Ethnoveterinary medicine on organic farms

Gathering of wild plant species is a typical and important activity of many people in rural communities worldwide. Gathering of wild plant species is also an activity done frequently by farmers, including organic farmers. The species gathered by farmers are used usually as food, teas, ornamentals, but also as fodder or for human or veterinary medicinal purposes. Due to the restrictions for the use of allopathic medicine in organic farming, and an explicit legal statement to favor phytotherapy (EC-Regulation 2092/91), the local knowledge of farmers about phytotherapy is of importance for the organic farming movement. The authors hypothesize, that local knowledge of (organic) farmers about plant based home made remedies to maintain animals health or to cure animals’ diseases include time tested experiences of these farmers about effective species, recipies, ways of application and combination with other remedies. This local knowledge might be a starting point for the further development of sustainable animal health care programms worldwide. Local knowledge about folk veterinary practices is usually studied under the disciplinary context of ethnobotany (Martin 1995, Alexiades et al. 1996) and ethnoveterinary medicine. Ethnoveterinary medicine is the discipline that puts its focus on local knowledge about prevention and cure of animal diseases (Mc Corkle et al. 1996, Martin et al. 2001). Ethnoveterinary medicine is also called veterinary anthropology (Mc Corkle 1989). In this project the local knowledge of farmers about gathered wild plant species and their use as home made remedy in animal husbandry is being studied with tools and methods of ethnobotany and ethnoveterinary medicine.