arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh/India

A tree lives for about 50 years generates US Dollars 10, 600 worth of oxygen, recycles $ 12,800 worth of fertility and soil erosion control, creates US $ 21, 000 worth of air pollution control, and $ 10, 600 worth of shelter birds and animals. Besides, it provides flowers, fruits and lumber.

"The earth was not given to us by our parents, it was loaned to us by our children." -- Kenyan proverb

Humans have left an impressive mark on the world's lands over the past several centuries. With the dramatic growth in world population, from roughly 1 billion in 1800 to well over 5 billion today, pressures on the land have greatly increased. The need for greater food production has led to a massive increase in cropland. By the early 1990s, almost 40 percent of Earth's land surface had been converted to cropland and permanent pasture. This conversion has occurred largely at the expense of forests and grassland.

The most dramatic changes are occurring in developing countries, where it is estimated that in just three decades--1960 to 1990--fully one fifth of all natural tropical forest cover was lost. Although the forested area seems to have stabilized in developed countries, it is nevertheless only a portion of what was once there. For example, according to a recent estimate, only about 40 percent of Europe's estimated original forest cover remains

deforestation Governments of this region have announced their commitment to saving the tropical forests, while handling out logging concession to their supporters. The rich individuals and local powerful people are destroying the forests and environment. These groups have the power to ride roughshod over forestry departments and to bribe their officials, who themselves are often notorious for their lack of concern for forests or poor. The government officials have to earn "additional income" to keep with the rise of price, whereas the poor people have hardly any opportunity. The poor people see that the outsiders "have stolen trees" and so they have lost faith to protect the forests. The forest departments have developed the same "attitude" as the unpopular police department.
In her speech, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh squarely blamed a section of officials and employees of the forest department for robbing the country of its natural resources that are vital for the survival of very many species of birds, insects, plants and vegetation, and maintaining the thermal equilibrium of the country and the entire region (The Independent, December 11, 2004).

Even as deforestation continues, however, understanding of the value of forests--as regulators of global climate, as repositories of species and potentially valuable new products, as conservators of soil and water resources--is growing rapidly. This increased knowledge has spawned a wide-ranging debate within a variety of international institutions, yet it is still not clear that the world community is ready to forcefully move toward managing forests on a sustainable basis.

If the ecological erosion continues then most of our familiar surroundings and habitual activities will disappear without a trace in geologic time, while there are clearly several realms of human activity - to which we may not give much explicit attention in our everyday lives - that will nonetheless leave indelible and puzzling patterns for future archaeologists to contemplate (Weiskel, 1988) .

It was through control of the shattering of wild seeds that humans first domesticated plants. Now control over those very plants threatens to shatter the world's food supply, as loss of genetic diversity sets the stage for widespread hunger.

Large-scale agriculture has come to favour uniformity in food crops. More than 7,000 U.S. apple varieties once grew in American orchards; 6,000 of them are no longer available. Every broccoli variety offered through seed catalogs in 1900 has now disappeared. As the international genetics supply industry absorbs seed companies—with nearly one thousand takeovers since 1970—this trend toward uniformity seems likely to continue; and as third world agriculture is brought in line with international business interests, the gene pools of humanity's most basic foods are threatened.

The consequences are more than culinary. Without the genetic diversity from which farmers traditionally breed for resistance to diseases, crops are more susceptible to the spread of pestilence. Tragedies like the Irish Potato Famine may be thought of today as ancient history; yet the U.S. corn blight of 1970 shows that technologically based agribusiness is a breeding ground for disaster.

When we confront the spread and depth of the diversity of plants that have fed, housed, clothed and cured people all through our existence, we cannot escape that awesome confrontation with time and space. Over an unimaginable number of years plants have evolved and co-evolved with the people who used them; their history and ours, their destiny and ours are intertwined. The open-ended array of soils they have grown in, the hands they have been cared for by, and values they have been fashioned to serve - the diversity of our crop plants is a direct reflection of the diversity of our cultures.

The ancient Romans called it patrimonium, from pater (father). It was used to designate that which was inherited from your father to be transmitted to the next generation, a chain of transmission that could not be interrupted. It was used precisely to distinguish between those goods that could be exchanged for their current monetary value, and those things that had a deeper, inalienable family and community value. Plants definitely fall into this category.

Plants are a fundamental part of the chain of life that keeps this planet going and the diversity within them is the key to their survival. Some of that diversity has evolved through the changing pressures of the environment, but much of it is the result of continuous generations of people tampering with it and passing it on. We will never be able to measure how much credit goes to 'either side', but there is certainly a part of both. In this sense, genetic diversity is both a natural and cultural heritage that has to be transmitted for the sake of survival. Calling genetic diversity a heritage is not only recognising the role plants play in the chain of life, but also opens up the question as to who is responsible for keeping that chain intact and extending it.

Human communities have always generated, refined and passed on knowledge from generation to generation. Such “traditional” knowledge” is often an important part of their cultural identities. Traditional knowledge has played, and still plays, a vital role in the daily lives of the vast majority of people. Traditional knowledge is essential to the food security and health of millions of people in the developing world. In many countries, traditional medicines provide the only affordable treatment available to poor people. In developing countries, up to 80% of the population depend on traditional medicines to help meet their healthcare needs (WHO Fact Sheet No. 271, June 2002).

People in Third World die of curable diseases as Western drug companies create ‘lifestyle drugs’

Medicinal plants and local herbs may be extinct

Medicinal plants and local herbs may be extinct as the number of students in yunani and ayurvedic colleges remain poor for lack of job opportunities. Practitioners of such medicines said the conservation of such plants and herbs would be difficult without building a group of experts on medicinal plants. "How can medicinal plants be identified without a group of experts," said Hekim Hafiz Azizul Islam, the principal of the Tibbia Habibia Yunani College at Bakshibazar in the capital. He said students are least interested in such alternative systems of medicine as job opportunities remains poor.

"The government created 30 positions of yunani and ayurvedic medical officers in district hospitals about three years ago," a health ministry official said. Two of the 18 yunani and ayurvedic colleges across the country are nationalised. One of the colleges offers bachelor-level course and the remaining colleges offer diploma courses, Hafiz said. All the colleges have a very insignificant number of students. All the 16 private colleges are struggling hard to keep up their existence as they do not often find students. Many of the students drop out as the colleges do not have adequate number of labs and no garden of medicinal plants, the health ministry official said. Students also drop out as the textbooks are mostly written in Urdu, Persian and Sanskrit, the college principal said (New Age October 18, 2004)

In addition, knowledge of the healing properties of plants has been the source of many modern medicines. The use and continuous development by local farmers of plant varieties and the sharing and diffusion of these varieties and the knowledge associated with them play an essential role in agricultural systems in developing countries.

Only recently, however, has the international community sought to recognise and protect traditional knowledge. In 1981, WIPO and UNESCO adopted a model law on folklore. In 1989 the concept of Farmers’ Rights was introduced by the FAO into its International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources and in 1992 the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) highlighted the need to promote and preserve traditional knowledge. In spite of these efforts which have spanned two decades, final and universally acceptable solutions for the protection and promotion of traditional knowledge have not yet emerged.

Whilst most traditional knowledge and folklore is passed on orally, some of it, such as textile designs and Ayurveda medicinal knowledge, is codified. The groups that hold traditional knowledge are very diverse: individuals, groups or groups of communities may all be custodians. Such communities might be indigenous to the land or descendents of later settlers. The nature of the knowledge is also diverse: it covers, for example, literary, artistic or scientific works, song, dance, medical treatments and practices and agricultural technologies and techniques.

1. Rain Forest Destruction: From the Himalayas to Bangladesh Coastal Plain
2. Bamboo the life blood of the people: Alarm to Ecosystem
3. Plantations (replacing native species) Are Not Forests
4. Ganges Barrage: Ecological Disaster
5. Harmful exotic tree planting still going on
6. The Brahmaputra's Changing River Ecology
7. First Coral Species Listed as Threatened
8. Onslaught on coastal reserve forests
9. Bees -disappearing by the billions
10. The forest boss who gobbled up trees: all old trees of the forests of the country have almost vanished
11. Lac farming becoming a means to fight monga
12. "Wherever the forest department is, there is no forest"
This is the story of how the Asian Development Bank and its evil twin the World Bank is financing projects of mass destruction in the name of development, destroying acre after acre of sal forest.
13. Insatiable greed wipes out a reserved forest Not a single tree seen in 21-year-old woodland; rampant logging allowed for bribe

Banana and Pineapple orchards Plantation Destroying the Existance of Adivasi

bannna plantatioon Twenty thousand Garo Adivasi people of Modhupur Gahr under Tangail District in Bangladesh are living there for more than 600 years. Their life and culture are very close to the nature, earth, and the forests.

The beauty of the area is now being destroyed by the Forest Department. The Forest Department with the help of the law enforcers is destroying their crops, paddy fields, houses, banana plantations and pineapple orchards in the name of biodiversity and environment preservation. The Forest Department has destroyed 330 acres of banana plantations. Indigenous People love forests and their culture is dependent on nature and forest but the so-called development now endangers their very existence (Nisharon Nokrek, August 29, 2007).

Shal, Shorea robusta forests shrink to 40,590 hectares from 1,20,000 9466 hectare forestlands grabbed illegall

ananas plantation Sal forests in Mymensingh and Tangail districts are disappearing fast because of plunder by thieves and deforestation for pineapple and banana cultivation. There were 1,20,000 hectares of Shal Shorea robusta forests in the central plains and north-eastern regions of the country, according to Abdul Latif Mia, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Mymensingh Forest Region. The forests have been reduced to 40,590 hectares now -- 15870 in Tangail and 7808 in Mymensingh--, according to a government survey done in 1999 and 2000. The DFO also said that 9466 hectares of forestlands have been grabbed illegally in Mymensingh Region.

banana plantation removing sal The government must also take some responsibility because of the foolish decision to hand over forest areas to Eucalyptus, Acasia and Menjiam plantations under a programme entitled “Thana Afforestation and Nursery Development Project” (TANDP). When the Forest Department started the programme, local people including the Garo tribesmen did express resentment at cleaning the Shal forests without taking into consideration the severe environmental consequences that would inevitably follow. In fact any invasive species is a threat to the environment because it can change the entire habitat by crowding out the native species (Editorial, The Bangladesh Observer, December 5, 2004).

The disappearance of forestlands is affecting the environment, bio-diversity and livelihood of tribesmen in Mymensingh, Tangail Jamalpur and Natrakona districts, environmentalists and different NGOs say. A government plan is also responsible for disappearance of Shal forests, sources said.

Although in 1982 the government declared the Bhawal forest a National Park, it did not prevent land grabbers from encroaching on this supposedly protected forest area. Yet the Convention on Biological Diversity imposes an obligation on the government to protect the use of our forests and it is more than time the government takes action against thieves. If, as we believe, the global development agenda set by wealthy countries is also partly responsible for the loss of trees through unwise development programmes, it is important to our welfare that we resist.

garo The government started plantation of Eucalyptus, Acasia and Menjiam plants in Madhupur Shal forest in Tangail under a programme titled Thana Afforestation and Nursery Development Project (TANDP), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1989. The project was completed in 1995. Later the project area was expended to all four forest ranges in Madhupur and one in Muktagacha forest area in Mymensingh district. Local people including Garo tribesmen had expressed their resentment when the Forest Department had started the programme by cleaning the Shal forests indiscriminately without taking into consideration the severe environmental consequences that would follow, said officials of the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), a local NGO that works on environment. Cleaning of the Shal forests have reduced soil fertility and damaged the environment, they said.

