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How to heal livestock with herbs and local plants: Farmers watch and learn

How to heal livestock with herbs and local plants

According to Dr Nitya Ghotge, Director of Anthra, the demand for herbal medicines for treating livestock ailments has increased by 40% ever since Anthra has begun to include Access Agriculture videos as part of its training programmes on animal health. Anthra is a nongovernmental organisation, based in Maharashtra state, India, which addresses issues faced by marginalised livestock rearing communities, especially women.

The training videos on herbal medicines in animal healthcare have been developed jointly by Access Agriculture and Anthra, in partnership with livestock-rearing communities in India. The videos give value to local knowledge and promote good animal health practices and the safe use of herbs for prevention and cure of the most common livestock diseases. 

The videos guide small and indigenous livestock farmers on how to detect health issues in their livestock, identify suitable herbs and locally available plant material for livestock healthcare and show the step-by-step process of making and applying herbal medicines. The videos are well appreciated by the local livestock farmers in Maharashtra, which is home to more than 10 million indigenous people, many of whom lack basic services.

For instance, when Anthra showed the videos Natural ways to keep chickens healthy and Managing fowl pox in poultry using a Smart Projector during a training on how to take care of backyard poultry, Savita Doiphode, a livestock farmer from Kolhapur district in Maharashtra, said that she and her neighbours were unaware of the benefits of the common backyard plants that were shown in the videos for treating animals. 

“Many of the plants mentioned in the videos grow in my backyard and I feel excited to learn that that these plants can be used for treating my animals,” said Savita. “I will certainly share this knowledge with others in my village, and I want to raise more chickens as I now feel more confident of dealing with problems in poultry after seeing these videos.”

According to Dr Ghotge, the major benefit of the videos is that they help reduce the need for chemicals and antimicrobials in livestock. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock is a growing threat to human and animal health. India has one of the highest levels of AMR in farm animals. 

Many livestock owners, especially those living in remote areas in India, cannot afford or easily access veterinary care. So, they often use over-the-counter medicines. “Many of these medicines are antibiotics. As these are administered without following recommended dosage, this has contributed to AMR, posing serious public health issues,” she explained.

To help rural communities, Anthra has been working for many years on herbal remedies for livestock and has also been recommending such remedies. It also routinely prepares a few herbal preparations, which it makes available to rural communities in Maharashtra at affordable prices.

“By encouraging and supporting livestock owners to use herbal medicine as their first line of treatment, the unnecessary use of chemicals and antimicrobials can be reduced,” Dr Ghotge said. “Combined with recommendations of better management including good housing, better nutrition and careful breeding, this can in fact be an effective way to contain the global problem of AMR.”

Access Agriculture videos on herbal medicine in animal healthcare are available in various international and local languages, including several Indian languages. Some of the most popular videos in Anthra’s training programmes, include: Herbal treatment for diarrhoea, Herbal medicine against foot rot in livestock, Herbal medicines against mastitis and Natural ways to keep chickens healthy.

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