Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
an indian plant, Cissus quadrangularis , is used in traditional medicine to treat bone fractures. Recently, a team of researchers at the National Chemical Laboratory (ncl), Pune, tried to explain how the plant, which can be used both internally and externally, works. Commonly called hadjod , the plant belongs to …
Did Nepali Maoist rebels make (Indian) Rs 3.15 crore last year from the trade in medicinal herb Yar Tsa Gumba (Cordyceps sinensis) in Dolpo, a mountain region in Nepal's Midwest? Yes, say local sources, quoting the figure. The government doesn't know the exact amount of profit, but it has concluded …
In 1992, a viral epidemic spread through the Jheelo ki Basti of Udaipur district in Rajasthan. Healthcare facilities were limited and many children died. The scourge was finally contained only with the help of traditional healers in the area, whose kada (potion) quickly brought a frightening situation under control. The …
The indigenous knowledge of Vaidyas (the traditional healers) on the making the herbal drugs was studied in the Uttaranchal state of India. Interview and semi-structured questionnaire surveys were conducted among 60 traditional Vaidyas on the preparation of various herbal drugs. The survey has resulted in compilation of 135 herbal drugs, …
India has a huge wealth of medicinal plants, most of which have been used in the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicines, and by tribal healers. Safed moosli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) is amongst them. These herbs are used in more than 100 traditional drug formulations and safed moosli has acquired a …
Preventing illegal trade in endangered flora and fauna is getting some much-needed attention. The Union ministry of environment and forests (m o ef) is hurriedly putting together draft legislation, possibly amending the Wildlife (Protection) Act, to ensure the protection of endangered species. The sudden urgency is the result of a …
The amla tree mingles perfectly with Indian culture. According to Hindu mythology, once when Brahma was engrossed in the meditation of Vishnu, tears started rolling down his eyes. When these tears fell on the ground, the amla tree germinated. The tree is called Emblica myrobalan in scientific parlance. It is …
in the face of overexploitation of rare medicinal plants, the Jammu and Kashmir government has imposed a ban on collecting minor forest produce from demarcated forestlands. It has prohibited people from collecting medicinal plants. But it is encouraging people to grow these plants on private lands and nurseries and has …
Twenty-eight year old Preetum Singh of Kharongcha village in Tirthan valley has been going into the park since he was 14 to collect herbs and graze his cattle. I found him about 500 metres inside the park. Initially reticent (he thought I was from the Forest Department), he then opened …
the multimillion-dollar trade in herbal medicines is threatening numerous plant species, as per a report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (wwf). "At least 4,000 to 10,000 plants are endangered. With demand increasing drastically, the future of these species is now more uncertain than ever before,' says Alan Hamilton, …
The Bankariyas, a forest-dweller community of central Nepal, have been uprooted from their traditional habitat and are living like refugees in their own country. Several other indigenous groups have suffered the same fate. The eight-year-old war between the Royal Nepal Army (rna) and Maoist rebels that has ravaged the country's …
Between May and June 2001, about 2,500 people thronged the alpine meadows of district Pithoragarh in Uttaranchal. About 100 tents sprung up, often occupied by entire families. Then in July, local newspapers splashed the stories of two murders that had occurred in and around the Chipla Kot region. What were …
The Dutch East India Company was formed c 1602. As the Dutch Armada set sail for the East Indies from Amsterdam, surgeons and apothecaries on the fleet were instructed by the great European renaissance botanist Carolus Clusius "to bring, laid between paper, branchless carrying leaves and fruits' foremost of commercially …
Siriyanangai (Andrographis paniculata) is very bitter. Alagamma hid that well, when she gave a leaf to this correspondent to chew. The bile rose, and the bitterness lingered for an hour. "It shows you have not been bitten by a snake in the last one hour,' remarked Alagamma. A person bitten …
Is traditional medicine the answer to the healthcare needs of the state? In rural areas, traditional medicine is the major healthcare option. It is well respected, as western medicine system is non-existent in far-flung places. Even otherwise, traditional and modern practitioners participate equally in providing healthcare. Our medicines are highly …
Sri Lanka has proposed to draft a bill to protect the traditional knowledge associated with medicinal plants. Initiated by the country's ministry of indigenous medicine, the proposed legislation will be drafted by the National Intellectual Property Organisation of Sri Lanka (NIPOS). According to NIPOS, the bill is intended to devise …