Indigenous people are the worst sufferers because the Shal forests used to provide them with food and shelter. "Shal forests provided us with food and shelter and other requirements for ages. But now the situation has changed totally, keeping us in great difficulties", said Rana Chisim, a student of Madhupur Degree Colleg (A. Islam, Daily star, November 30, 2004).

Forest without Forest Dwellers Development Program by Asian Development Bank (ADB, The World Bank)

About two-thirds of approximately 250,000 species of flowering plants in the world occur in the tropics. Trees are the major component in tropical forest ecosystem that represents varieties of economic, social and environmental values. Unfortunately, for high export earning, the tropical forest is regarded predominately as a source of timber and this tendency has caused the species-rich forest of the tropics to be converted into species-poor secondary forest.

Based on the Wilson and Peter's conservative estimate of a tropical deforestation rate of 0.7 per cent per annum, about 50 species are being lost per day. According to an estimate of FAO, at least 5-10 per cent of tropical forest species would face extinction in the next 30 years. Setting priorities for conservation therefore requires a better understanding of the process of deforestation, the amount and spatial heterogeneity of forest altered and their implications on species extinction.

Currently scientists realised that both conservation and current style of timber exploitation are not compatible in managing tropical forests in terms of maintenance of structure, species composition and diversity.

24.1 percent of the total tree species were locally lost from the study site in the first cut that encompasses only rare tree species including highly valued timber trees. Again, about 50 percent of the residual species were under very rare category in the logged-over forest. The increase in rarity was due to the fact that some species of common and frequent status were newly added in the rare category by reduction of individuals following logging. These rare species would be lost even forever from the area if they cannot survive as a result of destructive harvesting. Per plot species richness and Shannon diversity index fell by 42.2 percent and 20.9 percent, respectively after logging.

sal Sal Shorea robusta grows well in a well-drained, moist, sandy loam soil. It is a moderate to slow growing species and can attain a height upto 35 m and a girth of about 2 to 2.5 m in about 100 years under favorable conditions. The tree has always been associated with wisdom and immortality. Hindu scripture describes a celestial tree having its roots in heaven and its branches in the underworld that unites and connects beings of all kinds. This is a reversal of our usual experience of trees. However, consider the teaching of the Jewish mystical tradition, Kabbalah. Master Mosheh KHayyim Luzzatto, in the 18th-century classic The Way of God, explains that the higher realms are actually roots that manifest spiritual influence through branches and leaves that permeate the lower realms.Sal leaves and roots increases fertility of soil and protect forest biodiversity.

The sal tree is also an object of worship among Buddhists and Hindus in India and the adjoining countries. The legend has it that the famous Lumbini tract where Lord Buddha had sat for meditation and acquired salvation constituted a thick forest of sal trees. It is, therefore, no wonder that some believers treat sal tree as a god.

Sal is the source of an opaline white resin used as incense, as a caulking for boats, and a fuel for lamps. In times of famine, people have been known to grind its fruit for flour, and use its sap to mix with ghee.

Sal Shorea robusta

The sal wood is considered to be one of the three naturally lasting timbers of the Asian subcontinent,

Synonyms: Sal Tree, Sal, salwa, sakhu, sakher, shal, kandar, sakwa.

Family: Dipterocarpaceae.

Range: Burma in the East, Assam, Bengal, Nepal, Yamuna, Haryana, Shivaliks

Chemical composition: Water = 10.8%. Protein = 8%. Carbohydrate = 62.7%. Oil = 14.8%. Fibre = 1.4%. Ash = 2.3%.

Medicinal Uses: Aromatic oleo-resin gum exuded from stem used to cure cancer, tumour, tubercles, carbuncle, skin infections, syphilis and gonorrhoea; also used as aphrodisiac and stimulant. The resin of shorea robusta is regarded as astringent and detergent and is used in dysentery, and for fumigations, plasters etc.

Other Uses: It is commercial timber species of India. Sal tree also exudes an oleoresin, or ral that is valued as incense in religious ceremonies. It is also used in paint and Varnishes. The presence of resin in the heartwood is responsible for higher calorific value. The Sal seed contains 12-19 percent fat. The fat is used for soap manufacture. After removal of certain ingredients, it is also used as substitute for borea fallow and cocoa butter in the manufacture of chocolates and confectionery. Excellent varnishes can be made from the solution in alcohol. This resin in combination with nitro-cellulose enabled the formulation of rapid-drying lacquers. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 210A).

This project intends to support traditional plants that are threatened by extinction.

While travelling arsenic affected areas in Bangladesh, it was a great surprise, to hear that many arsenic affected women after trying many modern medicine switched to the juice of raw Haldi (turmeric) and experienced astonishingly good results. Use of turmeric is widely known in ancient Ayurveda. There were thousands of useful plants, but current statistics show devastation of vast areas of remaining underdeveloped surface of our world and, with that destruction, the inevitable extinction of thousands of species of plants. In Bengali many of these plants have beautiful poetic names indicating passion for generation to generation. In Bengali traditional plant doctors are called "Kabi Raj", king of the poets!

The Ayurvedic system has described a large number of such medicines based on plants or plant product and the determination of their morphological and pharmacological or pharmacognostical characters can provide a better understanding of their active principles and mode of action.

The basic philosophy of Ayurveda considers that man is an inseparable part of the universe. The human body, mind and spirit continuum is an integral whole and the individual is also linked to the family, society, environment and ultimately the universe. The definition of health is that “ It is state of complete psychosomatic equilibrium. It does not mean only absence of diseases but a state in which the mind, senses and spirit are pleasant and active”.

Ayurveda is defined as a medical system comprising the wholeness of life’s harmony and balance, addressing the dimensions of an individual’s physical, emotional, and spiritual balance. Ayurvedic holistic character is, in fact, the one characteristic that allows for analysis of this system as a phenomenon involving from the outset the social, cultural and political forces that influence illness. For example, some of the elements that must be part of any diagnosis are considerations of the familial, social, geographical, and cultural place of the patient, in some cases even complementing a physical examination with a ‘land examination’. As Kakar (1982) notes, “the person in Ayurveda, then, is conceived of as simultaneously living in and partaking of different orders of being – physical, psychological, social, and one must add, metaphysical” ( Kakar, S (1982): Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions, Oxford University Press, Delhi.)

According to Samkhya, the philosophical foundation of Ayurveda, creation expresses itself through the five elements: ether or space, air, fire, water, and earth. These elements manifest in the body as the three governing principles or humors called doshas: vata, pitta and kapha. Everyone has all three of these doshas to varying degrees, although one and sometimes two tend to be predominant and the other(s) secondary. In balance, the doshas promote the normal functions of the body and maintain overall health. Out of balance, they create mental, emotional and physical ailments. Vata is the subtle energy associated with movement and is made up of the air and ether. By nature it has dry, light, mobile and cold qualities. When aggravated, it can cause flatulence, constipation, tremors, spasms, asthma, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, as well many neurological problems.

Pitta represents the fire and water elements of the body. It has mainly hot, sharp, and oily qualities. Pitta disorders include hyperacidity, ulcers, skin eruptions, chronic fatigue, Crohn's disease, colitis, gout and numerous inflammatory disorders.

Kapha is made up of earth and water, and is associated with heavy, cold, damp, and static qualities. Out of balance, kapha can cause obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, edema, asthma, tumors, and a variety of congestive problems.

Aggravation of the doshas can affect the digestion and can create toxins, or ama, to form from poorly digested food. As ama accumulates in the tissues and channels of the body, it slowly but surely affects the flow of prana (vital energy), immunity (ojas) and the cellular metabolism (tejas), eventually resulting in disease.

Ayurvedic Health-Illness Dichotomy

The health-illness dichotomy in Ayurveda refers to two interrelated aspects of a phenomenon: the maintenance of the balance and harmony between environment, body, mind, and soul. Health is always defined as the permanent contest for preserving such a state of balance and wholeness and, ultimately, is its reflection in a high state of consciousness. Illness, on the contrary, beheld primarily as the loss of such balance and harmony, may be caused not only by identifiable diseases in the physical sense of its meaning, but also by mental, emotional or environmental factors. But if these are the general and abstract definitions of the health-illness constructs within Ayurveda, the ‘what and how’ of these two concepts within this system can be observed in specific issues such as: explanations of the causes of illness, the account of the different stages in which illness is formed, some characteristics of the Ayurvedic physiology and the conceptualisation of the body and, finally, the denotation of prevention as an important mediating concept in Ayurveda.

Like biomedicine, Ayurveda considers viruses and bacteria as causes of illness. But there are intrinsic differences. First, Ayurveda does not see these agents as the only cause of illness. The body and the environment are vast sources of micro-organisms, and it seems simple to say those are the only ones that cause illness. For Ayurveda, all those dimensions that produce health and life, such as soul, mind, senses, and body, could be sources of illness. In Joshi’s terms, there are three specific causes of illness: mistakes of the intellect (‘pragya aparadha’), misuse of the senses (‘asatymya indriyartha-samyog’), and the effect of seasons (‘pariman’). Pathogens, then, are only a secondary cause of illness.

Second, in contrast to biomedicine’s two stages of diagnosis and classification, Ayurvedic discourse explains the manifestation and identification of illness in six stages, called ‘shat kriya kal’. Through these six stages it is possible to observe two fully interrelated forces at work: toxicity (‘ama’) and mobility (‘dosha gati’). The first stage is ‘sanchaya’, which is a period of accumulation characterised by the presence of small imbalances. If these imbalances are ignored or suppressed, illness is invited to progress. The second stage is ‘prakopa’, which signifies ‘aggravation’ or ‘provocation.’ In this stage, if the initial symptoms are not corrected, they will continue growing. The third stage is ‘prasara’, meaning ‘to leave and spread.’ Overflowing of substances and materials are clues for the manifestation of symptoms.

The fourth stage is ‘sthana samshraya’, or ‘taking shelter in a place.’ Functional and structural damages are typical of this stage. The fifth stage is ‘vyakta’, which literally means ‘that which can be seen.’ This is a stage of clear differentiation in symptoms. In biomedical terms this would be equivalent to diagnosis and classification. The sixth and last stage is ‘bheda’, or ‘differentiation.’ Damage and complications are the main characteristics of this stage and, in the worst cases, it leads to death.

n sharp contrast to biomedicine, Ayurveda distinguishes between curable and incurable diseases. As Kakar (1982) notes, “openly listing a number of diseases that are incurable, the ‘vaids’ [Ayurvedic doctors] do not make the indefensible claim that they can cure all disease” (p 226).

A third contrast between the Ayurvedic body and the anatomical body of western biomedicine is that the Ayurvedic body is a compound of channels with substances flowing through them. In fact, if life is seen as a ‘flux’, it ‘fluxes’ through the channels of the body. This is, furthermore, the basic idea of Ayurvedic physiology: to keep all processes flowing through the body’s channels. When a channel gets blocked, illness is produced. Illness in one of its conceptualisations, appears as an abnormal process in which the ‘flux’ is interrupted in a channel. Of course, if a substance stops flowing through its own channel, this creates problems in another channel, contributing to illness.

The fourth and final aspect that allows for observing the relationship between health-illness in Ayurveda comes through the notion of prevention. This is a basic concept for this medical system since it underlines the maintenance of health rather than the treatment of disease. As a naturalistic system that emphasises the rightness of material life processes, Ayurvedic theory insists on the concept that the body evolves through changes and, for this reason, has to be purified and its essences liberated. Indeed, purification and liberation are only possible in a body with open channels through which ‘the flux’ keeps flowing.

