Ethnoveterinary plants for the treatment of camels in Shiwalik regions of Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir, India
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Camel (Camelus dromedarius L.) is raised in many parts of the world׳s arid and semi-arid zones for their unique characteristics especially, survival under the harsh environmental conditions (Schwartz and Dioli, 1992). They provide milk, meat, wool, hides and skin and their dung is used for fires. They are also used for riding and transport (Dirie and Abdurahman, 2003). Camel׳s milk is highly nutritious (Meiloud et al., 2011). Utility of camel remain stable in almost all seasons because they use water economically in almost all metabolic functions and can assimilate poor quality forage with higher crude fibre far better than the other herbivores (Raziq et al., 2008).
Camel is comparatively less susceptible to many of the diseases that affect other livestock species in the same area eg. foot and mouth disease, contagious pleuropneumonia and rinderpest (Dirie and Abdurahman, 2003, Raziq et al., 2010). But despite the general reputation for hardiness and resilience, camels are vulnerable to many infections (Werney et al., 2004) and parasitic agents, physical stress and occupational injuries (Bukachi et al., 2003, Chemuliti et al., 2003).
Due to restricted and sparse distribution in the state, documentation of ethnoveterinary plants and practices for the treatment of camel has not received any attention. In Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the camel rearing is generally practiced in the Shiwalik regions where it is mainly used for transportation in the hot and hilly tracts. The camel owners live in far-flung areas that lack the modern veterinary facilities and therefore dependent heavily upon local treatments for the animal. These ethnoveterinary practices and knowledge of plants is acquired by them from their forefathers and generally moves from one generation to another orally. The oral mode of transferring this valuable knowledge is vulnerable to erosion with the passage of time and generations. Keeping this problem in consideration, the study was carried out in the Shiwaliks of Kathua district with an aim to document the ethnoveterinary practices and plants used by the camel owners and local animal healers to cure this valuable animal.
Section snippets
Study area
The present study was carried out in the Shiwalik regions of Kathua district. Kathua district is situated between 32° 14′ and 32° 55′N latitude and 75° 70′ and 76° 16′E longitude. Forest cover of Kathua is 1158 km2 (FSI, 2013) and the altitude varies from 253 to 4162 m (Ashutosh et al., 2010, Sharma et al., 2012). The annual rainfall varies from 912 to 1801 mm while the mean minimum and maximum annual temperatures varies from 9 to 23 °C in the district (Ashutosh et al., 2010, Sharma et al., 2012).
Demographic characteristics of informants
The camel rearing is not a common practice in J&K. There is usually one camel in a bunch of 4–5 villages. In the present study, total 38 informants were interviewed from various villages of Shiwalik region. All the informants were males, as the camel keeping and curing is performed only by them. The average age of the informant was 56 years and 92% of them were illiterate.
Ethnoveterinary plants and practices
A total of 41 plants from 31 families and 40 genera were found to be of ethnoveterinary importance in the present study.
Conclusion
Camel are important for the locals as an important mode of transportation of goods, crops, grains, timber, fodder etc. from one location to another. The present paper is about the ethnoveterinary treatments of common diseases of camel in Shiwalik regions of J&K. Total 41 plants are used by the informants to treat the common diseases of camel. Although, rhizome, root and whole plant parts contributed to just 18.6% these plants (excavated or uprooted) should be explored with care and their
References (61)
- et al.
Ethnomedicinal practices in different communities of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka for treatment of wounds
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2012) - et al.
Ethnomedicinal plants to cure skin diseases—an account of the traditional knowledge in the coastal parts of Central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2014) - et al.
Ethnomedicinal plants used by the villagers of district Udhampur, J&K, India
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2014) - et al.
Traditional phytoremedies for the treatment of menstrual disorders in district Udhampur, J&K, India
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2015) - et al.
Ethno-medicinal study of plants used for treatment of human ailments, with residents of the surrounding region of forest fragments of Paraná, Brazil
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2015) - et al.
A preliminary classification of the healing potential of medicinal plants, based on a rational analysis of an ethnopharmacological field survey among Bedouins in the Negev desert, Israel
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(1986) - et al.
Curcumin as “Curecumin”: from kitchen to clinic
Biochem. Pharmacol.
(2008) - et al.
Effect of saponins of Albizia lebbeck Benth. bark on the reproductive system of male albino rats
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2005) - et al.
Anticellular and immunosuppressive properties of ethanolic extract of Acorus calamus rhizome
Int. Immunopharmacol.
(2003) - et al.
Ethnoveterinary practices of owners of pneumatic-cart pulling camels in Faisalabad city (Pakistan)
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2005)
Ethnoveterinary remedies of diseases among milk yielding animals in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, India
J. Ethnopharmacol.
Medicinal plant knowledge and its erosion among the Mien (Yao) in northern Thailand
J. Ethnopharmacol.
Antioxidant capacities of ten edible North American plants
Phytother. Res.
Ethnomedicinal and phytoeconomic elaboration of Lilownai Valley, District Shangla, Pakistan
Int. Res. J. Pharm.
Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual. Advances in Economic Botany, 10
Knowledge based remote sensing and GIS approach for forest type mapping in Kathua district, Jammu and Kashmir
Trop. Ecol.
