Marketing of medicinal plants of Utror-Gabral

Valleys, Swat, Pakistan

 

By Muhammad Hamayun, Mir Ajab Khan and Shaheen Begum

 

Address for Correspondence:

M. Hamayun and Dr. Mir Ajab Khan

Department of Biological Sciences, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Shaheen Begum, Assistant Coordinator, Ethno botany Project, WWF-Peshawar, Pakistan.

E.mail, M.Hamayun: smh_khan@hotmail.com

  

 

Abstract

This paper is based on the results of an ethnobotanical project carried out in the area comprising Utror-Gabral Valleys of upper Swat. The residents of the area use indigenous medicinal plants for curing diseases and also sell some of them in the local market for earning their live hood. About 44 medicinal plants are collected in the area during the months of May, June, July and August. Out of these 44 species collected and marketed, 8 species of medicinal plants are endangered, 8 species are vulnerable and 8 species are rare. Bulk of these medicinal plants are used locally and only Berberis lycium, Bergenia ciliata, Podophyllum hexandrum, Colchicum luteum, Dioscoria deltoides, Viola spp., Pistacia integrimma, Morchella esculenta, Paeonia emodi, Rheum australe, Aconitum hetrophyllum, Valeriana jatamansi, Acorus calamus, Juglans regia, Diospyrus lotus and Bistorta amplexicaulis makes their way to national and international markets.

A survey conducted shows that medicinal plants collectors include womenfolk (48.26%), men folk (27.0%) and children (24.74%). Almost 90% of these medicinal plants are sold in the local market in fresh form as the collectors are poor and needy. Some species are cleaned, dried in the sun and stored in plastic bags. The percentage of losses is much higher in the storage because the collectors are unaware about the proper storage methods of these plants.

The availability of medicinal plants decreased during the past 20 years. According to aged villagers, medicinal plants were abundant in the vicinities of human settlements some 20 years back. However, the population of medicinal plants drastically decreased due to increased marketing pressure on medicinal plants, lack of job opportunities in the area, non sustainable harvesting methods like digging of whole plant and increased population of the area. The medicinal plants are now collected in large volumes from remote areas of Desan, Ghos, Ladhu, Pala-Shair, Sind, Molat, Gozba, Deej, Tosi and Kagishdin.

Key Words: Medicinal plants; marketing status; conservation; collection methods

 

·        Introduction of Study Site

The Utror-Gabral valleys are situated in the north western part of the District Swat, Pakistan. The project area has unique flora as it occupies nexus of the three great mountain ranges i.e. Himalayas, Hindukush and Karakoram. The altitude of Utror is 2,225 meters and Gabral is 2,550 meters from the sea level. Both of these Valleys comprise Utror Union Council, Tehsil Kalam. The famous Kandol Lake is situated in the area.

 

Location, Boundary and Area

The area is situated in the North West corner of District Swat. It lies between 35°–25' to 35°-30' North latitude and 72°-20' to 70°-30' East longitude.

The area is surrounded by Chitral District on the north, Swat District on east and south and Upper Dir district on the west.

The total area is 114627 hectares. Utror, Gabral (Gul Abad and Gujar Gabral), Sazgal, Behan, Baila, Karin, Kanai and Jabba (Upper and Lower) are the important villages of research area. (DCO, Office, Mingora)

 

Climate

The area has a typical dry temperate zone climate. The winter season is very cold and as a result large number dwelling in the upper parts migrate to lower areas along with their live stock. These migrants return on the onset of spring. The coldest months are December, January and February during which snow falls are frequent. The valleys remain under snow cover for about four months. The snow started melting in April. June, July and August are the hottest months of the year while during September and October, the climate is very pleasant. Rain is received in large amounts during March and April. The summer and autumn are relatively dry seasons.

·        Mean annual maximum temperature is 61.9 °F.

·        Mean annual minimum temperature is 39.37 °F.

·        Mean annual snow fall is 331.01 cms.

·        Mean annual rain fall is 52.43 cms.

 

Rivers and Streams

Utror river is the main river which meets Ushu river at Kalam, thus giving rise to Swat river. The tributaries of Utror river includes, Gujar khawar, Gabral sin, Desan khawar and Battal khawar.

 

People of Utror Gabral Valleys

The population of the area is 10126. The inhabitants include Kohistanis, Gujars, immigrants from Indus Kohistan, Malazai (from Dir) and other nomadic tribes. However, Kohistanis and Gujars form the bulk of the local population.

 

Kohistanis

Kohistanis are fair colored, hospitable and simple people. They are considered to be the real natives of Swat. They were forced by the invading Yousafzai tribe of Pathans to live in the remote upper parts of District Swat. The Kohistanis are now living in and around Kalam, Ushu, Utror and Gabral valleys. The Kohistanis are the land owners and also get royalty in the local forest income from the Government.

 

Gujars The Gujars are the major community of Gabral valley. They are the land owners in the valley but have no share in forest royalty. They are mainly farmers and keep cows and buffalows. There are some Gujars who spent nomadic life and are called Ajars. They keep herds of sheep and goats. Ajars pay rent to the Gujars of Gabral for utilizing their pastures during summer season.

