration, approximate dosage, and duration of treatment.
The open questions with the villagers aimed to gather information about the relevance of ethnoveterinary practices in the local livelihoods and their socioeconomic impact. Questions have also been asked to gain insight on the possible existence of interlinkages between traditional medicine for human health care and ethnoveterinary practices.
The traditional ethnoveterinary practitioners in the villages were interviewed about details of their practice, the diagnosis and therapeutic procedures adopted for treatment of the livestock. Other topics explored in the interviews aimed to gain insight on their point of view regarding the relevance of ethnoveterinary for the local livelihoods of the communities and the possible existence of interlinkages between human health and the health of the livestock.
During the interviews, two interviewing methods were also followed. The first was the “specimen display” method (Bhattarai, 1993). Plant species were shown to the traditional healers in order to elicit any medicinal information. The same plant was shown to the different healers to confirm the accuracy of the results. When convenient to the locals, the second method of jungle or forest walk took place. A walk through the forest with the healers allowed for both plant identification and detailed information gathering. Anthropologists and ethnobotanists use free-listing to identify the items that belong in a given cultural domain (Martin, 1995; Weller & Romney, 1988). In this research, the villagers and traditional healers completed free-list interviews in which they were asked to name all of the medicinal plants they knew. Although there may be a difference between listing a remedy and actually using it, the number of interviewees who list a given remedy is partially representative of a plant’s cultural importance (Pieroni et al., 2005).
Results and Discussion
The respondents were aged between 25 and 68 years and were all living in the villages under study. The age of the ethnoveterinary practitioners ranged between 45 and 67. Most of them (n = 29; 82 percent) have had an experience of 25 to 40 years of ethnoveterinary practices. Most of the ethnoveterinary practitioners (n = 7) claimed that they extended their services free of charges to the owners of livestock. Most of them (n = 6) said that they provide health services to their local as well as nearby villages. Informants with age more than 60 years reported a higher number of medicinal plant remedies and utilized a more diverse variety of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants compared to younger ones. Similarly, the men knew more about ethnoveterinary medicinal plants and also practiced them compared to women; this may be because men are more involved in caring for livestock, while women handle household work.
The respondents have encountered pests and diseases among their herds. According to them, the diseases presented in Table 1 are the common livestock health problems in the area. Mastitis, diarrhea, and ephemeral fever are the very serious diseases of cattle in the study area; they were encountered by 74, 78, and 57 percent, respectively, of the respondents. The majority of the respondents (32 out of 35) and the totality of the traditional ethnoveterinaries use local plants to cure the animals (see Table 1). The average number of plants used by the villagers was 10–12.
Main Plants Used to Cure the Cattle Diseases
Source: Author’s research data.
The self-diagnosis control method was practised by about 90 percent of the respondents. Here the respondents relied on experience gained over time to arrive at the type of ailment. This is common with tick and worm infestation and diarrhea. The symptoms include loss in weight, body temperature, and frequent defecation. When the self-diagnosis and the remedies did not give any results, the respondents went to see a traditional ethnoveterinary practitioner to confirm their diagnosis.
The mode of preparation of ethnoveterinary remedies varies according to the active ingredient to be extracted, the route of administration, and the medical intent, that is, whether the use is for prophylaxis or therapy (Takhar, 2004). The informants use these plants to remedy a number of diseases ranging from simple illness to highly intricate diseases like retention of placenta and uterus prolepses. The most popular methods of applications are decoction, crushing and making paste. Powdering was the least used preparation methods. On the other hand, many preparations are the combination of several herbs but more than 90 percent of the recipes are prepared using only one plant. In case of plant part uses, leaves were mostly used for curing ailments (60 percent), while roots and seeds were less frequent (20 percent). Mostly water is added to dilute the juice. Butter or petroleum jelly is added as a base in certain ointments.