Preventing illness is, therefore, an issue of maintaining the open channels through control of one of the basic material processes of life: eating. It is often stated in Ayurveda that ‘who we are is influenced by what we eat.’ Thus, food is the key to health and medication is secondary. In Ayurveda, as contrasted with biomedicine, people are not considered passive victims of pathogenic forces but active agents of their quality of life through the choices and interpretations that they make of their bodies and souls. Reducing the consumption of toxins and increasing the use of nourishing substances is, for example, a very simple practice prescribed by Ayurveda doctors for well-being, prevention, and maintenance of health.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, one of the main keys to maintaining optimal health as well as to support the healing process is to help the body eliminate toxins and to reestablish constitutional balance.

That agrees with the definition of WHO “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

What in the western dichotomy of body-mind is seen as a separation of two aspects that influence each other, in Ayurveda it is seen as a holistic identity that has certain consequences. While biomedicine focuses on the body and illness, it is clear that Ayurveda focuses on the emotional and the person. These body-mind and health-illness dichotomies are vital to understand how a medical system is culturally, historically and politically constructed over time.

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Garden can give you relief

Simple remedies:

neem- the wonder plant For blocked noses, gravel throats and deep coughs: If your nose is all blocked up and you have an excruciating headache, it's because you are unable to breathe properly.
Snort a little mustard oil up your nasal passages and while it may sting a little, within minutes you'll be running to blow your nose. Within minutes your nasal passages will be cleared and you'll be able to breathe properly again.

If your throat feels raw and scratchy or you have difficulties swallowing, honey lemon-tea will do the trick.
Add two teaspoons of honey to a cup of raw tea (without sugar) and squeeze in to slivers of lemon. This potion has a two-way effect. The lemon adds flavour and helps to dissolve the honey in the tea that helps to get rid of the scratchy feeling. The raw tea provides the heat necessary to get rid of the swelling. If the problem persists before bedtime, add two teaspoons of honey to warm milk and it will do the same trick while helping you to sleep better.

If you have a deep-set cough that just refuses to come out, stop coughing, it will only make matters worse.
Put a kettle of water on the stove. Add cinnamon, cardamom and some ginger into it. Roll up an old magazine and inhale the steam that comes out of the spout through your nose and mouth. The heat will travel down and loosen the cough set in your chest. Pretty soon you'll be coughing out big chunks of you know what. In the meanwhile, if your nose is blocked, it will also help to clear it.

If you have allergies that are causing you to itch all over,
add neem leaves to your bathing water and you'll find relief. Rubbing a paste of the leaves all over before a shower and then showering helps as well. If the leaves aren't available, you'll find neem oil in the store. Substitute that for the paste to the same effect.

Leaves of Jarul (Arjuna) :anti-diabetes herbal tea.

Lagerstroemia speciosa Lythraceae Jarul

Quick growing; medium size tree, well-known ornamental tree, grown as a avenue tree. Oblong; Shades all leaves in Feb- March, totally looks leafless and dull; Fruit - Woody capsule remain through out the year.

The Pride of India is variously referred to as Queen’s Flower , Lagerstroemia speciosa in Latin, Jarul in Hindi and Holematti in Kannada. The tree is named after Magnus Lagerstroem, a Swedish merchant who funneled specimens from the East to Linnaeus in Europe. This tree is found across the Indian subcontinent in the Western Ghats, Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

The Jarul is a slow growing tree reaching a height of around 50 feet. Prior to dropping off in the dry season, the leaves turn yellowish red. The flowers bloom along with the appearance of the new leaf. The bright pink, pinkish mauve and purplish flowers appear in prominent clusters in large terminal panicles . The flowers have 6 or 7 petals crinkled and wavy and make a very attractive display when massed together. The flower panicles thrust out from the tree radially beyond the foliage towards the sky.

Queen's flower is a deciduous tropical flowering tree growing up to 50 feet tall; it has smooth rounded leaves. The red-orange leaves have higher levels of corosolic acid. The beautiful flowers are racemes and are pink, purple or purplish - pink. The fruit is oval, about one inch long and splits in six pieces when mature. The seeds are small and have winged flaps. The reddish brown wood of Pride of India is used for home building, furniture, boots, etc.

The fruits are found in great profusion and persist for a long time. Thus, one sees the blackened fruits of the preceding season together with green fruits of the current season. The fruits are globular and contain pale brown winged seeds. The tree is of considerable use medicinally. The decoction from the boiled leaves is very effective medicine for diabetes. In the Andamans the fruit is used to cure mouth ulcers. The roots are prescribed as an astringent, the seeds are narcotic, the bark and leaves roots and flowers used variously in Indian medicine.

The leaves of Lagerstroemia speciosa (Lythraceae), a Southeast Asian tree more commonly known as banaba, have been traditionally consumed in various forms by Philippinos for treatment of diabetes and kidney related diseases. In the 1990s, the popularity of this herbal medicine began to attract the attention of scientists worldwide. Since then, researchers have conducted numerous in vitro and in vivo studies that consistently confirmed the antidiabetic activity of banaba. Scientists have identified different components of banaba to be responsible for its activity. Using tumor cells as a cell model, corosolic acid was isolated from the methanol extract of banaba and shown to be an active compound. More recently, a different cell model and the focus on the water soluble fraction of the extract led to the discovery of other compounds. The ellagitannin Lagerstroemin was identified as an effective component of the banaba extract responsible for the activity.

There has been much research done on Banaba leaves and their ability to reduce blood sugar, and its "insulin-like principle." In the Philippines, Banaba is a popular medicine plant and is used in treatment of diabetes mellitus. It is high in corosolic acid which is used in many treatments for diabetes. It is a natural plant insulin, can be taken orally, and has no side effects, according to Japanese research.

The antidiabetic activity of an extract from the leaves of Lagerstroemia speciosa standardized to 1% corosolic acid (Glucosol) has been demonstrated in a randomized clinical trial involving Type II diabetics (non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM). Subjects received a daily oral dose of Glucosol and blood glucose levels were measured. Glucosol at daily dosages of 32 and 48mg for 2 weeks showed a significant reduction in the blood glucose levels. Glucosol in a soft gel capsule formulation showed a 30% decrease in blood glucose levels compared to a 20% drop seen with dry-powder filled hard gelatin capsule formulation (P less than 0.001), suggesting that the soft gel formulation has a better bioavailability than a dry-powder formulation.
Numerous studies have been done on this remarkable herb, much of it in Japan, with researchers such as Dr. Yamazaki, professor of Pharmaceutical Science, Hiroshima University School of Medicine. One study mixed banaba dried leaf powder with chicken feeds, and then analyzed the yolk of the chicken egg. When the banaba enriched egg yolk was fed to diabetic mice, their blood sugar level was normalized. In another study, the alcohol extract of banaba leaves was sprayed into the air of a room at night while the patient was sleeping via a mist generating device. It was found that as the person slept, their lungs received trace amounts of corosolic acid which helped regulate blood sugar levels.

Tea of the leaves is used against diabetes mellitus and for weight loss. Banaba leaves are able to lower blood sugar due to, among other phytochemicals -, Corosolic acid (triterpenoid glycoside). Although this is not the only active phyto-chemical.

Banaba also contains concentrations of dietary fiber and minerals such as magnesium and zinc.. Banaba helps the body handling glucose and is as such also effective in weight loss. The hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering) effect is similar to that of insulin (which induces glucose transport from the blood into body cells). The tea is therapeutic against ailments such as diabetes, kidney- and urinary problems. The taste is pleasant and smooth; in Japan it is known as "slimming tea."

Five scientists of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in Chittagong made an anti-diabetes herbal tea. They used leaves of jarul (Lagrestroemia flos-reginae Retz. (syn. L. speciosa Pers.) for the tea. Fame Pharmaceuticals bought the technology to produce the anti-diabetes tea, capable of producing insulin in the body and controlling the diabetes. The brand name of the tea is Diabino.‘This tea will help the diabetic patients in controlling their diabetes’, said BCSIR chairman Chowdhury Mahmud Hasan (The Independent, March 7, 2008).

The hot water and ethanol extracts of Andrographis paniculata (local name Kalomegh) collected from Chittagong exhibited a significant hypoglycemic (blood glucose lowering) activity in both glucose-loaded and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Oral administration of glucose (1.5 g/kg body weight) increased the blood sugar level while the intraperitonial (ip) administration of alloxan (40 mg/kg body weight) enhanced the blood sugar level much higher than that of the glucose-loaded rats. The hot water (0.8 g/kg b.w.) and ethanol extracts (2 g/kg b.w.) of A. paniculata reduced the elevated glucose level by 41.51 and 41.82%, respectively in glucose-loaded rats as compared to the respective diabetic control rats. On the other hand, administration of hot water and ethanol extracts of A. paniculata decreased the blood sugar level by 46.21 and 45.13%, respectively in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, when compared with that of diabetic control rats (Hossain, et. al, Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 6(1): 15-20, 2007 (June).

1. 1. Globalisation

The story of globalisation of ayurveda is also not the story of opening up of a new world of unlimited opportunities as a result of the rise of the herbal products industry worldwide. A certain kind of opportunities has certainly opened up, but by closing down some other possible openings and by changing the very nature of what was and has come to be recognised as ayurvedic medicine. The change is certainly not for the better. Indeed, there is a case for regarding these changes as downgrading of ayurvedic medicine and reducing it to a more rudimentary form of herbal medicine.

With enormous pressures being exerted by the dominant establishment including the pharmaceuticals industry, alternative medical systems have been confined to marketing alternative products. The real challenge for ayurveda in the global economy lies in defining the parameters and terms of those parts of its knowledge system that are considered adaptable to the market. However, in the scramble to protect markets and knowledge regimes, it is not yet understood that there is a deeper colonisation being played out in the edging out of alternative world-views inherent in these medical systems (M. Banerjee, EPW, January 3, 2004).

The so-called G21 grouping, in Cancun, which represents more than half the world's population and some two-thirds of its farmers, is united by a common commitment to getting the West to unwind subsidies running at nearly $1 billion a day.

"These are the pressures and blackmail we were going through. They are talking about trade liberalisation and that is their mantra. But then in the areas where they do not have an advantage, like agriculture, they practise protectionism. They have double standards, and the people in those countries need to question their government." (Comment from Uganda, Cancun, 2003). The USA and the rich European countries are trying to create a scenario about which we have read in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. As this is being written the third draft agreement has also faced opposition from the developing countries. "Developing countries have rejected the EU's anti-development agenda. EU member states such as Britain must now start listening to the emerging opposition of developing countries and address their concerns" (NGOs, Reuters, 2003).

Bangladesh's focus on quota- and duty-free access of LDCs' products to the markets in the developed world appeared to centre around non-agricultural products. Then the issue of movement of semi-skilled workers, which Bangladesh raised so ardently as the coordinator of the LDCs, failed to evoke the desired response (Daily Star, Sept., 2003)

A United Nations report said Friday (30.06.06) that globalisation has failed to close glaring inequalities between rich and poor nations and called for developing countries to be given more space to build up their national economies. The UN's ‘2006 World Economic and Social Survey’ said that inequalities at the global level had grown sharply in recent decades, once fast growing China and India – which between them account for one-third of the world's population – were left out of the equation.

It argued that poorer countries need to be given more opportunity to diversify their commodity-based economies to make them less vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices and shocks in international financial markets.

