Treatment of digestive tract ailments in cattle with herbal folk-medicines: A preliminary study in Ganjam District

Abstract

Use of medicinal plants for the prevention and treatment of digestive tract ailments in cattle has originated long back in the history. An attempt was made to list out different successful preparations used by rural traditional healers and farmers to cure the common digestive tract ailments of the domestic cattle, mainly cows and buffaloes. Personal interviews with pre-structured questionnaire, observation of preparation of herbal medicines and their administration, results attained etc. were made to make a preliminary study of the traditional method of treatment. Collection of sample plant species and their identification, refinements of the methods adopted for preparation of these herbal medicines were done with the help of the local people especially the village heads and older persons. A total of 66 plant species of 40 families distributed in 61 genera was recorded. Efficacy of these preparations was examined in the subsequent visits. Problems identified by the farmers include: lack of support for validation of these herbal medicines and less availability of some medicinal plants due to their seasonal nature. Such traditional/folk medicines used against digestive tract ailments of domestic cattle, continuing with the rural folk of the study area, still remained unnoticed and undocumented.