Ethno-veterinary Practices in the Southern Districts in Tamil Nadu, India
Karthick. M
Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Maharasi. C
Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Krithika. S
Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Anthony S
Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Balachandar M
Department of Advanced Zoology and biotechnology, Loyola college (Autonomous), Chennai 600 034, Tamil Nadu, India.
Azhagu Raj. R *
Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present work deals with the survey of ethno-veterinary medicinal plants used by folk communities of southern districts (Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Tuticorin districts), Tamil Nadu, India. An ethno-veterinary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires from traditional practitioners, farmers, herders, village elders and women’s, from seventeen villages of three districts. These people have their own an ethno-medicine, ethno-veterinary treatment systems of diseases both for human as well as for their livestock. In this study, the common cattle diseases of the area are foot & mouth disease (FMT), anthrax, pneumonia, ectoparasites, diarrhea, etc. The different cattle diseases are listed along with their treatment system. Here as many as twenty-eight (28) medicinal plants belonging to from twenty (20) different families 27 genera were documented which were used by the indigenous communities with their vernacular names, family, plant parts used and animal disease curing property.
Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, ethno-veterinary treatment, medicinal plants, animal healthcare