Developing countries should be allowed to implement support measures for nascent export industries, and be granted more special and differential treatment under World Trade Organisation agreements, the report said. Support measures for exports are normally frowned upon in the WTO (Agence France-Presse . Geneva , 2. 07. 06).

Some Western envoys had expressed skepticism that the G21 would survive long because countries such as Brazil and Argentina, efficient farm goods exporters, appeared to have little in common with India, a protectionist nation of 650 million poor farmers.

Professor Stiglitz, the prime voice against globalisation, has noted in his lectures in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the region that "No agreement is better than a bad agreement." It will be incumbent on the Bangladesh delegation and that of the like-minded LDCs to appreciate and act according to Professor's Stiglitz's views on globalisation.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw a globalisation in economic markets, although not as pervasive and widespread as is the case at the present time. Some claim that globalisation has originated from the dynamics of the phenomenal technological advances, while others, particularly anti-globalisation lobbies, contend that big multinational and transnational companies are the responsible parties for both initiating and carrying the process forward.

The origins of globalisation lie in the political decision by the developed countries, led by the USA with active support from the UK. The purpose, it is suggested, was to develop such an international financial architecture and a trade regime as would mobilise savings from around the world to serve the economic interests of the developed countries, particularly the USA .

Thus, those countries insist that the developing countries open up their markets; but they themselves do not walk the promises made and even the agreements granting preferential market access to imports, particularly to non-agricultural imports, from the developing countries.

The level of agricultural subsidy in the USA and the rich EU countries runs at such a high level as US$1 billion a day. On the other hand, they insist that the developing countries do not provide subsidies to agriculture or to any other economic activity.

Moreover, international free movement of labour is not allowed, thereby making the on-going globalisation a partial process, denying the developing countries the one opportunity from which they certainly stand to gain.

The Millennium Developing Goals (MDGs), formulated by the United Nations, focus on issues of deep concern in the developing world. These issues include poverty reduction, promotion of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal health, ensuring environmental sustainability, increasing access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation.

In fact, according to UNDP Human Development Report 2003, 54 countries are now poorer than in 1990. Also, during the same time span, the proportion of people going hungry has increased in 21 countries, and life expectancy at birth has fallen in 34.

The free-market globalisation that is being pushed forward by the international dominant powers through such institutions as the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO and, also, using bilateral mechanisms, virtually discarding the concept of sustainable development for all practical purposes. The issue of environmental sustainability receives a lot of rhetorical attention, but not much in practical terms. Apathy on the part of the rich countries and lack of human and financial capability as well as of far-sight on the part of most of the developing countries are allowing the process of environmental un-sustainability to continue to accentuate.

The USA, the largest contributor to the global emission of greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming, has withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol on control of emission of greenhouse gasses, thereby jeopardising the prospect of the Protocol to come into effect.

Biodiversity, Trade and Development Linkages: Favoured Developed Northern Countries

The interlinkages between trade,i n v e stment, en v i r o nment ,biodiversity, poverty, rural livelihoods and development are multiple and complex, but very crucial in the unequal but globalized world. The world has seen fundamental and many pervasive changes in the last 50 years. The trends toward globalization has been driven in part by the new technologies and in part by reduced barriers to international trade or trade liberalization and investment flows. The result has been a steady increase in the importance of trade and investment in the global economy while the economy quintupled and the world trade grew by a factor of 14 (IIED and DFID, 2002 and UNCTAD, 1999).

On the other hand, it increased global inequality; the benefits of growth have been very unevenly spread and skewed in favour of the developed northern countries. In many cases trade and investment destructed ecology, biodiversity and livelihood of millions of poor particularly in the least developed and developing southern countries (IISD and UNEP, 2000).

Trade liberalization can also increase exploitation of natural resources and exacerbate the associated negative impactson biodiversity. Despite this, a growing number of developing countries look to trade and investment as a central part of their strategies for development and trade considerations are increasingly shaping their economic and development policy.

Biodiversity also has recreational, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic values. Maintaining biodiversity and access to it, while obviously a planetary public good, is crucial for the poor.

The World Health Organization has estimated that 80% of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine derived from local plant varieties for their primary health needs.

Wild plants, in field and forest, make a significant contribution to the diet of many poor communities. In many developing countries, poor communities are able to draw at least half of their food from forest products, and consequently have never faced famine.

The emerging global market forces, technological innovation and commercial interest encourage mono-cropping. High technical input and huge investment backed by commercial interest and chief gains in agriculture and other farm level production have destroyed local knowledge and local resources management practices. This process seriously affected the natural resources bases and degraded bioresources. This also dislocated millions of marginal and poor people from their traditional occupation and thus affected their livelihood resulting landlessness, poverty, impoverishment in the development countries. Rapid expansion of shrimp farming and huge investment in shrimp sector by the non- resident rich and power elites in the coastal region of Bangladesh has been one of the classical examples of such unsustainable trade and investment.

1. Destruction of sustainable ecosystem for the finest kitchen of the Industrial Countries
2. Poor farmers losing lands to shrimp farm owners
3. Green fuel vs hungry people

The process not only dis-benefited poor in terms of their loss of livelihood and reduced access to natural resources and productive assets, but also eroded their capacity and skills in relation to gaining sustainable livelihood, resources management and conservation of biodiversity. Plantation of exotic tree species in the Madhupur forest in Bangladesh dislocating indigenous people could be an example of such bad investment, where few corrupt people and local power elites played a key role in an ADB supported forestry programme.

1. Plantations (replacing native species) Are Not Forests
2. Forest without Forest Dwellers: Development Program by Asian Development Bank (ADB, The World Bank)

Most of the multinationals and global financial institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, ADB have very often supported the commercial production and high technologies. As a result, a small section of people, mainly big merchants, local agents, few government officials, who control the production, processing and exporting of goods and services have been greatly benefited. On the other hand, the common people and the poor are gradually being marginalized and dis-benefited in the unequal and north dominated trade and investment regime. The process not only dis-benefited poor in terms of their loss of livelihood and reduced access to natural resources and productive assets, but also eroded their capacity and skills in relation to gaining sustainable livelihood, resources management and conservation of biodiversity.

The current WTO rules are too deeply influenced by the powerful trading nations, multinationals and liberalization has dis-benefited the developing countries.Many developing countries have criticized Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), because it willfavour the developed countries and transnational corporations. TRIPS does not provide any guarantee or safeguard to ensure that the poor share in billions of dollars that may be made from the South’s biological resources or the application of traditional knowledge; and most importantly, TRIPS reduces farmer’s access and control over agricultural resources including seeds which are essential for their food (BCAS, 2004)

The UNCED Agenda 21 suggested to making trade and environment mutually supportive for achieving sustainable development for the global community. The Agenda 21 stresses on poverty eradication, environmental protection and conservation of natural resources and bio-resources.t he great disappointment was the absence of new benchmark, target or timelines in the areas addressed in the action plan (BRIDGES, September 2002).

The judicial system - serves the interests of the ruling classes

There are many people who believe that the institutionalisation of justice in the form of the judicial system that accompanied the emergence of bourgeois democracy only serves the interests of the ruling classes in this country. For them it is only natur al that the courts will not and cannot give justice to the poor. But for those of us who do believe that the courts - like any other institution in this troubled democracy - are contested arenas for conflicting interests, the only means of ensuring that the courts continue to function as institutions that affirm democracy, is by subjecting them to intense and persistent public scrutiny.

It is now a matter of widespread concern that the judicial system of this country (India) and its judgments are becoming increasingly anti-people: the Bhopal judgment as well as the one on the Narmada are both landmarks of justice denied. The recent judgment on the relocation of small industries and the fate of 25 lakh workers in Delhi becomes incomprehensible when you consider the government data that 67 per cent of all pollution in Delhi comes from vehicles. Yet there is no judgment on the sale, purchase or use of private cars, no real attempt to provide a better public transport system. The rich cannot be touched, but the industries and the workers must go. Does it not need to be asked then, what kind of justice is this, that is so divorced from its real ob jectives and what ends does it seek to meet?

The judgment on the Sardar Sarovar Project has to be scrutinised not only because of what it will mean for the millions of people in the Narmada valley who are being uprooted even while it has been made abundantly clear that there is simply no agricultural land available to rehabilitate them. It has to be scrutinised also because it draws larger conclusions about big dams in general (based not on empirical evidence, but on judicial conjecture) and about popular movements and people's access to the system of justice in particular

The majority judgment suggests that people cannot appeal to the courts of law once a project is under way. Since communities are never informed about a project until it begins to be executed, and since this judgment dec rees that they cannot appeal once it begins to be executed, does it mean that affected people can never question a patently bad project? This can only mean that the judicial system - one of the foundations of a democratic system - is unavailable to the common people of this country and their struggles (Front Line, Volume 17 - Issue 26, Dec. 23, 2000 - Jan. 05, 2001).

Living in a country where Neel Darpan, a celebrated play about the plight of the indigo planters during colonial times, inspired peasant struggles and a resistant subaltern consciousness; where the independence struggle (and many people's movements before and after) were marked by the participation of writers and artists.

Understand that the environmental battles of today and tomorrow are not just battles between the Indian elite and the peasantry or workin g class. The battle is between the large mass of common people in this country and global corporatisation. The fight over the control and the use of our lands and rivers is going to be as much in the forests of Madhya Pradesh (where tribal people oppose the World Bank Forestry Project), as on the streets of Andhra Pradesh (where farmers, energy workers and domestic consumers fight the wrecking of the power sector on IMF-World Bank prescriptions), as in the Narmada valley. You will have to decide which side you are on (C. Palit, 2001).

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Economic globalization has outpaced the globalization of politics and mindsets – it's time for change by Joseph Stiglitz

I have written repeatedly about the problems of globalisation: an unfair global trade regime that impedes development; an unstable global financial system that results in recurrent crises, with poor countries repeatedly finding themselves burdened with unsustainable debt; and a global intellectual property regime that denies access to affordable life-saving drugs, even as AIDS ravages the developing world. I have also written about globalisation's anomalies: money should flow from rich to poor countries, but in recent years it has been going in the opposite direction. While the rich are better able to bear the risks of currency and interest-rate fluctuations, it is the poor who bear the brunt of this volatility.

Indeed, I have complained so loudly and vociferously about the problems of globalisation that many have wrongly concluded that I belong to the anti-globalisation movement. But I believe that globalisation has enormous potential - as long as it is properly managed.

Some 70 years ago, during the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes formulated his theory of unemployment, which described how government action could help restore full employment. While conservatives vilified him, Keynes actually did more to save the capitalist system than all the pro-market financiers put together. Had the conservatives been followed, the Great Depression would have been even worse and the demand for an alternative to capitalism would have grown stronger. By the same token, unless we recognise and address the problems of globalisation, it will be difficult to sustain. Globalisation is not inevitable: there have been setbacks before, and there can be setbacks again.

Globalisation's advocates are right that it has the potential to raise everyone's living standards. But it has not done that. The questions posed by young French workers, who wonder how globalisation will make them better off if it means accepting lower wages and weaker job protection, can no longer be ignored. Nor can such questions be answered with the wistful hope that everyone will someday benefit. As Keynes pointed out, in the long run, we are all dead. Growing inequality in the advanced industrial countries was a long-predicted but seldom advertised consequence of globalisation. Full economic integration implies the equalisation of unskilled wages everywhere in the world, and, though we are nowhere near attaining this "goal," the downward pressure on those at the bottom is evident. To the extent that changes in technology have contributed to the near stagnation of real wages for low-skilled workers in the United States and elsewhere for the past three decades, there is little that citizens can do. But they can do something about globalisation.