Two-third of the interviewees emphasized how ethnoveterinary medicines are often not as fast-working and potent as allopathic medicines. They may therefore be less suitable to control and treat epidemic and endemic infectious diseases (for example, foot-and-mouth disease, rinderpest, hemorrhagic septicemia, anthrax, blackquarter, rabies), and acute life-threatening bacterial infections (for example, generalized cases of coli or pyogenes mastitis). The villagers affirmed that for these types of diseases, modern drugs might be the best choice.
However, for common diseases and more chronic conditions such as colds, skin diseases, worms, wounds, reproductive disorders, nutritional deficiencies, and mild diarrhea, ethnoveterinary medicine has much to offer and can be a cheap and readily available alternative to costly imported drugs. For some diseases, a combination of modern and local remedies and management practices might be preferable.
Socioeconomic Impact of Ethnoveterinary Practices
Livestock is one of the important socioeconomic resources for alleviation of poverty and raising the standard of living of teeming millions in the rural areas. In most of the Asian countries, livestock accounts for about 25 percent to the agricultural gross domestic products (Khan, 2009). In India, crop–livestock integration is both the way of life and means to livelihood (Matekaire & Bwakura, 2004).
The interviews emphasized that this combined approach of cattle rearing and agriculture was adopted in the region. Rearing one or two cows is an important livelihood engagement of the landless women in the rural areas of the southern states of India. Clubbed with seasonal agricultural labor work, dairying is one of the very few alternatives that the rural landless women are left with. In the area under study, the number of women active in cattle rearing has been increasing since the last few years. The prominent reasons offered by female respondents for rearing cattle, in the order of descending importance, were as follows: regular cash income through sale of milk; less tedious than agriculture labor; and flexibility in working time. In the area under study, buffalo were the main type of dairy animal, followed by cows, and finally goats.
The villagers interviewed emphasized how the buffalo production system provides employment to large number of them (28 out of 35) on a part- and full-time basis, namely, grazing, milking, dung disposal, milk collection and distribution, milk processing, etc.
All farms have a more or less diverse income structure, income sources being the sale of milk, sale of cash crops, and off-farm employment. Monthly household incomes due to the sale of meat and milk range between $25 and $50, which roughly represent more than 50 percent of the household income for the landless household and around 30 percent for the marginal or small farmers.
The training programs and workshops in ethnoveterinary organized by CCD in conjunction with FRLHT and traditional healers have allowed the villagers to increase their knowledge in ethnoveterinary practices and to share them with the other members of the community, especially the young generations. The higher reliance on ethnoveterinary practices following these training programs has allowed a reduction of costs for those who used to buy allopathic medicines or use the local veterinary facilities. This aspect has been emphasized unanimously by the villagers.
As a woman explains:
I have learnt the medicinal uses of plants to cure my cattle that I was not aware of…this is very useful for my family as we can spare the money we use to spend each time the livestock had a health problem…Some months ago one of my cows had a skin infection and I had to buy an allopathic treatment which was quite expensive…Now I have learnt that I can use some locally available plants to treat the cattle…
Although the majority of the villagers (that is, 25 out of 35) share the opinion that acute life-threatening bacterial infections such as generalized cases of coli or pyogenes mastitis should be treated by using antibiotics, there is the shared conviction that the use of plants such as neem (Azadirachta indica), Artemisia (Artemisia annua), Murungai (Moringa oliefera), and Maruthani (Lawsonia intermis) have antiviral, antiseptic and fungicidal properties and can be use for mild infections and to prevent their occurrence. The villagers feed calves on green fodder and supplement it with powdered neem leaves to prevent the emergence of parasite infections. It is believed that neem works as a growth promoter by killing parasites that hinder the growth of animal. The villagers also press the oil out from the seeds of neem and it is included in feed for cattle and poultry. The villagers also use the leaves of bakin (Melia azadarach) and karela (Momordica charantia) with their livestock, as they think they have a reinvigorating effect on the cattle and they increase their resistance to parasites.
