Ethnobotanical Uses of Wild Medicinal Plants by Guddi and Gujjar Tribes of Himachal Pradesh

India is a rich source of plant flora of 2500 documented species and 600-700 species are having medicinal value1. About 150 are used commercially. It is reported that Western Himalayas are the abode of 50 percent plant drugs mentioned in the British pharmacopoeia. Medicinal plants are used for preventive, promotive and curative purposes. Eighty percent of the ingredients of drug formulation in ayurvedic are plant based2. In compliance with the CBD and WTO, India too has to conserve its natural resources from unfair exploitation3. The survey of the area was conducted during March, 2007- October, 2008. The two tribal communities viz. “Gaddis and Gujjars” were interviewed4-5. These two nomadic communities were asked to identify the plant and tell its use by them. The samples of the plants were crosschecked with the qualified ayurvedic practitioners of the area and some were identified by the author him self. However, Some of the samples were processed and identified with the help of literature available6-7 in the library of Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and forestry Nauni Solan. The plant species of the area have been enumerated below in an alphabetic order. Each species have been provided with scientific name, local name, crude drug preparation (as per details provided by the folklore) and its local use. Twenty seven species of Ethnobotanical use were identified from this backward district of Himachal Pradesh

Influence of <i>Eucalyptus</i> Agroforestry on Crop Yields, Soil Properties, and System Economics in Southern Regions of India

Agroforestry benefits farmers, making it a sustainable alternative to monoculture. To create a viable Eucalyptus clone-based agroforestry system, a field experiment was carried out in Tamil Nadu, India. The economics and changes in the soil qualities were evaluated by growing agricultural and horticultural crops, namely pearl millet, sorghum, maize, sesame, small onions, green gram, and red gram, as intercrops under eight-month-old eucalyptus clone trees using a randomised block design in three replications at a spacing of 3 m × 1.5 m. The plots for the intercrops and the eucalyptus clones were kept apart for comparison. Maize showed the greatest drop in plant height during all the phases, including 30 DAS, 60 DAS, and harvest, while small onions showed the least reduction in plant height. Sesame and small onions showed the greatest drop in dry matter production, whereas sorghum showed the least. In terms of the intercrop yield reduction, maize had the biggest reduction and green gram had the lowest. Red gram had the largest crop equivalent yield, whereas maize had the lowest. The volume of the trees was generally increased more favourably by red gram than by green gram. The intercrops had some effects on the nutrients in the soil. Red gram intercropping had the highest levels of EC, soil organic carbon, available soil nitrogen, available soil phosphorus, and available soil potassium, while the sole tree treatment had the lowest levels. Small onions, red gram, and sesame were the crops; tree + small onion, tree + red gram, and tree + sesame were the intercrop combinations with the highest gross income, net income, and B:C in the intercropping treatment alone. Tree + green gram had the highest land equivalent ratio (LER) and the red gram, sesame, and small onion intercrops were shown to be the most profitable. Although the present study supports a complementary relationship, the lack of awareness among farmers of Eucalyptus allelopathy formed the major limitation