WHETHER taken for severe ailments like cancer or used occasionally for minor pains, painkillers have side-effects. It can be anything from lethargy and constipation to kidney or liver dysfunction. This is the reason scientists have lately turned to nature and are exploring traditional medicines in search of a drug with …
CUMIN or jeera, extensively used in Indian cuisine, is known to possess antiparasitic and antimicrobial properties. It is also used to cure fever and as a painkiller. One of the variants of cumin, bitter cumin (kalijiri), has been studied for its antianalgesic and astringent properties. It is a dried seed …
We were staying in a small coastal town of Karwar in Karnataka, about seven kilometres from south of Goa. My two-year-old daughter was not able to acclimatise. I was giving her anti-allergics and antibiotics, but she kept catching cold. One day, my friend in Karwar, Megha Gaonkar, told me about …
The way paan is associated with India, a Chaurasia is associated with paan. But both the equations are changing, said Lalta Prasad Chaurasia, spitting blood red betel juice into an elegantly designed brass spittoon. The 58-year-old is among the last generation of Chaurasia farmers in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh …
Read this special report by Down To Earth on the iconic Paan losing its appeal. Its trade has dipped 40-50 per cent in the past decade, while consumption of chewing tobacco, especially gutkha, increased during the period. Farmers now prefer other crops. Iconic paan no more appeals to farmers, traders …
IT IS an aphrodisiac. Treats fatigue and bone weakness. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) occupies a prominent position in traditional health systems like Ayurveda. In India the medicinal plant is cultivated on 4,000 hectares, mainly in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. But when it comes to being the most effective, a group of …
India is these days relying on imports to meet the demand for a plant extract valued for its medicinal properties. Guggal or Commiphora wightii grows in the wild in the arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan and northern India; its resin, guggal-gum, is prescribed in Ayurveda for heart ailments, obesity …
the drumstick tree grows in any kind of soil and requires very little care. People have many uses for the flowers, beans and twigs of the Moringa oleifera, or the horseradish tree as it is also referred to. The beans, in fact, are almost magical. They may not lead to …
An attempt has been made to identify folklore medicinally important plants frequently used by rural communities of sacred groves and it environs of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. A total of 34 medicinal plants from 33 genera under 29 families were enumerated. Most of the plants are used for curing earache, …
The traditional knowledge of healing plants and their treatment methods are rooted in the Ayurvedic compendia and in the unscripted dialects of the people in India. Scientific documentation of this vast information has been accelerated in the last few decades. A first time study of the medicinal plants used for …
Forest minister J.P. Nadda today said the government would soon review the policy for exporting Khair wood and kuth to help protect the economic interests of the farmers. Presiding over a meeting of senior officers to review the functioning of the Forest Department here he said the government would consider …
The sprawling President's Estate that already boasts a Herbal Garden, a Nakshatra Garden, a Spiritual Garden and a Tactile Garden for the visually impaired will soon have a new patch of green -- a Palm Garden that will have on display an assortment of palm trees. The proposal has already …
The Horticulture Department is initiating a study to check if a natural compound found in kinnow can be used for treating cancer patients and help in lowering cholesterol in the blood. The department has approached the Punjab Farmers Commission to either have a collaboration with the PGI or some other …
About 100 medicinal plants and 150 crude drugs from the medicinal plants were on display at the DG Vaishnav College on February 8 and 9. The exhibition, organised by the Department of Botany of the college, was inaugurated by Prof Usman Ali, Director, Centre for Traditional plants research. Plants that …
One of the natural resources from the treasure house of plant kingdom is the Neem tree. The need was felt to disseminate information and knowledge on the versatility of Neem. Enough data is available to support the effectiveness of well designed and developed media for transfer of information, knowledge and …
The right to permanent sovereignty of indigenous peoples over natural resources is implicit in international law particularly in the right of ownership of the lands they historically or traditionally use and occupy, the rights to self-determination and autonomy, the right to development, and the right to be free from discrimination …
