Observations of ethno-botanical studies in India

Abstract

While going through the ethno-botanical information so far available in the various literature from India, it has been found that there is a wealth of information on wild plants in Indian ancient literature. However, they have yet not received the due attention concerning the data on the useful plants of India as has been accumulated since over 100 years by now. It is pity that the recent publications on ethno botany have shown utter ignorance on the literature published since 1840s to 1950, which has documented substantial information on the useful wild plants of India. Unmindful of the past work, these have been redocumented by the ethno biologists during last 40 years. In the present communication the author has stressed the need for careful scrutiny of literature published earlier while documenting ethnobotanical information. Besides, the methodology involved in the preparation of each product should also be essentially recorded not only for the benefit of the society but also for the adaptation of suitable measures for their sustainable utilization towards the socioeconomic upliftment of the tribal and rural people. It is hoped that the observations given in this paper are made for the betterment of the entire nation including that of tribal communities.