Economic theory does not say that everyone will win from globalisation, but only that the net gains will be positive, and that the winners can therefore compensate the losers and still come out ahead. But conservatives have argued that in order to remain competitive in a global world, taxes must be cut and the welfare state reduced. This has been done in the US, where taxes have become less progressive, with tax cuts given to the winners - those who benefit from both globalisation and technological changes. As a result, the US and others following its example are becoming rich countries with poor people.

But the Scandinavian countries have shown that there is another way. Of course, government, like the private sector, must strive for efficiency. But investments in education and research, together with a strong social safety net, can lead to a more productive and competitive economy, with more security and higher living standards for all. A strong safety net and an economy close to full employment provides a conducive environment for all stakeholders - workers, investors, and entrepreneurs - to engage in the risk-taking that new investments and firms require. The problem is that economic globalisation has outpaced the globalisation of politics and mindsets. We have become more interdependent, increasing the need to act together, but we do not have the institutional frameworks for doing this effectively and democratically.

Never has the need for international organisations like the IMF, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization been greater, and seldom has confidence in these institutions been lower. The world's lone superpower, the US, has demonstrated its disdain for supranational institutions and worked assiduously to undermine them. The looming failure of the Development Round of trade talks and the long delay in the United Nations Security Council's demand for a ceasefire in Lebanon are but the latest examples of America's contempt for multilateral initiatives.

Enhancing our understanding of globalisation's problems will help us to formulate remedies - some small, some large - aimed at both providing symptomatic relief and addressing the underlying causes. There is a broad array of policies that can benefit people in both developing and developed countries, thereby providing globalisation with the popular legitimacy that it currently lacks.

In other words, globalisation can be changed; indeed, it is clear that it will be changed. The question is whether change will be forced upon us by a crisis or result from careful, democratic deliberation and debate. Crisis-driven change risks producing a backlash against globalisation, or a haphazard reshaping of it, thus merely setting the stage for more problems later on. By contrast, taking control of the process holds out the possibility of remaking globalisation, so that it at last lives up to its potential and its promise: higher living standards for everyone in the world.

(Joseph Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics),September 2006).

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1. 2. Tree Worship

The European merchent's map from 1700 Tree worship was a part of the religious faith in the prehistoric Indus civilization. The Vedas have praised trees as the sources of herbal medicine needed to fight diseases and for providing wood, as well as food in the pre-agricultural period.

Ban (Forest) god In the Buddhist religion, tree worship had a special place as is evident from the discoveries in places like Sanchi, Barhut, Amaravati, Budhgaya where the mounds or stupas have revealed rich decorative relief work detailing scenes of tree-worship and images of "Brikha" or tree-god.

Trees being nature's major processors of solar energy which is vital for our existence, and yielding flowers, fruit, wood or medicine, have been worshipped by the ancient people of Indian Sub-Continent as a matter of gratitude. Manu believed that they were conscious like humans and felt pleasure and pain. Indian sages and seers eulogized asvattha or peepal (Ficus religiosa), gular (Ficus glomerata), neem (Azadirachta indica), bel (Aegle marmelos), bargad or banyan (Ficus bengalensis), asoka (Sereca indica), amala (Phyllanthus emblica), arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) and many other trees which acquired social and religious sanctity with the passage of time.

It is considered that primitive races of Bengal were tree-worshippers.. A number of trees have become objects of worship. In the popular belief, trees are seen to be favoured by different gods and goddesses who often lived in them.

It was this belief that Marmelos tree to Shiva, Tulsi (Basil) to Bishunu, Shal to Durga and Shij to Manesa. In Bikrampur in the District of Dhaka, Hindu women have been worshipping a particular Neem tree by daubing it with vermillion and oil as they think the godess Kali lives in this tree.

bono bibi (the lady of forest)

Bono bibi or Lady of the Forests - is the presiding female detity of the Sunderbans (Mangrove Forest) cultural zone. She is the gurdian deity of the forest. Both the Hindu and Muslim communities pay their respects before venturing into the forest. Also known as Basuli, Bibima, Bon Durga or Bon Kali, she is potrayed by clay molders either mounted on a tiger or a hen. She is pretty and graceful, ever eager to protect the people of the Snderbans.

Our ancestors worshipped the elements: the sun, earth, water, wind, thunder and lightning. The ritual abides; the spirit is gone. We still regard the peepal sacred because the Buddha gained enlightenment meditating under its branches — hence the Latin name ficus religiosa. Its cousin banyan or barh is still worshipped in villages across the country. So is the tulsi (Basil) grown and worshipped in millions of Hindu homes. We worship trees but we do not look after them. We cut down forests every day to cremate our dead. We use wood as fuel to cook and keep ourselves warm. We deprive birds and animals of food and shelter. We must reverse the process, learn to love and cherish our trees.

Berholt Brecht captures man’s yearning to establish a close relationship with a tree:

Morning Address to a Tree Named Green
Green, I owe you an apology
I couldn’t sleep last night because of the noise of the storm.
When looked out I noticed you swang
Like drunken ape. I remarked on it.

Today the yellow sun is shining in your bare branches
You are shaking off a few tears still, Green.
But now you know your own worth.
You have fought your bitterest fight of your life.
Vultures were taking an interest in you.

And now I know:it’s only by your inexorable
Flexibility that you are still upright this morning.
In view of your success it’s my opinion today:
It was no mean feat to grow up so tall
In between the tenements, so tall, Green, that
The storm can get at you as it did last night.

Worship of Tree 'Karam Puja'

With a view to starting the festival the 'Thakur' (priest) along with some of the members of their community went to Jonepur, some two kilometres away from Natshal, to cut a branch of Karam or Kadamba tree. There they lighted an earthen lamp (Pradip) and offered worship at the foot of the tree. Then one of them climbed the tree and cut a branch of it. They returned to Natshal, one of the venues of the festival with that branch of the Karam tree and planted it.

The aborigine men and women passed the whole night by singing and dancing surrounding the branch of the 'Karam' with 'Madal' and 'Karatal'. In the morning, they sank the branch in a nearby pond. This was the main ritual the aborigines had long been performing. But there is a story that they believe to be the cause of introduction of Karam Puja.

The aborigines, who live mainly on agriculture, believe that to get proper benefit from agriculture they must worship the branch of Karma (Kadamba) in the name of the 'Karma God'.

The story that they believe is like this : Karma and Dharam were two brothers. Karma worked hard but Dharma did not work. He only worshipped a branch of a tree.

At this, being very angry Karma once threw away the branch which fell on an island across seven seas and thirteen rivers. Karma began to suffer for his neglect of the Kadamba branch and found no more success in agriculture. Karma realised his guilt and after toiling too much took back the branch and started worshipping it. At this he regained his success in agriculture. From that moment 'Dal Puja' or 'Karam festival' came in culture of the aborigines.

Karam festival was actually the festival of the 'Orao' tribe who used to celebrate the festival at their respective areas. Jatiya Adibasi Parishad and Adibashi Sangskritik Parishad jointly started celebrating the festival about eight years ago at Natshal field on the next day of the main ritual. Now it has become a great communion of all the aborigines like Orao, Santal, Munda, Mahato and Raichatri.

Sounds of 'dhol' and clapping of the aborigine men, women, old, young and children create a dancing excitement in the blood of all gathered there. But it was closely observed that a section of political personalities have spread their claws to take the minority group under their control. They make the total arrangement of the festival at Natshal field from background although they do not belong to that community (The Independent, September 4, 2004).

Yusuf et. al., (1994) in a recent publication gave a list of 546 medicinal plants that occur in Bangladesh. However, the inventory is not complete, and many plants with medicinal value are yet to be discovered.

The Rangamati Hill District in CHT still harbors a portion of virgin forest. But the procurement of medicinal plants from the wild habitat for professional collectors to make local medicines is unscientific, indiscriminate, and in most cases leads to overexploitation. There is severe depletion of the natural stands, without any provision for the regeneration of species. Some rare species like Ulat chandol (Gloriosa superba), Sarpo gandha (Rawolfia serpentina), and Aswa gandha (Withania somnifera) have become regionally endangered.

Prior to the last two centuries medical practitioners - whether allopaths, homeopaths, naturopaths, herbalists, or shamans - have to know the plants in their areas and how to use them, since many of the drugs were derived from the plants. Plants contain compounds that include a pharmacological reaction in the human body. Plants are very rich in secondary compounds including alkaloids, glycosides, essential oils, and other organic constituents, are responsible for the medical qualities of plants. Alkaloids obtained from vascular plants are among the most important pharmacologically active compounds. They are bitter-tasting organic compounds that are basic (alkaline) in their chemical properties. In Bangladesh and India many bitter spinach varieties that grow in water and land are known as blood cleaning agent and are preferred as appetiser for thr hundreds of years or more.

Man is not only a great inventor and builder, but he has also proved to be the most destructive force ever to appear on the face of the earth. Besides less than ten percent of the population of this planet enjoys all the resources and determines the future course. Statistics show that the devastation of vast areas of remaining undeveloped surface of our world have been destroyed with inevitable extinction of thousands of plant and animal species.

People have recognised the medical value of plants for thousands of years. In the Vedas, which stretch back more than five thousand years mentioned that spices are not only an integral part of culture but also invaluable to cure for every ailment known to man. Even though our earliest ancestors may not have understood how or why certain plants cured specific ailments, they were well aware that plants heal as well nourish. In developing countries today the majority of the population rely on herbal drugs. About two thousands plants are used medically in the Indian-Subcontinent , while three-quarters of the population of China still use herbal medicine. Before synthetic chemicals dominated medicine, as they do to day, roughly 80 per cent of all drugs were derived from plant materials. Chemists eventually developed synthetic version of many drugs, but these man made products would never existed without nature leading the way. In some cases, chemists have not yet learned to duplicate nature. There are stillmany unknown wild tropical plants of our botanical heritage not yet researched or discovered and many potential cures.

Worship Shaljong (the sun god), asking for his blessings for a good harvest

Jhum Cultivation

The people of North East India and hilly areas of Bangladesh represent a fascinating variety of cultures. Jhum plays an important cultural role in local customs, traditions, and practices, besides offering economic security to farmers. It would be unfortunate if developmental programmes based on misguided opinions about jhum suppress this unique form of agriculture. Only occupations providing monetary and social benefits perceived by jhumias to outweigh the cultural and security benefits embodied by jhum are likely to gain acceptance. A balanced approach to development that also recognises the merits of jhum is needed. Then, this remarkable form of organic farming may persist into the 21st century.

Jhum as commonly practised by indigenous tribes in North East India. This 'primitive' form of agriculture, according to supporters of "deforestation":

resulted in serious environmental problems:

loss of forest cover, erosion of topsoil, desertification, and

declines in forest productivity.

Others have also decried jhum as an inefficient form of agriculture, an impediment to progress of forestry, and an agent of destruction of biodiversity. Such beliefs have been widespread since British times, and have even resulted in forcible suppression of the practice, oppression and relocation of tribals in Central India and other hill regions.

Rapid demographic and social changes have occurred in many tribal societies of North East India. The environmental impacts of jhum cultivation and its role in people's lives have concurrently changed. The conversion of over 80% of the population to Christianity in less than a century (1894-1994) has dislodged the significant role of superstition and mystique in peoples' relationship with their natural environment. A large majority of peoples is tribal and dependent on jhum for its subsistence and livelihood.

