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An Ethnoveterinary Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Folk Medicinal Practitioners to Treat Cattle Diseases in Randomly Selected Areas of Bagerhat District, Bangladesh

Mohammed Rahmatullah
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Md. Ariful Haque Mollik
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Md. Jobaer Alam
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bulbul Ahmmed
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Farhana Israt Jahan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Mariz Sintaha
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Himel Nahreen Khaleque
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Majeedul H. Chowdhury
New York City College of Technology The City University of New York 300 Jay 2 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA.

Farjana Akther Noor
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Shahnaz Rahman
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rownak Jahan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Syeda Seraj
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Bangladesh is a predominantly agricultural country containing 86,000 villages. The village population consists of mainly farmers, with the majority of them being resource-poor in the sense of having small land holdings on which they grow various crops, the major crop being paddy. Most farmers maintain one or two cows, buffaloes, or goats in their homesteads. Animals like cows or buffaloes are mainly used for plowing (use of machines like tractors cannot be afforded by the small farmers) the land or as a source for milk production, the latter being both sold as well as consumed at home. Goats are raised for selling or occasional consumption of meat. By tradition, and because of the general poverty prevalent among small farmers, they still depend on traditional medicinal practitioners for treatment of their cattle during the occurrence of various cattle ailments. The traditional medicinal practitioners, known as Kavirajes or cattle Kavirajes, rely on the dispensation of various medicinal plants for treatment of diverse ailments. It was the objective of the present study to conduct an ethnoveterinary survey among the Kavirajes of randomly selected villages of Bagerhat district, Bangladesh to gather information on the medicinal plants used for treatment of cattle ailments. Interviews were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. A total of 51 plants were noted to be used by the Kavirajes. These plants came from 29 families. The Fabaceae family provided 7 plants, followed by the Euphorbiaceae family with 4 plants, and the Acanthaceae, Combretaceae, Lamiaceae, Solanaceae, and Zingiberaceae families provided 3 plants each. The Kavirajes used medicinal plants for both curative as well as preventive purposes; however, curative purposes dominated over preventive. Twenty seven different groups of ailments were treated by the Kavirajes. Eleven plants were used for treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders in cattle suggesting that this is the most prevalent disorder among the animals. Six plants were used to increase milk production in cattle, and four plants for the prevention of diseases or to protect cattle from insect bites. The various ailments treated by the Kavirajes included pox, fever, respiratory tract disorders like coughs or mucus, helminthiasis, pain, lice, mite or insect infestations, skin infections, rheumatism, swelling of throat (hemorrhagic septicemia), body deformity, urinary problems, jaundice, lameness, fractures and sprains, edema, snake bite, rabies, leg and nipple infections, burns, eye problems, foot and mouth diseases, and to stop bleeding when extensible bleeding occurred after giving birth. Overall, the plants offer a cheap and alternative remedy to the farmers for treatment of ailments of their cattle, which they can scarcely afford to treat with costlier modern medicines.

Keywords: Folk medicine, Medicinal plants, Ethnoveterinary, Bagerhat district, Bangladesh

Location: Bagerhat District, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

The Kavirajes, in turn, rely mostly on the administration of medicinal plants for the treatment of cattle ailments. Since this aspect of traditional veterinary practice has been scantily documented, it was the objective of the present study to conduct an ethnoveterinary survey among the Kavirajes of randomly selected villages of Bagerhat district (a southern coastal district) in Bangladesh to document veterinary uses of medicinal plants in the surveyed area.

Methodology:

The survey was conducted among Kavirajes who treat cattle diseases in several randomly selected villages of Bagerhat district of Bangladesh. Bagerhat district lies in the southern part of Bangladesh, and is a coastal district, having the Bay of Bengal on one of its sides. The various Kavirajes interviewed were Md. Afsar Ali, Md. Asimullah, Sila Barman, Abul Hossain Mollah, Md. Gofur Mondol, and Moloy Chandra Das. All the Kavirajes interviewed were selected on the basis of their long-term experiences in treating cattle diseases. Among the Kavirajes, Abul Hossain Mollah had the most extensive experience in treating cattle diseases and was the oldest. He died a few months after his interview was taken. The whole survey was conducted in 2009.

Informed consent was obtained from the Kavirajes prior to the interviews. Information was obtained from the Kavirajes as described previously (Harun-or-Rashid, M., 2010). Briefly, Kavirajes were selected on the basis of a preliminary survey conducted among the farmers of the villages surveyed, who possessed cattle and depended on Kavirajes for treatment of cattle ailments. Information was collected from the Kavirajes using a semi-structured questionnaire and through open-ended interviews, guided dialogue techniques and the guided field-walk method as described by Martin (Martin, G.J., 1995) and Maundu. In the guided field-walk method, the Kavirajes took the interviewers to areas from where they collected their medicinal plants, pointed out the plants, and gave their local names and uses. Plant specimens were collected and dried in the field and later brought back to the Bangladesh National Herbarium at Dhaka for complete identification. A trained veterinarian accompanied the interviewers during the open-ended interviews and guided dialogues to properly identify the cattle diseases as mentioned by the Kavirajes.

Source of Information: American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, C(C): CC-CC, 2010 ISSN 1995-0748

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The plants, Andrographis paniculata, Ocimum sanctum, and Vitex negundo were observed to be used by the Kavirajes of Bagerhat district for treatment of pain in cattle. Antinociceptive activities of the liposoluble fraction from seeds and extract of leaves of Vitex negundo has been reported in rodent models (Zheng, C.J., 2010; Gupta, R.K. and V.R. Tandon, 2005) validating the traditional use of this plant. Antinociceptive activity has also been reported for volatile oil extracted from rhizomes of Kaempferia galanga (Ridtitid, W., 2008) while antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities have been reported for aqueous extract of leaves of the plant (Sulaiman, M.R., 2008). Notably this plant is also used by the Kavirajes for treatment of pain in cattle. The ethanol extract of aerial parts of Andrographis paniculata reportedly inhibited bacterial growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (Mishra, U.S., A. Mishra, 2009) as such the plant can be potentially useful in treatment of fever arising out from bacterial infections (the Kavirajes use the plant for treatment of fever in cattle). The plant, Ocimum sanctum, was used by the Kavirajes for treatment of coughs, mucus, and fever in cattle. Antibacterial activity has been demonstrated for extract of the plant as well as fixed oil obtained from the plant (Nair, R., T. Kalariya, 2007; Phadke, S.A., and S.D. Kulkarni, 1989). Thus results obtained in scientific studies validate the use of the plant in treatment of ailments like coughs, mucus, and fever, which can be bacterial in origin. Although not all the plants used by the Kavirajes of Bagerhat district have been studied scientifically for relevant pharmacological activities, the few that have been studied seem to validate their folk medicinal or traditional uses by the Kavirajes. It is important that further scientific studies be carried out on all the plants used for ethnoveterinary purposes in Bagerhat district. Ethnoveterinary applications of medicinal plants can provide the poor farmers (who can maintain only one or two heads of cattle in their homesteads) with an alternative but effective substitute for costly modern medicines in the treatment and healthy maintenance of their cattle. This is desperately necessary, considering that most farmers of rural Bangladesh has to keep cattle as a necessity for plowing purposes if not other objectives, and validation of ethnoveterinary treatments through modern scientific methods can assure them of the safety and efficacy of the plant formulations offered to them by the Kavirajes.

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