In a bid to document the time-honoured traditions and practices of indigenous and local communities, the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) and the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) have now revived the ‘Journal of Traditional and Folk Practices.’
The UGC-approved journal, published with funding from the Ministry of AYUSH, aimed at crafting a linkage between the scientific community and society, R. Prakashkumar, director, JNTBGRI, and the executive editor, said.
Indigenous knowledge
The biannual journal is aimed at encouraging individuals and multidisciplinary research groups to codify valuable knowledge after obtaining prior informed consent from the knowledge providers. The journal noted that the use of locally available bio-resources, especially plants, for food and medicine are still prevalent among rural and tribal areas of the country. Some of the highly effective and safe modern medicines have been developed from traditional knowledge/indigenous knowledge, it observed.
“More than 80% of the livelihood needs of the world’s poor, directly or indirectly, depend on the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge which are fast deteriorating due to multiple reasons, including changing lifestyles. The remaining traditional knowledge needs to be documented urgently for the welfare and betterment of society and nature as a whole,” the journal noted.
Topics
Topics covered in the new edition include folk customs and traditions prevalent in the Trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh, ethnomedicine for gynaecological problems used by tribes of Adilabad district and wild species of Curcuma as a potential source of starch powder.
The journal was first published with funding from AYUSH in 2013. Publication ceased after six more issues came out with financial support from the KSCSTE. Now it is being revived with Ministry of AYUSH funding.
