Traditional homegardens and ethnomedicinal plants: Insights from the Indian Sub-Himalayan region

Homegardens are a traditional human-made microenvironment, socioeconomically connected to people's long-term survival. In India's sub-Himalayan region, studies have been conducted on many aspects of homegardening systems. However, little has been studied on ethnomedicinal plants from this region's traditional homegardens. The current study focuses on the diversity and population status of ethnomedicinal plants in homegardens and their folk therapeutic uses. The present work was conducted in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri District, part of the Terai zone. A purposive, multi-stage random sampling method was used to select 100 homegardens. Sixty-seven ethnomedicinal plant species representing 44 families and 60 genera including 22 trees, eight shrubs, 34 herbs, and three climber species were documented. The documented ethnomedicinal plants species were used as folk therapies to treat 39 diseases including some serious ailments like cancer. The most commonly employed plant part for therapeutic purposes were leaves (22 species) followed by fruits (seven species), whole plant (five species), rhizome (three species), tuber and young bud (two species). The use-value for the documented ethnomedicinal species varied from 0.56 (Ocimum sanctum) to 0.012 (Lannea coromandelica) while, the fidelity values ranged from 92.17% (O. sanctum) to 3.43% (Streblus asper). The value of cultural importance ranged from 0.384 (Ocimum sanctum) to 0.009 (Corchorus capsularis and Nyctanthes arbor-tristis). The above quantification of the ethnomedicinal plant species signifies the prominence of a species in cultural and folk therapeutic terms, i.e. higher the values, higher is the traditional importance of the species. The present documentation indicates rich traditional knowledge on medico-botanical aspects of the study area as diverse ethnomedicinal plant species were actively harboured and maintained in the homestead by the inhabitants for their primary health care and well-being that usually were supplemented prior to modern health care system. Diverse ethnomedicinal plant species being maintained in the homestead is significant in conservation of these species that too in a human-dominated landscape when these plant species are threatened for existence due to habitat destruction and commercial exploitation in their natural habitats.