Another key impact was increased survival of livestock and poultry, as a result of reduction in production loss and loss owing to mortality because of interventions outlined above. The decrease in occurrence of diseases and deaths in animals and poultry has definitely marginalized the losses to the people and has led to an increase in livestock assets, livestock productivity, and increase in household incomes, as also improved nutritional intake. Small poultry and sales of small animals such as goats go to women. Some of them have seen that there was an increase of their revenues as the animals were healthier and they could sell them for more. This translated into an increased annual economic gain at the village level that ranged from `30,000 to `60,000.
Two-thirds of the villagers (28 out of 35) emphasized how the use of plants for their livestock has allowed them to have positive economic outcomes for their households, in particular by increasing the weight of the animals as well as growth of the cattle. One of the plants locally used by the villagers to feed the cattle and the poultry was the plant of Azolla (A. filiculoides). This plant is rich in proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals and it is considered to increase the milk production of the cattle. Azolla is considered by the villagers to be it which can both complement and supplement cattle feed, particularly when there is an acute shortage of green fodder. In the local villages, it is also as a bio-fertilizer and a mosquito repellent. Normally, azolla is grown in paddy fields or shallow water bodies. Some villagers also grow it in tanks close to their homes.
Highlighting the positive aspects of using azolla to feed the animals, the villagers observed that their chicken grew faster if they were fed with azolla. They also noticed that there was around 10 to 15 percent increase in their total body weight compared to the chickens which were given only a normal diet. The aspect of increase in weight of the chicken has been specifically emphasized by women, who are normally in charge of the small livestock such as poultry and goats and that have autonomy to buy and sell this type of cattle. A woman in her late-forties affirmed:
[I]t is very important to give the chicken and the other animals plants and other types of food which is nutritious and good for their health…I am giving the chicken a supplement of azolla and I have noticed that this has been very positive for them as they are growing faster and stronger…They are also bigger and they can produce more eggs…so when I go to the market I can sell the chicken for an higher price and I can sell more eggs…
A villager also emphasized that he noticed an increase in milk production of his buffaloes since when he fed them with the plants of azolla: “The milk production has increased significantly after introducing Azolla as feed for cattle. The daily production has shot up from 7–8 liters per day to 10–12 liters…So I am able to sell more and my income has increased.”
Other plants used to feed livestock are drumsticks (Moringa oleifera), kutki (Picrorhiza kurroa), veppu (Azadirachta indica), and thotta sinungi (Mimosa pudica), which are added to the feed of cows and buffaloes to enhance their production.
From the interviews, it emerged that almost all the villagers (32 out of 35) had never used feed concentrates or feed additives, the principal reason being the limited household budget. The villagers interviewed are not aware of the negative aspects of feed concentrates and they are not critical towards artificial or industrial feed and additives. A third of the interviewees affirmed that they would like to try to use the feed concentrates for their cattle as “…it could be a good way to feed the cattle as the large farms do.”
The villagers lacked information regarding the possible consequences of a prolonged use of industrial feed on the health of human beings and of livestock. Although the villagers were satisfied with the effects of local plants to enhance the weight and size of their cattle and their well-being, it is uncertain if they would continue to use more “traditional” and locally available resources in the future if they have the possibility of buying processed and industrial feed. This perception shared by the villagers interviewed represents a delicate issue: The use of industrial feed can possibly create some risks in the future in terms of human health whose consequences are unclear at the moment.
Ethnoveterinary Practices: Increasing the Productivity of Livestock?
One aspect which has been emphasized by the interviewees is the importance of using plants such as seenthil (Tinospora cordifolia), muttakkacu (Cyperus rotundus) and tanri (Terminalia bellirica) to increase their milk production. A villager explained:
After I started using Muttakkacu the milk of my buffaloes started increasing in a gradual manner. Normally it starts increasing after one week. If you take the milk yield of whole month into account, then you’ll find that the overall production has increased 10–15% minimum up to 25%.
The major stakeholders in dairying are the subsistence farmers. These farmers do not receive any subsidy in terms of productivity as is being practised in most of the developed countries (Iqbal et al., 2005; Jabbar, Raza, Iqbal, & Khan, 2006). It is a well-established fact that dairying is an occupation which provides regular income through sale of milk, a very strong reason for most of the dairy farmers to continue rearing dairy cattle.
