Here is why tribal populace still depends largely on medicinal plants in Meghalaya!
SHILLONG: Medicinal plant sector has traditionally occupied an important position in the socio-cultural, spiritual and medicinal arena of rural and tribal lives of India.
For the rural people of Meghalaya, medicinal plants are as important as the food they eat everyday and that they cannot live without herbal medicines which are consumed both as preventive as well as curative for specific ailments.
Here are a few facts you should know about the various medicinal plants located in Meghalaya
More than 200 forest plants are used by the people of Meghalaya for food,medicine,dye and other purposes. Ethnomedicines and medicinal plants of Meghalaya have received some attention from researchers. However,most of these studies are restricted to documentation of uses of plants by tribal people.
In Meghalaya, local health traditions are widespread and popular. Each major tribe has traditional dependence on medicinal plants for treatment of ailments .Medicinal plants are generally used at the household level in a self-help mode.The health practitioners use medicinal plants in preventive/promotive and curative applications.
Every village of the state has atleast one or more herbal medicinal practitioners.The practitioners uses the different types of medicinal plants found across the region in forests or from their own gardens.Some of the common medicinal plants that can be found are Sying Makhir,Soh Marit Khlaw ,Jajew,Jarain,Khliang syiar etc.,
These plants have their own ways of treating various ailments or diseases.For example:The Sying Makhir (zingiber rubens)is used for treating cough and also for bone setting.Jarain is used for high blood pressure and constipation.Jajew is also another plant which is believed to help in curing ailments like gastritis,haemorrhoids and skin rashes.Sohbel,Jamyrdoh,Lapongleaves,Khliang syiar,Soh marit khlaw are also some of the various medicinal plants that provides cure to differnt ailments.
This is the very reason why people in Meghalaya especially those hailing from the rural populace still trusts in the power of medicinal plants and prefer consuming the same while considering medical treatment as the secondary option.
TNT News
Photo credit: Zizira
