Role of traditional home garden systems in Northeast India

47-50In Northeast India, traditional home gardens have been maintained as a part of rural survival over generations, with a complex vegetational structure harbouring diverse types of local plant species with multiple functions. Nonetheless, significant difference in species selection for traditional home gardens may primarily be due to altitudinal/climatic regime and also traditional beliefs and day-to-day requirements of the farming people. In the study, the role of three different farming communities (Nyishis, Apatanis and Kalitas) in the preservation and management of their traditional values, faith and indigenous knowledge system were studied

Anti-malarial herbal remedies of northeast India, Assam: An ethnobotanical survey

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Malaria is a serious public health problem in the north-eastern region of India including Assam, in view of development of chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum. There is need for alternative and affordable therapy. Aim of the study: This study was conducted to document indigenous knowledge, usage customs and practices of medicinal plant species traditionally used by the residents of Sonitpur district of Tezpur, Assam to treat malaria and its associated symptoms. Materials and methods:A total of 50 randomly selected sampling represented by male (38.76%) and female respondents (12.24%) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The present ethno-botanical survey revealed 22 species of plants belonging to 17 botanical families were reported to be used exclusively in this region for the treatment of malaria. Verbenaceae (three species), Menispermaceae (two species), and Acanthaceae (two species) botanical families represented the species that are most commonly cited in this survey work and the detailed use of plants has been collected and described. Conclusions: The most serious threat to the existing knowledge and practice on traditional medicinal plants included cultural change, particularly the influence of modernization and lack of interests shown by the next younger generations were the main problems reported by the informants during the field survey. Hence, the proper documentation of traditional medicinal plants being used as anti-malarial agents and related indigenous knowledge held by the tribal community is an important approach to control the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria reported in this survey work. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

<i>Peliosanthes macrophylla</i> var. <i>assamensis</i> (<i>Asparagaceae</i>), a new variety from Behali Reserve Forest in Assam, Northeast India

Peliosanthes macrophylla var. assamensis, a new variety from Behali Reserve Forest in Assam, Northeast India, is described with accompanying photos and relevant taxonomic data. It differs from var. macrophylla from Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, Northeast India, mainly by the staminal corona internally protruding near the middle (vs internally upright corona without a particular inward protrusion), shorter anthers somewhat divergent distally (vs nearly upright anthers), and longer, papillulate pistils exceeding the anthers (vs glabrous pistils not exceeding the anthers).</jats:p

Image_1_A comparative study of localized phosphorus application and broadcasting method on biomass production and their use efficiency on Chilli (Capsicum annuum) under alkaline soil.jpeg

Rhizospheric based phosphorus (P) fertilizer management is necessary for crop production due to environmental concerns caused by the overuse of the broadcasting method and limited P reserves. This study proposes a comparison of P management that enhances P nutrition in Chilli (variety: Arka Khyati) through seedling root-dipping (SRD) in P-enriched slurry (SSP-amended; pH of 8.1), micro-dose placement (MDP; drill and place closer to plant root), and full dose (187.6 mg kg-1) placement by broadcasting (FD). In SRD, seedlings were dipped in five different P concentrations (50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg P2O5 kg-1) for varying durations (0, ½, 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours) and transplanted into pots (dipping in 0 mg P2O5 kg-1 consider as control), along with the MDP and FD treatments (total 33 treatments with 5 replications). [Seedlings dipped in 200, 300, and 400 mg P2O5 kg-1 died within a week after transplanting, thus were excluded from further analysis]. The amount of P received in MDP and FD were 21-90 times higher than P adhesion to seedling roots in SRD treatments. Root volume was in order SRD>MDP>FD. Seedlings dipped in 100 mg P2O5 kg-1 for 2 hours in SRD exhibited the highest biomass production, P-use and -recovery efficiency; and showed an increase of 52%, 178%, and 293% in FD, MDP, and SRD compared to the control respectively. It is recommended to use the SRD method with other P sources in reduced amount to maintain the native P pool in soil, and further multilocational trials are needed to validate.</p