Women are the ones who deal with the cattle, those who transform the milk to produce dairy products and who possess chicken and other small animals. During the interviews, they affirmed that since when they started using the medicinal plants, they are able to sell these animals or to transform the products into an increase of their revenues. This has in some cases increased their social status in the family, as they are able to contribute in a more substantive way to the livelihoods of the household.
Income from dairy farming (milk, butter, etc.) was generally totally controlled by women in 21 out of 35 of the respondent families, whereas in the remaining ones men had the final say in terms of price of the sale and the quantity of dairy products which were decided to be sold. One of the women interviewed affirmed:
After I started using the Seenthil and Tanri to increase the amount of milk produced by the buffaloes, I can see that the quantity of the milk they produced has increased quite considerably. This is very positive as I can sell more milk in the local market. The revenue coming from the sale of the milk has increased of about 20–30%. This allows me to have more money.
It is important to point out that this increase as household income does not mean automatically an increased capacity for women to decide its allocation between the different expenses. Women generally only control income with male permission, which may be withdrawn. Women’s own cash earnings are often incorporated into these existing patterns of resource allocation rather than radically transforming them. Although women may control some of their own earned income, this is widely variable between cultures, within cultures between different social groups, and even between households within the same family (Nussbaum, 2000; Parrenas, 2000).
However, the milk production per animal in developing countries, in particular in India, is still very low as compared to world’s average. This lower productivity might be attributed to many factors including the genetic and environmental factors such as non-availability of good quality feed resources, poor husbandry management practices, and the small-scale dairy production units (Hemme, Garcia, & Saha, 2003; Sharma, 2002).
In order to enhance the animal productivity and to optimize the milk production in individual animals for better profits, various drugs, hormones, mineral supplements, and feed additives have been tried with variable results (Ramesh, Mitra, Suryanarayan, & Sachan, 2000). The effects of hormonal and antibiotic residues in milk on human health have not been studied thoroughly in India but this phenomenon causes increasing preoccupation (Giday, Asfaw, Elmquist, & Waldo, 2003; Unnikrishnan & Shankar, 2005). A traditional ethnoveterinary practitioner interviewed emphasized the presence of some cattle owners in the area that tend to increase the quantity of milk from cows and buffaloes by injecting the oxytosin hormone. He explains:
I have heard that some farmers use the hormone injections on a regular basis to increase their profits. Generally, the owners of cattle pens inject 2cc of steroids in buffaloes twice a day. This injection is available in markets for Rs 10–12 (3$). It increases the body temperature of buffaloes, as a result of which the milk discharge is quicker. However, the animals stop giving milk when the effect of the injection wears off…Its repeated use can have ill-effect on the health of the animal and it can also lead to low fertility among cows and buffaloes. What other ill effects it can have on the milk drinkers is not yet clear…This phenomenon is pretty alarming…
A small number of the villagers interviewed were aware of the use of hormones made by some farmers but they denied using them. Asked about their opinion about the use of hormones to increase milk productivity, more than two-thirds of them (that is, 28 out of 35) affirmed to be strongly against this practice, as they believed that it was detrimental to the health of their cattle in the long term.
Impact of Ethnoveterinary on Health of Local Communities
In many cases, the traditional veterinary can also cure human beings. Five healers were found to deal with both animal health care and human ailments as well, and the rest were completely specialized in treating animals only. Most of the healers interviewed (7 out of 10) also treat human beings. Most of the medicinal plants commonly used for the treatment of a number of conditions suffered by human beings are also used for similar conditions affecting animals. For example, Asparagus racemosus is used to increase milk secretions and Punica gradatum is used in the treatment of diarrhea in both human beings and animals. The dosage of medicine varies according to the type and weight of the human or animal.
