Comparative study of Ethnomedicinal uses for the Treatment of Cold, Cough and Fever in Odisha, India

The present paper deals with 112 ethnomedicinal plants used for the treatment of cold cough and fever by major tribal groups and many non-tribal communities of Odisha. These ethnomedicinal uses were compared and cross-checked with the data mentioned in well-known standard Indian ethnomedicinal as well as medicinal literatures and found that most of the medicinal uses of the referred 83 plants have been reported earlier also. 29 plants are being reported here for the first time for the treatment of these diseases. These plant species are arranged in alphabetical order followed by family in bracket, local name(s) along with ethnomedicinal uses and cross check report with well recognized standard Indian literature.

Medicinal tree species of Madhya Pradesh: Distribution, use pattern and prospects for conservation

The present investigation was carried out to explore the distribution and conservation of the medicinal tree species in Madhya Pradesh. The paper deals with the 124 tree species of probable medicinal potential, belonging to 95 genera and 45 families from Madhya Pradesh.

Socio Economic Profile of Lac Growers in Mandla District of Madhya Pradesh, India

The study pertains to data collected from randomly selected 67 lac growers of 10 villages in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh for the year 2020-2021. The study indicates that more than 80% lac growers in Mandla district are small, semi medium and medium farmers. Majority of farmers (34.32%) belong to middle age group followed by young age group (31.34%). The study revealed that 59.7% lac growers have family members up to 5-7 and educated up to middle school level (40.3%). The resources endowment in terms of the availability of host trees for lac cultivation varies from >25 to <200 trees. In terms of production maximum lac growers (38.81%) average production of 70.91 kg followed by 16.42% had average production 124.28 kg, 16.42% had 38.18 kg average production. Amongst the different source of income of lac growers, Agriculture crop ranked 1st (50.62%) followed by Lac crop (22.9%). Income of selected farmers from lac crop in the study 31.34% farmers earn between Rs. 10,001-20,000 followed by 23.88% farmers between 5001 to 10000 and 23.88% farmers get upto 5000, 10.45% farmers earn more than 40001, 7.46% earn Rs 20001-30000 and only 2.99% farmers get between Rs. 30,000-40,000 annually from lac production. In term of income sharing the maximum number of the farmers (32.84%) contributed 10-20% while only 11.94% farmers contributed more than 40% by lac. Implications of the present study will be helpful in strengthening the socio-economic condition of lac growers and lac marketing scenario of Madhya Pradesh.

Documentation of the Traditional knowledge of Some plant Species occurring in the Shilli Conservation Reserve in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India

A field survey was conducted in the Shilli Conservation Reserve, Solan, Himachal Pradesh to collect and document the medicinally important plant species. Further intensive surveys were conducted in the villages around the conservation reserve to collect the information on their traditional medicinal uses by the local inhabitants. The paper enumerates the traditional medicinal uses of 45 plant species belonging to 33 families along with their botanical names, local names, habit and part used for the treatment of various ailments by the local communities around the Shilli Conservation Reserve in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh.

Ethnomedicine for Hair ailments by the tribes of Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh, India

The paper deals with 26 species of plants used by the tribes of Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh, for curing dandruff, lice, hair fall, greying. Leaf is used in 10 practices followed by seed (6), fruit (4), and others. 19 practices were found to be less known.

Distributional note on Balanophora fungosa (Balanophoraceae) from Nagaland, India

The species Balanophora fungosa J.R. Forst. & G. Forst. (Balanophoraceae) collected for the first time from Nagaland state is an addition to the flora of Nagaland. Detailed descriptions and distribution of the species along with colour photograph has been provided for its easy identification.

Ethnomedicinal plants for Piles by the Bagata tribe of Andhra Pradesh, India

The paper contains information on 34 species of plants used by the Bagata tribe of Andhra Pradesh for curing piles. Leaf is used in 8 practices followed by root (6). Canna edulis and 12 practices were found to be new.

Plants used for treating Asthma by the Tribes of Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

The paper deals with 18 species of plants used for curing asthma by the tribes of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh. Root is used in a maximum of 4 practices followed by leaf and fruit (3 each), and others. 9 new or less known practices are reported.

Seed Longevity and Germination Behaviour in Eugenia roxburghii

Eugenia roxburghii is an evergreen graceful shrub with a tremendous potential as garden plant. As a part of ex-situ conservation and popularization of the species, seed longevity was studied by understanding the relationship of seed viability with respect to different moisture contents and storage temperature. Seeds are recognized as recalcitrant, being desiccation as well as chilling sensitive. During hermetic storage, seeds stored at 300C/70%RH retained viability for about 5 months and 4 months in 200C/20% RH. Seeds can be best stored for five months in laboratory conditions.

Role of informal institutions in biodiversity conservation: Perspective of the Santhal tribe of India

The study provides insights into the role of an informal institution of the Santhal tribe of India in the conservation of biodiversity. The data has been collected from 124 Santhal key informants from six tribal districts from the states of Jharkhand (Dumka, Pakur and Sahibganj) and West Bengal (Birbhum, Bankura and West Medinipur) through the methods of stratified sampling, chain-referrals, personal interactions, and focussed group discussions. The taboos associated with biodiversity conservation have been categorized into six categories such as segment taboo, specific-species taboo, life-stage taboo, temporal taboo, habitat taboo and method taboo.