Constraints Faced by the Tribal Farmers in the Adoption of Ethno-medical Practices in Idukki District of Kerala

Abstract

The study was conducted with the aim of identifying constrains faced by the tribal farmers in the adoption of ethno-medical practices. The study was carried out in the Idukki district of Kerala among the nine major tribal groups in all the eight blocks in the district, who were primary engaged in agriculture and allied occupations. The most essential constraints faced by the tribal farmers in adopting EMPs in the decreasing order of importance are it is time-consuming, challenging, and often dangerous to search for herbs in the forest and bushes, depletion of much of the trees and herbs from local medicine sources, the lack of standardization of EMPs and documentation, individualism prevents people from transmitting information to others, prescription variations such as the quantity and periodicity, inadequate recognition of the importance of EMPs on the broader (nonindigenous) community, no external funding to exercise these skills in new and demanding contexts generating public benefit, regressive government regulations, banning such practices as cannabis cultivation, illegal tree cutting, etc., less effective in large scale production, the younger generation has a distorted attitude towards using EMPs due to their education and exposure to modern training, too much or less rainfall and often drought, erratic or unreliable weather conditions, lack of chances of exposure to EMPs, it requires more time to deliver the desired results and the destruction of nutrient-rich staple food from mainstream community food.