Seven out of ten ethnoveterinary practitioners interviewed affirmed how the villagers in several occasions, seeing the positive effects of these natural remedies on their livestock, are encouraged to use them for their own family. This is the case of complaints such as charma roga (skin infections), kechala baavu (diarrhea), and khemmu (cough and respiratory problems that can both affect livestock and human beings). An ethnoveterinary practitioner affirms:
Sometimes some villagers, normally more women, come to ask my point of view regarding some diseases that affect their livestock. I gave them some remedies explaining that for certain diseases I use the same plants for treating animals and people…When they see the good results on their livestock, they start coming for themselves or their children and they ask what kind of plants could cure their complaints.
Another ethnoveterinary practitioner explains how
villagers on certain occasions don’t feel very comfortable with taking the same treatment their livestock take…some of them say: “I am a human being, I am not a cow, so why should I be cured with the same treatment?”…when I explained them that the active ingredients of the plants are good for everyone – livestock and people – and that there is a difference in the dosage and the duration of the treatment, they become more receptive and many of them try my remedies…
This aspect for interlinkages between traditional medicine for human beings and veterinary medicine is interesting and can be used to revitalize other traditional practices in health. Training programs and other community initiatives such as the ones organized by NGOs such as CCD and FRLHT should be put into place in order to sensitize the villagers on the importance of using medicinal plants and other nutritious plants for primary health care.
A stronger focus on the interlinkages between traditional medicine for human beings and veterinary medicine would also allow the villagers to increase their access to primary health care, reduce their dependency on allopathic treatment and to decrease their expenditures in health for both livestock and the household.
Impact of Increased Livestock Productivity on Human Health
The increased productivity of animals of milk has had in particular an important positive repercussion for the health of young children. Twenty-six out of 35 interviewees, especially the women, have emphasized how the increase in the production of milk and its improved quality has allowed the children to drink more milk and thus to be better nourished. One traditional ethnoveterinary practitioner explains how when the cow is affected by kechala baavu (mastitis), the quality and the quantity of the milk changes. The milk is often yellow or curdled, has a bloody tinge at times and also a few suspended particles are seen in milk of the affected udder, thus making it undrinkable. The quantity of milk produced by the affected animal is also reduced, especially in the inflammatory phase of the disease and this does not allow the villagers to sell enough milk and also to consume it in their own household. A villager explains:
When the buffaloes or the cows have kechala baavu (mastitis) the milk that the cattle produces is not of good quality…the color and the taste is different…when this is the case, I cannot sell the milk in the local market or to the middle-men and I cannot neither use it for my family…so this milk is wasted…
The dietary pattern of rural, poor socioeconomic group of Indians is generally monotonous from meal to meal and day to day, the only variety being provided by seasonal availability of vegetables and fruit (Geerlings, 2001). The staple cereals in this region are rice and wheat. Milk and milk products are prohibitively expensive; even if the farmers own cattle, they prefer to sell milk and are unable to use it for consumption by the family.
The unique quality of milk as food for children and perhaps to a certain extent for other vulnerable groups like pregnant women and nursing mothers is a particularly important aspect to emphasize. Since blending of foods for very young children is hardly possible, the naturally high quality of milk protein is a decided advantage. Moreover, the lactose and carbohydrate derivatives present in milk help to develop the immunological systems of the growing child. Lactose present in milk is also necessary for the establishment of proper intestinal flora such as Lactobacillus bifidus, and it is also required for proper protein utilization (Fajimi & Taiwo, 2005; Farooq, Iqbal, Mushtaq, Muhammad, Iqbal, & Arshad, 2008).
