Ethnobotany: Aims, objective and scope, Methods of study of ethno botany

Ethnobotany:- The term ethno botany was coined by J.W. Harshberger in 1895 to include the study of plants used by the primitive and aboriginal people.

Definition:- According to Schultes (1962), ethno botany is defined as the study of the relationships between the people of a primitive society and plants.

Aim and Objective:-

> Proper documentation of indigenous knowlegde about medicinal plants. 

> Preservation of unwritten traditional knwoledge about herbal plants. 

> Conservation of our national heritage before its extinction. 

> To create awareness about its role in cultural social and health of people. 

> To train people or students for utilization and conservation of medicinal plants.

> To increase in manufacture of herbal drugs. 

> Research and job oppurtunities.

Scope of Ethnobotany:-

> Its scope was much eloborated by Ford(1978) and Faulk(1958). 

> In recent years much work in this science has been done in the many countries e.g. India, Africa, America , France, Mexico, U.S.A. etc. 

> Ethnobotany has attracted attention during last three decades.

> The scope of Ethnobotany in recent time and failure has been established with the problem of :- 

i. Rural health 

ii. Drugs are abuses 

iii. Social customs

iv. Cottage industries

v. Conservation of ecosystems 

vi. Nutrition 

vii. Energy

> Recent researches on Ethnobotany have today established linkage between man y special areas like:-

i. Ethnomedicine 

ii. Ethnopharmacology

iii. Ethnoveterinary 

iv. Ethnonarcotics 

v. Ethnobryology 

vi. Ethnocosmetic

Study of Ethnobotany:-

> In India the ethnobotanical works in an organized way were started by Botanical Survey of India in 1969. Since then uses of plants by the tribal are being recorded for a variety of purposes (Jain, 1981).

> Considerable number of works have been done on several aspects of plants viz. ethnomedicine, dyes, tans, narcotics, fiber, timber etc, by Bhandari (1974), Jain (1981a,b), Singh and Pandey (1980,1981,1982), Katewa and Guria (1997), Sebastian and Bhandari (1984a), Nargas and Trivedi (1999) and various other scientists.

1. Collection of ethnobotanical Data:- Collection and Compilation of Socioeconomic data of the study area is essentially required for ethnobotanical studies. For Socio- economic study following parameters may be considered.

i. Profile of the households (Type of family).

ii. Religion and caste profile (ST, SC, OBC, others).

iii. Agricultural Land, Crops cultivated and Livestock‟s.

iv. Irrigation and transport facilities.

v. Drinking water and toilet facilities.

vi. Availability of Electricity and use of fuel.

vii. Awareness about local health tradition among the tribes.

viii. Knowledge about medicinal plants for home remedies.

ix. Use of home remedies

x. Assessment of treatment other than home remedies.

xi. Comparison of cost of home remedies and other treatment method adopted by tribal.

Ethnobotanical data may be collected in different manners i.e. by enquiry, observation, interview

and participation. 

2. Categorization of Collected data:- The methodology used for collecting the ethno botanical information was put into following three major categories:-

i. Direct approach:- This included the intensive field surveys among tribal and remote areas of a region.

ii. Indirect Approach:- It included collection of information from literature, museums, herbarium etc.

iii. Miscellaneous:- Some information was also collected after discussion with the non-tribal e.g.

village headman, spiritual leader, ozha, vaidhya, hakims, priests, teacher, physicians, veterinary,

doctor, social worker, postal authorities and Ayurvedic doctors etc.

3. Ethnobotanical Survey:- The ethnobotanical survey includes plant collections, informal interviews with the inhabitants and the implementation of the ethnographic method of free listing and semi-structured interviews (Weller and Romney, 1998) or it may be done by following the methodology of Cotton (1996).

The survey may involve individuals like

i. Village Head man and old experienced person /village resource persons.

ii. Middle men or interpreter.

iii. Men and women working in the field

iv. Men and women in weekly markets and in other common places.

v. Local forest officers.

vi. Baidyas, Sirahas, Guniyas, Gaytas and knowledgeable women‟s.

vii. Traditional Birth attendant (Dai).

viii. Traditional Bone setter (haddi baidh) and Maatipujari of village.

4. Documentation of the Information:- The documentation of the information obtained from folk healers and Baidyas may be documented under following heads:

i. Name of the disease

ii. Name of the plant

iii. Vernacular name

iv. Family name

v. Plant part used.

vi. Habit of the plant

vii. Other ingredients used

viii. Drug preparation

ix. Drug application and its effectiveness

x. Cost of treatment / episode

- Information may be documented disease wise use of plants/plant parts for the preparation of

drug. 

- The cost of the treatment per episode/per disease should be noted. 

- The information may be cross checked by the other informants in the same locality for verification of medicinal claims by the first informants. 

- This practice resulted credibility of data regarding the use of plants and statements of informants.