 

Malazai and others

These are not permanent residents of Utror and Garal Valleys. They visit the area during the month of March and leave it in early November. The bulk of these nomads include Malazai tribe from upper Dir District. These nomads have big herds of sheep and goats. They graze their herds in the green pastures of the area and work as peasants for locals.

 

Languages

The local languages are Kohistani and Gujro. However, Pushto is also under stood in the area. Kohistani is an interesting language because it has no alphabets and hence no body can write it. Gujro language is actually Punjabi with some what different dialect.

 

·        Medicinal Plants

Any plant or part of the plant which contain active medicinal chemical constituents and give a definite physiological response in the treatments of diseases in humans and other animals are called medicinal plant.

Pakistan has a diverse flora containing about 6000 species of phanerogams. Estimates indicate that around 700 plant species are used as medicinal and aromatic plants. The total number of plant species in the Hindukush-Himalayas is estimated to be 25000 or 10% of the world flora of which 2/3 are useful (Pei, 1992).

In Swat District more than 224 medicinal plants are reported. Around 55 of these are collected and sold in the local markets. 17 species i.e. almost 30% are marketed on national level.  

 

Demand for Medicinal Plants

Pakistan has about 50,000 registered practitioners of traditional medicines known as tibb-e-unani and majority of the population, especially rural, is getting health care by Tabbibs. It is estimated that 60% of the population used herbal medicines prescribed by traditional practitioners.

The use of medicinal herbs for various human and livestock health disorders is a common practice in rural areas of Pakistan. The main reason for using traditional medicines is economics. As in other developing countries, the majority of the people of Pakistan cannot afford the high cost of modern health care. Lack of modern health care facilities in remote areas is another mojor reason for adopting traditional medicines.

 

Objectives of the Present Study

The main objective of the study was to evaluate marketing of medicinal plants of the area, women role in medicinal plants collection, people involve in medicinal plants trade and folk methods of medicinal plants collection, cleaning and storage. All these will help in bringing sustainability to the indigenous medicinal flora of the area.

 

Materials and methods

Field work was carried out during 2002. First collectors of medicinal plants including women folk was interviewed for indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants collection, cleaning, drying and storing. Questionnaires were adopted during the surveys in order to get a more representative data about the medicinal plants marketing in the area. The medicinal plants markets at Kalam, Madyan, Mingora, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore was visited to get pertinent information about medicinal plants trade.

 

Results and Discussion

 

·        Marketing of Medicinal Plants

In Utror-Gabral Valleys the locals collect about 44 medicinal plants during the months of May, June, July and August. These are sold in the local market. Only 14 of them are traded to National and International markets while the rest are used locally. According to IUCN categories, out of these 44 species collected and marketed, 8 species of medicinal plants are endangered, 8 species are vulnerable and 8 species are rare. The remaining 20 species of medicinal plants are also under intense pressure of marketing. The data relating Plant availability status, Part used, Plant status (whether Endangered, Vulnerable or Rare), Local prices of fresh form is given in table#1.

 

Table 1: Marketing Medicinal Plants of Utror-Gabral Valleys, Upper Swat.

 

No

Botanical Name

 

Local Name

Part Used

Availability

Collection Method

Plant Status

L.Pr. (Rs.)

1

Aconitum hetrophyllum

SarbaBotay/ Sarb- walay

Roots

Dec.

Digging

V

400

2

Aconitum violaceum

Zahar Mora

Roots

Dec.

Digging

V

250

3

Acorus calamus

Skhawaja

Rhiz.

Dec.

Digging

E

20

4

Adiantum venestum

Persoshan

Plant

Dec.

Cutting

V

5

5

Ajuga bractiosa

Panarkas/boti

Shoot

Pers.

Plucking

-

30

6

Ammi visnaga

Spairkai

Fruit

Pers.

Picking

-

40

7

Artemissia vulgaris

Tarkha

R/L

Inc.

Digging

-

12

8

Berberis lycium

Hez/Toor kwaray

Roots

Dec.

Digging

V

25

9

Berberis vulgaris

Hez/Speenkwaray

Roots

Dec.

Digging

E

25

10

Bergenia ciliata

Qamar Panra

Lvs

Pers.

Plucking

R

25

11

Bistorta amplexicaulis

Anjabar

Rhiz.

Dec.

Digging

E

10

12

Cuminum cyminum

Zankai

Seeds

Pers.

Picking

R

60

13

Calendula arvensis

Charkeet

Roots

Dec.

Digging

-

23

14

Caltha alba

Makhan pat

Plant

Pers.

Plucking

-

4

15

Cichorium intybus

Han

Lvs

Inc.

Plucking

-

13

16

Colchicum luteum

Suranjan Talkh

Rhiz.

Dec.

Digging

V

30

17

Coriandrum sativum

Dhanyal

Fruits

Inc.

Picking

-

25

18

Bunium persicum

Zankai

Seeds

Pers.

Picking

V

80

19

Dioscoria deltoides

Kaneez

Root