Nevertheless it is important to emphasize how the increased production of milk does not always mean that children and lactating women can have access to it. Sometimes the milk is sold rather than consumed by the household on the basis of the market price of the milk and on the priorities set. In this respect, a young woman in her early twenties affirmed:
Last week the cow we have produced more milk as she has been cured…I wanted to drink the milk as I hadn’t drank it for quite a long time but my mother-in-law told me by saying that it was not possible for me to have it as we had to sell it and the middle-men would come that day…I told her that I needed some milk to increase my own milk to lactate my baby but she reprimanded me that this was not the priority of the family at that time…
In numerous rural societies in developing countries, the extended family functions like a social group that works to survive and promote their well-being. This family system is organized according to a strict division of work and well-established domestic roles and relationships. These are based on the hierarchical principles of age and gender: the older men are identified with power and authority. In the rural social hierarchy, the young woman generally occupies one of the lowest ranks. This hierarchical vision of the family in traditional societies often prevents the women from taking an active part in decisions of the family and openly expressing their ideas as men and elderly are allowed to (Adhikari, Di Falco, & Lovett, 2004; Bondi & Davidson, 2004).
It is believed that by giving some plants to buffaloes and cows, their milk is enriched by nutritious elements and that therefore it can enhance the health of the toddlers and babies and reinforce their immune system. Eight out of 35 women interviewed know what plants can enhance the quality of the milk of the livestock for this purpose. Some examples of these plants are seenthil (Tinospora cordifolia), muttakkacu (Cyperus rotundus) and tanri (Terminalia bellirica). One of the women explains:
There are some plants that are very good to get the toddlers grow stronger…I give these plants to eat to the cattle mixed with the hay for some days and then I give the milk they produce to my kids…This allows them to grow stronger and to have more energy…
There is a common belief that drinking milk from cattle that has eaten certain plants such as kadamulan (Asparagus racemosus), vallarai (Centella asiatica), nannari (Hemidesmus indicus) will increase the milk supply of the mother and will make the taste of her milk more pleasant for the baby, thus making the process of lactating easier and smoother. A woman in her early thirties affirms:
During the time I was lactating my baby, I drank the milk of my cow that had previously eaten the plants of nannari and vallarai every day…I had more milk to give my baby…we also believe that this milk actually changes the taste of human milk making it taste better…
Transmission of Diseases between Human Beings and Livestock
The use of medicinal plants for ethnoveterinary purposes has also shown to be effective in reducing the emergence of diseases transmitted by animal parasites to human beings, such as scabies. Scabies can affect anyone, regardless of gender and age. However, the disease is more commonly seen in children, as they are more susceptible to acquiring the causative parasitic mites by frequently touching various insalubrious objects that might be contaminated with scabies mites. In order to minimize the risks of contamination, the villagers use a mixture of different plants such as karuka (Cynodon dactylon), manjal (Curcuma longa) and kilkkaynelli (Phyllanthus amarus) to cure the livestock affected by scabies or to wash the clothes and objects contaminated in order to disinfect them.
Ethnoveterinary Practices: Some Outstanding Issues
In this section, we will emphasize on some outstanding issues of ethnomedicine.
The first important aspect to emphasize here is the issue of ecologic sustainability of plants used in ethnomedicine. Medicinal plants are becoming increasingly economically important due to growing demand for herbal products in the domestic and global market. However, over 90 percent of the medicinal plants used by the pharmaceutical industry are harvested from the wild in an unsustainable manner. This destructive collection poses a definite threat to the genetic stocks of the species and to the overall diversity of the medicinal plants. The effect of ethnoveterinary promotion on the environment can vary between two extremes and they can be positive or negative in ecologic terms (Dilshad, Rehman, Iqbal, Muhammad, Iqbal, & Ahmad, 2008).
In terms of positive outcomes, ethnoveterinary projects that stimulate conservation measures and the establishment of herb gardens such as the ones created in the area under study can help maintain biodiversity. On the other hand, the local and large-scale promotion and commercial production could bring with it a danger that heavily used plant species may become scarce or even extinct. Therefore, projects promoting plant medicines on a large scale should be required to monitor their environmental impact and explore how far endangered species can be cultivated.
