Ethnobotany in modern India

Ethnobotany deals with the study of total natural and traditional interrelationships between man and plants, and man's domesticated animals. Gathering jungle fruits or tubers, or hunting animals for food by the earliest man on this earth was the birth of ethnobotany and ethnozoology. The journey of ethnobotany from those early beginnings through ages has been long. This discipline became established as a genuine academic and research activity in the second half of the twentieth century. Until recently it was not appreciated that sustainable development could be achieved only through full understanding and integration of cultural aspects of biological diversity and participation of the indigenous people of any region. The interrelationships between man and plants can be first divided into material, and cultural (or spiritual) relationships, and then placed in one or more of the following four categories: (a) relationships useful both to man and plants, (b) relationships useful to man but harmful to plants, (c) relationships useful to plants but harmful to man, (d) relationships harmful both to man and plants. Some interdisciplinary topics, or subdisciplines of ethnobotany are : ethnoagriculture, ethnoarchaeobotany, ethnoecology, ethnogastrology, ethnohorticulture, ethnomedicobotany, ethnomusicology, ethnopharmacology, ethnopharmacognosy, ethnophytotaxonomy, ethnopteridology, ethnobryology, ethnoalgology, ethnolichenology and ethnoveterinary. Methods of ethnobotanical research depend on the objective or end product in mind. They are various, but can be put in two broad categories, viz. field research and literary research. For collecting large number of plants for biological screening, three broad approaches are possible, viz. random collection, collection of plants of families rich in active principles, or collections based on ethnomedicinal data. Results in India and other countries have shown that percentage of positive results is much more in ethnobotanically selected species. A review of recent work shows that over 30 books have been published with the term ethnobotany or tribal medicine in their title in the last two decades. Over 275 papers have been published on specific ethnic groups. A majority of papers deal with dozens of families and hundreds of species of ethnobotanical significance in any area. About 150 papers deal with only one or two particular species in detail. Most traditional practices help in sustainable use of bioresources. Faith and traditional practices also help in lesser damage to and better preservation of individual species and/or habitats, and thus of biodiversity in general. Traditional knowledge about those land races or wild relatives of crop plants and other economic species, which are more suited to local conditions and microclimates is useful in agricultural and horticultural programs. Identification of new or prospective herbal remedies on the basis of traditional knowledge helps in healthcare programs. There is also prospect of socioeconomic uplift of the indigenous communities through promotion of cottage industries based on their traditional unique tools, gadgets, arts, and crafts.