title: Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in Afghanistan with Respect to the Balkh Province
Creators: name: Faqiri, Shah Mahmoud
Publisher: name: Philipps-Universität Marburg
Year: 2023
Subjects: Afghanistan
Pharmacology &amp; therapeutics, prescription drugs
Pharmakologie, Therapeutik
traditional medicine
Medicinal Plant
Prov. Balkh

description: Afghanistan has a special geographic location and has therefore, because of the diverse
climate, a treasure of natural resources, especially in the plant sector. Currently, there are about
4,500 - 5,000 wild species of higher plants, of which 25-30% are endemics to the region. At the
same time, the use of medicinal herbs in this land has a long history, intensively used by local
healers and others. But with the description of all these positive points, this rich native knowledge
has not been adequately documented until now. The documentation of the uses of plants as
traditional drugs is needed and provides a way to conserve and develop plants that are used
frequently. The main goal of this research project is to collect information about the traditional use
of medicinal plants in Balkh province, to identify shortcomings in less well-known drug crops, as
well as to present future research perspectives.
Field trips and plant gathering have been undertaken for studying the environmental and
ecological conditions of the area in all districts of Balkh province. A suitable questionnaire for
interviewing local population was developed in 2014 and has been applied to the fourteen districts
of Balkh province at various times according to a rank plan with the majority of Greek physicians
and experts. Both males and females have been interviewed, and dried plant samples were moved
to the Herbarium of the Faculty of Agriculture of Balkh University. They were collected for a
better identification, documentation, and maintenance. During field trips with experienced men
and women from colleges of agriculture and pharmacy, employees of the agriculture
administration, professional staff of agencies related to agriculture and natural resources living in
Balkh province, the interviews were conducted and the data were recorded in the questionnaires
and finally included in a database.
In the evaluation of Balkh, 2,977 sheets of questionnaires have been completed which are
analyzed with the following results:
- About 100 families of plants have been identified, with the highest percentage for Apiaceae 11%,
Asteraceae more than 8%, Lamiaceae about 8%, Fabaceae 7%, Zingiberaceae 4%, Malvaceae
3.6%, Poaceae 2.7%. Although, in about 245 questionnaires, the used plant material could not be
indentified, which represent approximately 8.2 % of the total.
- 165 genera with over 200 plant species were reported. In addition to this large number of
medicinal plants used for the treatment of various diseases, several other plants are also of high
economic value and have high pharmaceutical and economic importance in regional and global
markets. Each year, a large amount of them is exported abroad (mainly to Pakistan) in return for
significant domestic currency. As a result, in addition to having a positive impact on the economic
situation of farmers, it also strengthens the national economy of the country and certainly
encourages farmers and others to protect these plants. The field of cultivation is also expanding.
Good ecological and environmental conditions provide a chance for other life forms, protect the
environment, and prevent environmental damage. As has been argued in recent years, especially
from 2016 until now, the cultivation area of these medicinal plants in Balkh province is about
6,000 hectares from the seed and seedlings of Heng (Ferula assafoetida), 120 hectares of
Glycyrrhiza glabra, and tens hectares of Crocus sativus, so the country will benefit from their
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exports. The amount of medicinal plants exported from Balkh province in 2018 is: G. glabra 4,000
tons (US $ 900 per ton), F.assa-foetida 250 tons (US $ 41,000 per ton), C. sativus 90 kg (US $
1,200 per kg), Cuminum cyminum 2600 tons (US $ 4,000 per ton), Sesamum indicum 2100 tons
(US $ 1,500 per ton), and mushrooms 9 tons (US $ 40,000 per ton), plus non-surplus crops such
as Nigella sativa 30 tons (US $ 2,000 per ton) and Linum usitatissimum 2,000 tons (US $ 575 per
ton, data from 2018). Very probably these statistics are not final and need more surveys. Because
there are still areas from which the data were not collected and it was difficult to reach farmers at
these locations. On the other hand, the cultivation of these plants is more private, and
unfortunately, there is no legal system of registration of private sector agricultural activities in the
state agricultural departments to obtain accurate data.
The most commonly used medicinal plants are Glycyrrhiza glabra, Ferula assa-foetida,
Peganum harmala, Althaea spp., Nigella sativa, and Crocus sativus beside others. Traditional
herbal medicine is considered as the most cost-effective and accessible source of treatment in the
primary care system against various diseases such as scab, cough, fever, pain, throat, diarrhea,
female disorders, respiratory and digestive problems, high and low blood pressure, even
psychological homework, etc., in poor and backward communities, including Afghanistan, and
hence in Balkh province. Their side effects are usually relatively small compared with chemical
drugs, referring to general and special populations. In this way, treatment is enhanced and day by
day gaining knowledge and the number of students increased in this field.
The participation of women during this inquiry was small, while their contribution to the
treatment of diseases with medicinal herbs, especially in villages, seems to be very prominent. The
reason for this can be traced back to the existing religious tradition in Afghan society. Still,
according to the Ministry of Public Health Act, the herbalists or sellers of herbal medicines do not
have the right to treat patients. Only after having completed a specialty license, those persons can
pursue to diagnose a disease and prescribe a drug. This issue should be strictly observed and
followed up.
Therefore, in Afghanistan and Balkh province, with rich natural resources, including
medicinal plants, it is imperative that such assessments should continue with experienced experts
in all regions of the country and also in Balkh province. If possible, analysis of the laboratory can
be documented, and the collection of dried plants in each herbarium should be carried out to
maintain the criteria to obtain, on the one hand, the reserves and the actual statistics of medicinal
and natural plants, and, on the other hand, the field of better and more efficient use and more
economical operations at national and international levels. Finally, raising awareness of
biodiversity issues to achieve the goals of preventing further biodiversity destruction and
protecting our country's ecosystem is a crucial step. If we can reach our key stakeholders, both
farmers and traders who make the business sector and the general public aware of the link between
biodiversity and services that we all rely on, we will succeed to improve our efforts to protect the
country's biodiversity. Therefore, raising awareness, especially among young people and children,
is very important because they carry these message throughout their lives to their families and they
are transmitting it for future generations.