As emphasized above, a number of NGOs in India have focused their efforts to document and promote ethnoveterinary practices through community-based approaches and organizations such as ANTHRA (Andhra Pradesh), BAIF (Karnataka and Maharashtra) and FRLHT (Karnataka). The FRLHT, based in Bangalore, is currently promoting programs for the documentation, and assessment of ethnoveterinary as well as for the conservation of medicinal plants in the light of their social and cultural relevance. This organization is also coordinating and implementing programs in collaboration with community-based organizations and State Forest Department. A total of 116 plants for nearly 20 livestock health conditions have been documented in different areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The methods of intervention included rapid assessment of ethnoveterinary cost-effective measures, such as the home gardens maintained by dairy members, and the promotion of herbal veterinary products for improving livestock health. Women self-help group (SHG) members and leaders were trained in growing and using ecosystem specific medicinal plants to meet the primary health care needs of their family members and milk animals. A few home remedies that proved to be effective were developed into cost-effective and licensed herbal products, produced and marketed to villagers by the community-owned enterprise Parampara Herbal Producer.
Traditional practices can be the starting point for the development of technologies, especially commercial drugs. The question arises then on what kind of measures that could be taken to ensure that the originators of the knowledge benefit from its wider adaptation and use. It would be important to lobby for policies and legalization to address the protection of the local flora from overexploitation and the issue of intellectual property rights. Informing healers and other community members on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) issues and providing names of informant (or local innovator) for any piece of information (for example, a local practice, a method) that is not common knowledge in community would also be a possible way forward. Despite this, there are still a number of issues such as how the benefits should be shared and if a special compensation should be given to ethnoveterinary traditional practitioners that still remain unanswered.
Lack of scientific validation is the major reason for non-adoption of ethnoveterinary medicine by field veterinarians and trained manpower. Experiences indicate that some of the practices are more while others are much effective. Scientific evaluation, besides understanding the technology of the clientele, helps ascertain the degree and direction of change through formal research and will be rewarding in adoption by the veterinarians. It must be borne in mind that validation of ethnoveterinary practices will require flexibility, creativity, and dedication in research application. The foresightedness of the research managers lies in bringing together the best of science and best of healing (Bullitta, Piluzza, & Viegi, 2007; Dhillon & Singh, 2002).
After evaluating the potential of these existing technologies in depth and understanding their scientific basis, there is a need to include these in an improved package of animal health care and production technologies. This could produce a reorientation of the cattle health and production research by giving highest priority to the identification, testing, and modification of traditional health technologies practised by the farmers for centuries.
This would pass through the identification and documentation of ethnoveterinary practices, establishment of linkages with Agricultural Universities and other veterinary agencies for creating awareness among farmers and stakeholders about ethnoveterinary medicine. Establishing linkages with Animal Husbandry Department of the state governments would act as a binding force for integrating ethnoveterinary medicine with conventional treatments and accelerating force for its propagation. Treatment trial centers for validation of ethnoveterinary medicine could possibly be established. A critical gap is the paucity of disease diagnostic services and epidemiological/disease surveillance services. Local veterinary clinics are poorly equipped to handle even simple diagnostics. This service would help local communities and community health workers to evolve disease management plans in conjunction rather than fire-fighting measures.
Developing herbal nurseries and cultivating medicinal plants in the premises of the villages would render them ideal place for scientific evaluation, validation, and modification of ethnoveterinary medicine.
Conclusion
Ethnoveterinary practices have still an important value and contemporary relevance for the villagers in the area under study, being able to bridge the gap between the demand and the supply of veterinary healthcare services. As the article shows it, these practices have an impact in the socioeconomic development of these communities, especially for landless and marginal farmers. High treatment costs, inaccessibility, and side effects such as high antibiotic and hormonal residues in milk are serious issues of present day veterinary care. Any effort made to improve incomes by saving on livestock health expenses has a direct bearing on increasing equitable distribution of rural incomes, especially among the rural poor. In this context, documentation, assessment, and promotion of ethnoveterinary practices does offer the possibility of a solution in reducing the increasing costs of meeting livestock health care needs.
The article also highlights the existence of possible interrelationships between traditional medicine for human beings and veterinary medicine. These interlinkages could possibly allow increasing the access to primary health care for rural communities, while reducing their dependency on allopathic treatment and decreasing their expenditures in health for both livestock and the household.