Fading but still existing: some new observations on Santals’ Ethnoveterinary medicinal practices from the Purba and Paschim Bardhaman districts of West Bengal (India)

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Abstract

Background: The Santals have innate expertise in managing their livestock’s health and it is still actively practiced in the districts of rural West Bengal, India. Perusal of literature indicates that no research work exclusively on ethnoveterinary medicine has been carried out till date from Purba and Paschim Bardhaman districts of West Bengal. In this regard, indigenous therapeutic knowledge (ITK) for livestock health care is being studied among the Santal ethnic group inhabited in the various corners of these districts.

Materials and Methods: In the current study, data were gathered using both in situ and ex situ techniques after taking prior informed consent (PIC) from each of the 57 participants. Group discussion and semi-structured open-ended questionnaire was used to conduct the interviews. To identify the important folk-medicinal species, three quantitative indices like factor of informant consensus (Fic), use-mentions factor (UM) and relative frequency of citation (RFC) have been employed here.

Results: Altogether 62 plant species have been documented here for 12 types of disease categories. In most of the cases, roots and underground parts (30%) were used. In 69.49% cases, remedies were applied orally. Fic value ranges from 0.6 to 0.94, RFC value ranges from 0.79 to 8.7 and Achyranthes aspera L. has been identified as mostly exploited species. Impact of plants like Aristolochia indica L., Pueraria tuberosa (Willd.) DC. and Strychnos nux-vomica L. has also been found deep in the Santal people’s culture of the studied area.

Conclusion: The collected ethnoveterinary medicinal datasets and the statistically analyzed information can contribute a lot to build up bioprospecting objectives, conservation strategies, and socioeconomic agendas.

Keywords: ITK, ethnoveterinary phytomedicine, quantitative ethnobotany, Santals, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal

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Published

2023-07-24

How to Cite

Saha, S., & Mandal, S. K. (2023). Fading but still existing: some new observations on Santals’ Ethnoveterinary medicinal practices from the Purba and Paschim Bardhaman districts of West Bengal (India). Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 26, 1–17. Retrieved from https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/4833

Issue

Vol. 26 (2023)

Section

Research

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