Pharmacological properties of Citrus and their ancient and medieval uses in the Mediterranean region
J. Ethnopharmacol.
The Complete German Commission e—monographs, therapeutic guide to herbal medicines
Constraints experienced in the introduction of camels in tsetse fly infested areas: the case of Kajiado District, Kenya
J. Camel Pract. Res.
The Wealth of India
Disease conditions of camels in non-traditional camel keeping areas of Kajiado District in Kenya: a case study
J. Camel Pract. Res.
The Wealth of India: A Dictionary of Indian Raw Materials and Industrial Products
Helminths and helminthoses of the dromedary. A review of the literature
Revue Sci. Tech.—Off. Int. Epizoot. (Sci. Tech. Rev. Off. Int. Epizoot.)
Survey of ethno-veterinary practices used for different ailments in dairy animals in peri-urban areas of Faisalabad (Pakistan)
Int. J. Agric. Biol.
Observations on little known diseases of camels (Camelus dromedarius) in the Horn of Africa
Revue Sci. Tech.—Off. Int. Epizoot.
Medicinal Plants of the Bible
Husbandry and diseases of camelids
Revue Sci. Tech.—Off. Int. Epizoot. (Sci. Tech. Rev. Off. Int. Epizoot.)
Knowledge and use of medicinal plants by local specialists in a region of Atlantic Forest in the state of Pernambuco (Northeastern Brazil)
J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed.
Cited by (30)
An ethnoveterinary study on plants used for the treatment of livestock diseases in the province of Giresun (Turkey)
2021, South African Journal of BotanyCitation Excerpt :In another study from another parts of Pakistan (Ahmad et al., 2015), ICF value was found to range between 0.85 and 0.97. In the studies performed in various areas of Pakistan, dermatological and gastrointestinal diseases was the high ICF value (Sharma and Manhas, 2015; Ahmad et al., 2015). In a study carried out in Iraq, dermatological and gastrointestinal diseases were shown to have low ICF value (Kawarty et al., 2020).
Medicinal plants brought by Indian indentured immigrants: A comparative review of ethnopharmacological uses between Mauritius and India
2019, Journal of EthnopharmacologyCitation Excerpt :Also, it was observed that O. tenuiflorum plant was commonly used in the management of non-communicable diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension and to control high levels of cholesterols in Mauritius (Mootoosamy and Mahomoodally, 2014). Moreover, the use of O. tenuiflorum has also been highlighted against eye disorders such as conjunctivitis, eye dysfunction and cataract (Kumar and Bharati, 2013; Sharma and Manhas, 2015; Mootoosamy and Mahomoodally, 2014). Concerning the Indian indentured immigrants, the O. tenuiflorum plant was only used to maintain optimum body temperature and to keep off malaria.
Ethnoveterinary botanical survey of medicinal plants in Abergelle, Sekota and Lalibela districts of Amhara region, Northern Ethiopia
2018, Journal of EthnopharmacologyCitation Excerpt :Ethnoveterinary investigations and surveys to document knowledge of traditional healers have been conducted in many rural communities worldwide, especially in pastoralists (Ahmad et al., 2015; Ali-shtayeh et al., 2016; Wabe et al., 2011). There are also some promising works around Europe, Latin America and Africa (Benítez et al., 2012; Ole-Miaron, 2003; Parthiban et al., 2016; Piluzza et al., 2015; Sharma and Manhas, 2015). In Ethiopia, ethnoveterinary herbal medication with plants is one of the alternatives and perhaps most sustainable methods readily adaptable to rural livestock farming for prevention and control of animal diseases.
Cross‐Cultural Analysis of Medicinal Plants commonly used in Ethnoveterinary Practices at South Waziristan Agency and Bajaur Agency, Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan
2018, Journal of EthnopharmacologyCitation Excerpt :Comparing the findings of our study with the previous findings, high consensus has been noticed in veterinary studies elsewhere across the globe. These include gastrointestinal disorders [Fic: 0.90, 0.70, 0.92, 0.95, 0.94 (Lulekal et al., 2014; Ahmad et al., 2015; Parthiban et al., 2015; Sharma and Manhas, 2015; Ali-Shtayeh et al., 2016)]; dermatological problems [Fic: 0.93, 0.93, 0.82, (Ahmad et al., 2015; Sharma and Manhas, 2015; Ali-Shtayeh et al., 2016)]; reproductive disorders [Fic:1.00, 0.89 (Parthiban et al., 2015; Ali-Shtayeh et al., 2016)]; galactagogue [Fic: 0.83, 0.50 (Abbasi et al., 2013; Ali-Shtayeh et al., 2016)]; and wound healing [Fic: 0.40, 0.45 (Abbasi et al., 2013; Lulekal et al., 2014)]. Fic also assesses the ethnopharmacological importance of the collected plant species (Heinrich et al., 1998).
Inhalation of Cedrus atlantica essential oil alleviates pain behavior through activation of descending pain modulation pathways in a mouse model of postoperative pain
2015, Journal of EthnopharmacologyCitation Excerpt :Essential oils are volatile, natural, complex compounds characterized by a strong odor and are formed by aromatic plants as secondary metabolites. Essential oils obtained from different species of Cedrus, such as C. atlantica, C. deodora and C. libani, have been reported by their use in aromatherapy to obtain many clinical benefits traditionally ascribed to genitourinary, musculoskeletal and cutaneous systems (Mojay, 2002, 2004; Sharma and Manhas, 2015; Lovell, 1998). Among important pharmacological properties that support their clinical use, we can name the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects (Thabrew et al., 2003), as well as immunomodulatory (Shinde et al., 1999), antioxidant (Wu et al., 2015), antibacterial (Zeng et al., 2012) and insecticidal (Lamiri et al., 2001) activities.