Advantage of Jhum Cultivation:

In contrast, studies by ethnologists have tended to view shifting cultivation favourably. It is considered a diversified system, well adapted to local conditions in moist forest and hilly tracts.Others have argued that traditional shifting cultivation may not be as destructive as modern forest exploitation for timber. Clearance of small patches of forest with long fallow periods may even enhance biodiversity in the landscape due to the creation of a variety of habitats. Amidst such contrasting views, there is a clear need for reliable empirical and scientific data on the nature and ecological impact of jhum.

Jhum cultivation usually involves cutting of second-growth bamboo forests. Since old growth or primary forest is less extensively available and is more difficult to clear, they are cultivated infrequently. The clearing work usually begins in January-February. The slashed vegetation is allowed to dry on the hill slopes for 1-2 months prior to burning in March-April. Crops are sown with the first rains in April in plots that are 1-4 ha in area. Usually, inter-cropping of one or more paddy varieties with 15-20 other crops (vegetables, maize, chillies, gourds, cotton, arum, and mustard) is carried out.

Studies showed that, far from being primitive and inefficient, jhum is an ingenious system of organic multiple cropping well suited to the heavy rainfall areas of the hill tracts. The economic and energetic efficiency of jhum is higher than alternative forms of agriculture such as terrace and valley cultivation. This is mainly because terrace and valley cultivation needs expensive external input such as fertilisers (which often get leached or lost in the heavy rainfall hill slopes) and pesticides, besides labour for terracing.

The superiority of jhum cultivation over some forms of sedentary cultivation partly explains the persistence of this form of agriculture in North East India. Other reasons include the economic security provided by jhum and its cultural importance to indigenous tribes. Poor access to markets, capital, and technical knowhow of more commercially rewarding alternatives such as horticulture and cash crop cultivation also hinders the transition to other occupations. Clearly, one cannot do away with jhum assuming it to be a primitive and inefficient system, as attempted in governmental jhum control programmes and new land use policies. Instead, an unbiased understanding of the advantages of jhum is required for proper design and implementation of developmental programmes.

Erosion of valuable topsoil in the hills due to jhum has been alleged to cause siltation and floods in the plains. Singh has reviewed studies carried out by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research that compared soil erosion from jhum fields with other forms of cultivation on terraces and contour bunds. These studies show that jhum fields cultivated for a single year and abandoned (the most common practice) have less erosive losses of soil than the other forms of settled cultivation.

Soil erosion is minimised in jhum due to the retaining of rootstocks of bamboo and trees in burned plots, the rapid recovery of weeds and bamboo following abandonment, and the interspersion of forests and fields on hill slopes. The evidence for siltation of rivers and floods because of soil erosion due to jhum is weak and possibly untenable. Other factors, such as large scale logging for timber extraction, may be responsible to a greater extent for the deforestation and environmental problems in North East India.

References:

P.D. Stracey, 1967, 'A note on Nagaland', Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 64: 440-446.
D. Borah and N.R. Goswami, 1973, A comparative study of crop production under shifting and terrace cultivation (a case study in the Garo hills, Meghalaya). Ad hoc Study 35, Agro-economic Research Centre for North East India, Jorhat;
A.P. Dwivedi, 1993, Forests: the ecological ramifications. Natraj Publishers, Dehradun;
R.R. Rao and P.K. Hajra, 1986, 'Floristic diversity of the eastern Himalaya in a conservation perspective', Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Animal Sciences/Plant Science Supplement) November: 103-125.
C. von Fürer-Haimendorf, 1982, Tribes of India: the struggle for survival. Oxford University Press, Delhi;
M. Gadgil, and R. Guha, 1992, This Fissured Land: an ecological history of India. Oxford University Press, Delhi.
H. Conklin, 1969, An ethnoecological approach to shifting agriculture, pp. 221-233, in A.P. Vayda (ed),
Environment and Cultural Behaviour. Academic Press, New York; O. Horst, 1989, 'The persistence of milpa agriculture in highland Guatemala', Journal of Cultural Geography 9: 13-29;
M.J. Eden, 1987, 'Traditional shifting cultivation and the tropical forest system', Trends in Ecology and Evolution 2: 340-343;
R. Guha, 1994, Fighting for the Forest: state forestry and social change in tribal India, pp. 20-37, in O. Mendelsohn and U. Baxi (eds), The Rights of Subordinated Peoples. Oxford University Press, Delhi.
M. Gadgil and R. Guha, 1992, op. cit. P.S. Ramakrishnan, 1992, Shifting Agriculture and Sustainable Development: an interdisciplinary study from north-eastern India. MAB Series, Volume 10, UNESCO, Paris.

chakma boat

1. The types of forests in Bangladesh
2. Forest without Forest Dwellers - New
3. Handling with wild seed
4. Types of soil
5. Ferns eat up arsenic
6.Ineffectiveness and Poor Reliability of Arsenic Removal Plants in West Bengal, India
7. Cultivation of "lajjabati lata" mimosa pudica
8. The Flora and Vegetation of Nepal
9. Tibet: A Medical Fountainhead
10. Papaya farming proves a boon to farmers
11.Organic Farming and Fortune
12. Natural Indigo (Indigoferra tinctoria) and the Fight for Freedom New
13. Mango -king of all fruits
14. Tree Lover
15. The Fate Of The Chakma - displaced tribal people of Bangladesh

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L)

Coriander seeds, available whole or ground or as extracts, are used primarily as a flavouring agent in the food industry or as spice in the home kitchen for breads, cheeses, curry, fish, meats, sauces, soups, pastries, and confections. Coriander is essential in Indian cooking and is a major ingredient.

As a medicinal plant, coriander has been used as an antispasmodic, carminative, stimulant, and stomachic. Coriander has also exhibited hypoglycemic activity. At one time, coriander was used in love potions and considered to be an aphrodisiac. Chinese herbal medicine includes the use of coriander for measles, stomachache, nausea, hernia, and as a tonic.Coriander seed oil has antibacterial properties and is used for treating colic, neuralgia and rheumatism.

Profitable - Coriander Cultivation

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1.3 Poor People's Rich Food:
Arum Proyecto: "Kachu" (Bangladesh)

The partially dried corm of the Arisaema triphyllum, Torrey (Arum triphyllum, Linné). Nat. Ord.Araceae.
COMMON NAMES: Elephant yam, Indian turnip, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Dragon-root, Wake-robin

Indian turnip has a round, flattened, perennial, rhizome (cormus), the upper part of which is tunicated like the onion, the lower and larger portion tuberous and fleshy, giving off numerous long, white radicles in a circle, from its upper edge; the under side is covered with a dark, loose, wrinkled epidermis The spathe is ovate, acuminate, convoluted into a tube at the bottom, flattened and bent over at the top like a hood, varying in color internally, being green, dark-purple, black, or variegated with pale-greenish stripes on a dark ground, supported by an erect, round, green, purple, or variegated scape, invested at the base by the petioles and their acute sheaths. The plant has one enormous leaf and one spadix annually. It requires hand pollination in Britain[1, 133]. When ripe for pollination, the flowers have a foetid smell to attract carrion flies and midges. This smell disappears once the flower has been pollinated.

The Arum family, Aroidae, which numbers nearly 1,000 members, mostly tropical, and many of them marsh or water plants, is represented in this country by a sole species, Arum maculatum (Linn.), familiarly known as Lords and Ladies, or Cuckoo-pint.

Description---The flowering organs are contained in a sheath-like leaf called a spathe, within which rises a long, fleshy stem, or column called the spadix, bearing closely arranged groups of stalkless, primitive flowers.

The Arum has large tuberous roots, somewhat resembling those of the Potato, oblong in shape, about the size of a pigeon's egg, brownish externally, white within and when fresh, fleshy yielding a milky juice, almost insipid to the taste at first, but soon producing a burning and pricking sensation.The acridity is lost during the process of drying and by application of heat, when the substance of the tuber is left as starch. When baked, the tubers are edible, and from the amount of starch, nutritious. This starch of the root, after repeated washing, makes a kind of arrowroot, formerly much prepared in the Isle of Portland, and sold as an article of food under the name of Portland Sago, or Portland Arrowroot, but now obsolete. For this purpose, it was either roasted or boiled, and then dried and pounded in a mortar, the skin being previously peeled.

This starch, however, in spite of Gerard's remarks, forms the Cyprus Powder of the Parisians, who used it as a cosmetic for the skin, and Dr. Withering says of this cosmetic formed from the tuber starch, that 'it is undoubtedly a good and innocent cosmetic'; and Hogg (Vegetable Kingdom, 1858) reported its use in Italy to remove freckles from the face and hands.

In parts of France, a custom existed of turning to account the mucilaginous juice of the plant as a substitute for soap, the stalks of the plant when in flower being cut and soaked for three weeks in water, which was daily poured off carefully and the residue collected at the bottom of the pan, then dried and used for laundry work.

Constituents--The fresh tuber contains a volatile, acrid principle and starch, albumen, gum, sugar, extractive, lignin and salts of potassium and calcium. Saponin has been separated, also a brownish, oily liquid alkaloid, resembling coniine in its properties, but less active. Arum leaves give off prussic acid when injured, being a product of certain glucosides contained, called cyanophoric glucosides

The dried root was recommended as a diuretic and stimulant, but is no longer employed. The British Domestic Herbal describes a case of alarming dropsy with great constitutional exhaustion treated most successfully with a medicine composed of Arum and Angelica, which cured in about three weeks.

A homoeopathic tincture is prepared from the plant, and its root, which proves curative in diluted doses for a chronic sore throat with swollen mucous membranes and hoarseness, and likewise for a feverish sore throat.

An ointment made by stewing the fresh sliced tuber with lard is stated to be an efficient cure for ringworm, though the fresh sliced tuber applied to the skin produces a blister. The juice of the fresh plant when incorporated with lard has also been applied locally in the treatment of ringworm.

Arum, an esculent edible root, though, trifled literally, used to be considered an occasional vegetable in a Bengali household's food menu. Arum is the only vegetable that survived the flood and rain although farmers in some places lost their produces to the deluge and the downpour. This was the season of cabbage and cauliflower but those had been either washed away or damaged (India-Bangladesh Flood 2004). Arum can survive under water longer than other agricultural products, so it has become the only hope for consumers (T. Maji, October 18, 2004).

The genus Arum (Araceae) is represented by some 20 taxa in Turkey. Having tuberous roots, broadly hastate vigorous leaves, greenish-yellow spathes A. italicum grows in northern Turkey and flowers between April and May and its reddish berry type fruits ripen in July. Containing significant amount of calcium oxalate crystals, oxalic acid and oxalates in addition to volatile and/or easily destroyed irritating substances, Arum taxa are toxic. However, dried or fresh parts thereof are used for food and in folk medicine in Turkey. Tubers and ripe fruits are used in the treatment of rheumatism and hemorroids while the leaves are consumed as a food.

Arum calocasia (Arbi)It is cool, give strength, an appetizer and increases the quantity of milk in mother's breasts It is diuretic causes the formation of excessive wind and phlegm in the body. It increases the quantity of semen, cures plethora and dysentery.

Uses:

It is mostly used as a vegetable. Although there are many types of arum calocasia, their properties are approximately the same.

Grinded tender leaves of arum calocasia mixed with powdered cumin seeds cures excessive bile in the body.

Vegetable of arum calocasia increases the quantity of mother's milk.

Arisæma curvatum, Hook.; Kunth. India: roots eaten.

