Study of medicinal plants and their conservation in alirajpur district of mp

Abstract

The use of plants as a source of medicine has been continued since ancient time for curing diseases of man and animals. Cattle are the common livestock in India and occupy a prominent position in agricultural systems and economy of the country. Their products are indispensable in our daily life. Existence of life on earth dates back to some 3.5 million years ago. Despite the uncertainty of how life began on earth, it is very much clear that survival of all living being is not possible without plants and this needs no clarification. newlineThere is lack of authentic documentation of folk knowledge on wild edible plants. The folk knowledge is fast disappearing due to factors such as migration of villagers to cities, input of high quality food in markets, etc (Rajasab and Isaq, 2004). A perusal of literature reveals that there is no much work has been done on the conservational practices of wild medicinal plants of western Madhya Pradesh, hence the present study has been undertaken to document the plant species, which are commonly used by the ethnic communities of the study area as an important source of their health management. newlineObjectives of the Present Work: newlineKeeping in view the importance of plants in humans life especially in tribal culture the proposed work was entail to generate authentic information and document indigenous knowledge related to uses of medicinal plant species and to assess the newlineexisting threats to these plants in the study areas. The present study aimed to carried out with the following objectives- newline To document the important medicinal plants and their utilization practices for curing different ailments by tribal communities in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh. newline To collect the first hand information on multifarious uses of the various plants/plant parts amongst tribes of the study area. newline Enlist various plants and categorize them as per their utilization by the tribal inhabitants. newlineTo study the conservational practices of local medicinally important species adapted amongst tribals of the study