Although no specific mention has been seen for this species, it belongs to a family where most of the members contain calcium oxalate crystals. This substance is toxic fresh and, if eaten, makes the mouth, tongue and throat feel as if hundreds of small needles are digging in to them. However, calcium oxalate is easily broken down either by thoroughly cooking the plant or by fully drying it and, in either of these states, it is safe to eat the plant. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones and hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet

The root is carminative, restorative, stomachic and tonic. It is dried and used in the treatment of piles and dysentery. The fresh root acts as an acrid stimulant and expectorant, it is much used in India in the treatment of acute rheumatism.

Millions of people in eight districts in Bangladesh are on the brink of starvation. Thousands more face the threat of ill-health and unemployment. Although the government says it has initiated relief measures, the ground realities belie this claim
One of South Asia’s most severe droughts, coupled with a 400% increase in the price of essential goods, has left over two million people in north-western Bangladesh on the brink of starvation and forced residents in eight districts to migrate in search of food and employment (Oneworld.net).

Famine stricken people looking for the Arum roots but this has become rare and expensive (October, 2004).

A near-famine situation the northern districts - Story of Rafique and Others

Arum dracunculus, L. France: starch of root recommended as a famine food for extending bread flour, after removal of acrid element. Ref. PARMENTIER.
Calla palustris, L. France: starch of root recommended as a famine food for extending bread flour, after removal of acrid element. Sweden: unidentified part of plant used in preparation of bread. Bengladesh: greens eaten; roots may be boiled with rice or cooked as curry and may contain chemical component which can irritate mouth and throat. Vernacular name: Water Dragon. Bangladesh: Kachu. Ref. DARLINGTON & AMMAL, DILLINGHAM (1900), PARMENTIER, RAHAMAN
Colocasia esculenta Schott (syn.Caladium esculentum, Vent.; Colocasia antiquorum, Schott.) (Shortt gives "Calladem esculuntum," the genus and species probably being misspelled). India (Madras Presidency): leaves and leaf -stalks eaten as greens. Kapingamarangi: leaves of the wild taro eaten. Vernacular names - Tamil: Sainmay keeray, Shamay kilangu. Telugu: Chama kura, Chama dumpa;
Pistia stratiotes, L. India: used as a famine food in 1877-1878. Herb is recorded as eaten at other tjmes. China: young leaves eaten cooked. Philippines: used to treat gonorrhea. Plant has a high potash content, and contains stinging crystals. Occurs in great abundance on the surface of stagnant water and slowly-moving streams;

Chemical Composition.:In addition to its acrid principle it contains a large proportion of starch; also, gum, albumen, saccharine matter, calcium and potassium salts, and extractive. When the acrid property is driven off by heat, the root yields a pure, delicate, amylaceous matter, resembling the finest arrowroot, very white and nutritive. That raphides of oxalate of calcium give to the corm its acridity has been asserted by Weber (1991).

Medical Uses:Recommended in flatulence, croup, whooping-cough, stomatitis, asthma, chronic laryngitis, bronchitis, pains in the chest, colic, low stage of typhus , and various affections connected with a cachectic state of the system. Externally it has been used in scrofulous tumors, tinea capitis, and other cutaneous diseases. Its action in the prostration of low fevers with wild delirium is due to its effects upon the cerebral centers. It is reputed useful in cerebro-spinal fever and scarlatina, when delirium is present, when the tongue is swollen, red, and painful, and the buccal membranes inflamed. Chronic laryngitis, or minister's sore throat, with sudden hoarseness and aphonia, is specifically influenced by arum. It is also useful in ulceration of the larynx and pharynx. It is a good remedy, internally and locally, for aggravated red sore throat. The powdered root may be given in 10-grain doses, increased, if required, to 20 or 30 grains, and repeated every 3 or 4 hours. It may be taken in sweetened mucilage, syrup, or honey. Specific arum, 1/10 to 10 drops. Its specific effects are best obtained by minute doses of the specific arum—1/10 to 1/2 drop doses.

Arum farming gains ground in Bangladesh

arum Arum farming has been gaining popularity in all the seven Upazillas of the district, as this cultivation is bringing profits to cultivators. Previously arum was found in markets of the district and some markets of the other districts. Only a little quantity of arum was supplied to the markets. But now arum is available in the market. Now in all the haats and Bazaars arum is available, as the farmers have started its farming on commercial basis. Talking to Karim Mondol, farmer of village Par of Kendua Union under Sadar Upazilla said he produced, at least, 50 mounds of arum on his five decimal lands. Of the total, he has already sold 15 mounds in the markets at the rate of Taka 280 to Tk 300 per mound. According to Mondol, he will be able to earn Taka 7000 from his products. He had spent about Taka 1000 for purchasing seeds, preparing lands and for other reasons.

Farmers said they usually cultivate seven varieties of arum, which include ‘man kachu, pani kachu, gut kachu, kalika kachu, bish kachu, ole kachu and panchamukhi kachu (locally known mukhi)’. Farmers sow arum seeds in the Bengla months of Jaistha and Asar. Cultivation of arum is not very difficult, as the crop needs neither fertilizers nor pesticides. Moreover, the soil and climate of the district is suitable for arum farming (July, 2004).

Fortune from growing vegetable at homegarden

Amirul Islam Graho is now a source of inspiration for many. He earns Tk 10,000-12,000 a day from vegetables grown on banks of ponds. The vegetables produced in Islam's farm in Tarash upazila in Sirajganj district are supplied to Dhaka after fulfilling local demands. Many farmers from nearby areas come to see his vegetable and fishery project.

Islam, 50, chairman of Naogaon Union Parishad, has set the farm on the banks of nine ponds covering about 24 bighas of land. Fishes are cultivated in the ponds. Islam grows gourd, beans, green chili and papaya. He started with an investment of Tk 20,000.

On an average, at least 700 pieces of gourd and about 15 mounds of other vegetables are collected from the farm a day now. “I earn between Tk 10,000 and Tk 15000 a day”, Islam told this correspondent during a recent visit.

About 25 people including some women work in his vegetables farm, supervised by Islam and his wife. Islam said he dug the ponds for fishery. One evening, after viewing the Mati-o-Manush programme on Bangladesh Television, he decided to cultivate vegetables on their banks (Daily Star, January 8, 2008).

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2. Home Gardens- Stabilty of Ecosystem

Home or kitchen garden system proposed by Gonzalez (1985) and Allison (1983) is one of the agro-ecosystem that seems to be well adapted ecologically to tropics. Such gardens existed in this sub-continent (India) but due to reduction of land by farmers year to year and introduction of industrial/pharmaceutical products from the cities this valuable heritage is now gradually disappearing.

Tropical homegardens with their large crop species and varietal diversity are regarded as an ideal production system for in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. They are also known to be fields of experimentation and domestication of wild plants. However, garden diversity varies according to ecological and socio-economic factors and/or characteristics of gardens or gardeners

A home garden with an overstory of trees and an understory of a mixture of herbs and small trees permits year-round harvesting of food products, as well as wide range of other products used by the local people, such as firewood, medical plants, spices and ornamentals. Relatively high species diversity provides resource-conserving and ecological sound farming system.

Homegardens as a special agroforestry niche for women

The cultivation and management of homegardens by women is a widespread phenomenon among settled groups the world over (Buch 1980, Niñez 1985). This is particularly pronounced in Latin America in areas where women do not traditionally till the land, since it provides an agricultural production niche that is seen as an extension of the home. The homegarden is often a way around taboos against tilling the main cropland, and is usually considered an extension of the home as the women's domain. Moreover, by definition such plots are location-specific to the home area, and as such are accessible to women whose mobility may be limited by custom, or by the complex logistics of mixing travel with child care, food processing and food preparation. Homegardens provide an opportunity to intensify labor inputs to increase production, without adding time away from home and within a flexible schedule shaped around other household responsibilities (Chaney and Lewis 1980).

Summary of advantages of commons plantings for women:

access to land for production
access to better quality land than they would normally have access to the convenience (efficiency) of local access to concentrated plantings of normally scattered resources -- "one stop shopping"
reduction and improved timing of labour inputs, e.g. through rotational labour
economies of scale through easier fencing, maintenance, protection and marketing of products from concentrated block plantings
concentrated access to training and assistance
benefits of the "group learning curve"
access to credit.

Home garden benefits poor people

The people of Domar Upazila; Nilphamari, Bangladesh benefited from afforestation program, besides maintaining ecological balance has created job opportunities for poor people in the upazila. The members of the Samities (committe) look after the saplings and nurture them till they get matured.

The Samity members are given 40 per cent of the money earned from the sale. After cutting down the Bogra trees, saplings of ten percent medicinal tree and 25 percent fruit bearing tree are again planted. Again, the saplings of flower bearing trees are planted. The process goes on by rotation. At present, trees of different species on both sides of the railway line are increasing the natural beauty. Soil erosion had completely been stopped and the programme had created job opportunities for the rural people. Besides, the government is earning huge revenue (The Independent, November 13, 2004) .

Home gardens are considered to be:

Variable in size and design;
Respond to local soil type, drainage patterns, cultural preferences, economic standing of the family, family size and age pattern reflecting a multiplicity of both ecological and cultural components;
Flexible, dynamic, and changing, depending on the needs of the family.

Distribution of plants:

Low diversity, regularly patterned planting of crops of potential cash values;
High diversity, irregularly patterned planting of trees, shrubs, herbs etc;
Low diversity, widely spaced planting of trees, with low grass or bare soil,
Very high diversity, intercropped planting of ornamental herbs and shrubs,
Moderate diversity, alternately planted fencerow surrounding the property primarily composed of fruits and fire wood tree species.

Homegardens are more reliable than crops fields for growing trees and vegetables and are important sources of income for the farmers of Bangladesh.

Homegardens are more reliable than crops fields for growing trees

Home garden represents the blending of knowledge gained by ecologists studying the dynamics and stability of tropical ecosystems with the knowledge of farmers and agronomists on how to manage the complexities of food producing ecosystems.

Two parallel systems of production forestry exist in Bangladesh: government forests managed by the Forest Department (FD) and privately owned homegardens. Of the country's total land area, about 1.48 million hectares (ha) are designated as government forest land that covers both natural and plantation forests. About 0.72 million ha of land are disignated as unclassified state forests under the control of the Ministry of Land. Homegardens constitute 0.27 ma he and are scattered all over the country. The public forest land, un-classed state forests and homegardens together make up about 17% (2.46 million hectares) of the potential tree growing area of the country the lowest figure of any South Asian country.

From the physical and socio economic points of view, homegardens are more reliable than crops fields for growing trees and vegetables and are important sources of income for the farmers of Bangladesh. It is observed that farmers tend to sell cropland to fight against pauperization, but retain their homegardens unless absolutely unavoidable: Even functionally landless farmers have their own homegardens, where they grow the essential commodies for subsistanc. It is observed that over half of the fruits, vegetables and spices grown in the homegardens are sold to meet family expenses. In Bangladesh farmers spent only 4.8-12.2% of their total labour. In homegarden management, but 26% to 47% of the total family expenses are met from selling homegarden products. During the last 40 years. the relative importance has shifted from the traditional forestry (in the government managed forests) to homegardens in such a way that today about 55% of requirement of timber, fuelwood and bamboo are met from the homegarden sources.

Sunderbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world contain many traditional medical plants that can be planted in many wetland areas of Bangladesh:

SPECIES WITH POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL FOR HOMEGARDEN USE

killing tiger is a sport since colonial time, embroidered quilt

Sad Demise of A Majestic Bengal Tiger

1. Extinction of Crocodiles
2. Migratory and other Birds in Bangladesh in Danger
3. The Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola Threating to Extinct

sunderban

A terrain full of verdant trees, plants, herbs and foliage, the Sunderbans is one of the largest intact mangrove forests in the world declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Thus globally, the Sundarbans is one of great importance. Home to a variety of species, the forest is unique in that many of its plants and animals are not found anywhere else in the world. Over many years land grabbers have harmed this rare ecosystem; and in this way transformation of the Sundarbans from jungles of great biodiversity to wet rice paddy fields occurred causing much damage to its resources.

Over 60 per cent of Sundari trees are dying in the Sundarbans mangrove forest with high salinity prevalent in Khulna and Jessore regions due to severe lack of sweet water flow from upstream points coupled with negative impact of the Farakka Barrage, a leading water expert said. Prof. Ainun Nishat, Country Director of IUCN, told BSS today that water is being withdrawn in the upstream of Farakka Barrage in the Uttar Pradesh, northern region and Bihar. He said lack of sufficient water not only hampers cultivation but also creates negative impact on fish resources in the rivers. Prof. Nishat said Sundari wood is more valuable than normal wood. Lack of sweet water contents in the Sundarbans mangrove forest kills Sundari trees, he said. He suggested that the country should ensure augmented flow of the Ganges river and this should be diverted to Khulna region.

Hydrologists told BSS that the water level fell by three feet at Hardinge Bridge point in December 2004. They said similar fall in the water level was also noticed at Gorai railway bridge point. The hydrologists of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said Bangladesh received 145,000 cusec water at the Hardinge Bridge point on December 1, 2004. They referred to the field reports and said the country received 107,000 cusec water on December 18 which means that the volume of fall stands at 38,000 cusec further. The BSS roving correspondent observed that the water levels in the Padma and the Gorai are falling continuously. Many shoals (chars) have emerged on the waterways of the Padma between Paturia and Daulatdia ghat. Continuous dredging is underway to ensure navigability of the waterway. The fall of water level has caused disruption in the ferry service (The Bangladesh Observer, January 04, 2005).

Sustainable tourism centre at Sundarbans?

SPECIES MEDICAL USE

Acanthus sp. The crushed fruit makes a good blood purifier as well as dressing for boils and snake bite

Ammonia baccifera Entire plant is used as puragative

Avicennia Sp. Seeds made into paste to relieve small pox ulceration. Resinous exude used for birth control purposes

Bruguiera eriopelata Lotion from fruit used for eye. infections Fruit is chewed as betal nut. Young radical used as vegetable

Caesaalpinia nuga Roots diuretic, used in the treatment of stone.

Cerbera sp. Fruit when rubbed gives relief from pain of rheumatism. The sap has purgative property. Sap when externally applied against the poisonous effects of fish stings.

Ceriops sp. Obstetric and haemorrhage cases are treated with an infusion of Ceriops bark.

Ceriops tagal Roots used as substitute of quinine.

Derris sp. Seed powder used for bronchitis and whooping cough.

Ipomoea pes-carpas Leaves used for rheumatism and as an astringent

Hibiscus tiliaceous Decoction from leaves useful as hair restorers, expectorants, and for treatment of obstinate causes of urine.

Kandelia sp. Bark forms an ingredient in a mixture given for diabetics.

Lumnitzera sp. Decoction relieves thirst in infants. Stem decotion used against itches.

Rhizophora sp. An infusion of the bark of R. muraconta is given for haematuria. Stilt roots some times used as anchor. Root decoction used in blood pressure.

Sonneratia sp. Fruit made into poultices for sprain and the fermented juice is used to check haemorrhage. Fruits are edible.

T. quallica Galls and twigs used as astringent and for dysentery.

Tamarix dioica Bark used as tonic for skin diseases

Thespesia iampus Roots and fruits used for gonorrhoea and syphilis

Thespesia sp. An ointment made from seeds kill lice. The leaves furnish a specific active principle for relieving earaches.

Trianthema portulacastrum Entire plant used for heart disease and anaemia.

Xylocarpus mekongensis Bark used for dysentery, diarrhoea and as febrifuge

Tannin

Ceriops decandra , Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Bruguiera parviflora, Rhizophora musconata, Xylocarpus decandra are the valuable trees that produce tannin in the Sunderbans. Studies by the Forest Research Institute, Dhera Dun, India have shown that the spray-dried extract of a blend of ceriops, myrobalans and Acacia nilotica bark contain 65 percent tannin and the blend is suitable for the manufacturing of crust leather. The use of mangrove bark or extract in tanning is locally well -known. and is not commercially used.

The small leather industry of Indian-subcontinent developed Indian vegetable tanned crust over a hundred years ago to preserve the hide in the safest way to suit Indian conditions. The development of leather processing industry was started in Bangladesh in the late 1940s. Until mid 1960s, the leather was dominated by vegetable tanned products for supply to W. Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. Manufacture of wet blue, the chrome tanned semi-processed leather started featuring in 1965. There was a rapid growth of tanning industry in Bangladesh during 1970s and by the end of 70s. In 1999 Bangladesh exported leather and leather goods worth US $ 225 million. Now chrome-tanned processed leather is the shooting star of the export industry at the cost of serious environmental depletion with cancer producing substances.

There is a potential market for vegetable tanned leather products in the industrial countries. Development countries should not destroy their environment for export industry.

Since millions of years from the Himalayas to the dynamic coastal plain of Bengal was rich in panoramic vegetation and wild life. These tropical moist forests were botanically amongst the richest in the Indian sub-continent. The forests are most important as a repository of one of the world's richest of biodiversity

Sunderbans, the largest mangrove forests of the world, was once covered all along the coastal plain of Bangladesh. Had it been maintained, the Bay of Bengal would have turned into one of the largest fish grounds of the world, gained land one third to the present size of Bangladesh, and have protected millions of lives during cyclone storms. The problems of deforestation is mainly political and it can be solved, if poverty focused projects contain the attitude of "by the people and for the people" participation

1.Our Blue Planet: Extinction of Mangrove Forests
2. Polluted Leather Industry and slums of Bangladesh
3. Poultry feed churned out from tannery waste
4. Plunder of forest resources unabated in Rangamati
5. HILSA Tenualosa ilisha King of Fishes - Going to Extinct?

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3. Neem Azadirachta indica The Wonder Plant

Sitala Puja - Caitra navaratras: goddess Sitala who is said to reside in the neem tree is propitiated ritually; Pat Gosain festival in Bengal means neem tree worship; neem leaves are eaten on Vaisakha sukla saptami.

"To the best of my knowledge, no plant material with greater activity against abroader spectrum of pest insect species, has yet been found." Dr Martin Jacobson of United States Dept. of Agriculture -Agricultural Research Center in Beltsiville, Madison, USA.

The Neem is being heralded as a tree for solving global problems by the U.S. Department of agricultural. Equivalent products to NeemHit are already registered in U.S.A. (since 1992) and numbers of European countries.

The tree has relieved so many different pains, fevers, infections, and other complaints that it has been called "the village pharmacy."

"Azad dhirakat " from the Persian means "Excellent Tree, Noble Tree" referring to the usefulness and the considerable economic importance of the genus. Locally named in Bangladesh as nim, in In dia as nimba, nimuri etc., Nepal as nim, Tibetan as nimpa, traditionally used to make medicine and pesticid1es. Prof. Heinrich Schmutterer, Department of Phytopathology and Entomology working since thirty years on Neem tree and termed, "Neem is the one of the most fascinated trees of the world". In Bangladesh villagers brush their teeth with the Neem branch.

The neem tree (Azadirachta indica) is a tropical evergreen related to mahogany. Native to east India and Burma, it grows in much of southeast Asia and west Africa. A few trees have recently been planted in the Caribbean and several Central American countries

The neem tree has such a variety of medical applications that it is sometimes referred to as the village pharmacy. Now modern research is proving what has been long known by Ayurvedic medicine practitioners: neem is one of the most effective plant medicines in the world. An extremely powerful blood purifying agent and detoxicant, neem is also effective in the treatment of fever, malaria, skin diseases, dental problems, diabetes, tumors, arthritis, and jaundice. It has gained particular attention from scientists seeking a cure for AIDS, not only for its antiviral properties, but also because it boosts the immune system on all levels without destroying beneficial bacteria, unlike synthetic antibiotics.

Azadirachtin being the key molecule, more concentration on Research & developments have been targeted on Azadirachtin only in India and abroad. However now it clearly known that besides Azadirachtin, salannin, gedunin, azadirone, nimbin, nimbidine, nimbicidine, nimbinol, etc.. are also important liminoids which play an excellent synergistic effects on Insects/Pe

SOS-arsenic.net

Home Garden - To Save Herbs and Traditional Plants from Extinction

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION

Medicinal plants and local herbs may be extinct

Banana and Pineapple orchards Plantation Destroying the Existance of Adivasi

Shal, Shorea robusta forests shrink to 40,590 hectares from 1,20,000 9466 hectare forestlands grabbed illegall

Sal Shorea robusta

Ayurvedic Health-Illness Dichotomy

Garden can give you relief

Leaves of Jarul (Arjuna) :anti-diabetes herbal tea.

1. 1. Globalisation

Biodiversity, Trade and Development Linkages: Favoured Developed Northern Countries

The judicial system - serves the interests of the ruling classes

Economic globalization has outpaced the globalization of politics and mindsets – it's time for change by Joseph Stiglitz

1. 2. Tree Worship

Worship of Tree 'Karam Puja'

Jhum Cultivation

1.3 Poor People's Rich Food:
Arum Proyecto: "Kachu" (Bangladesh)

Arum farming gains ground in Bangladesh

Fortune from growing vegetable at homegarden

2. Home Gardens- Stabilty of Ecosystem

Homegardens as a special agroforestry niche for women

Home garden benefits poor people

3. Neem Azadirachta indica The Wonder Plant

SPECIES	MEDICAL USE
Acanthus sp.	The crushed fruit makes a good blood purifier as well as dressing for boils and snake bite
Ammonia baccifera	Entire plant is used as puragative
Avicennia Sp.	Seeds made into paste to relieve small pox ulceration. Resinous exude used for birth control purposes
Bruguiera eriopelata	Lotion from fruit used for eye. infections Fruit is chewed as betal nut. Young radical used as vegetable
Caesaalpinia nuga	Roots diuretic, used in the treatment of stone.
Cerbera sp.	Fruit when rubbed gives relief from pain of rheumatism. The sap has purgative property. Sap when externally applied against the poisonous effects of fish stings.
Ceriops sp.	Obstetric and haemorrhage cases are treated with an infusion of Ceriops bark.
Ceriops tagal	Roots used as substitute of quinine.
Derris sp.	Seed powder used for bronchitis and whooping cough.
Ipomoea pes-carpas	Leaves used for rheumatism and as an astringent
Hibiscus tiliaceous	Decoction from leaves useful as hair restorers, expectorants, and for treatment of obstinate causes of urine.
Kandelia sp.	Bark forms an ingredient in a mixture given for diabetics.
Lumnitzera sp.	Decoction relieves thirst in infants. Stem decotion used against itches.
Rhizophora sp.	An infusion of the bark of R. muraconta is given for haematuria. Stilt roots some times used as anchor. Root decoction used in blood pressure.
Sonneratia sp.	Fruit made into poultices for sprain and the fermented juice is used to check haemorrhage. Fruits are edible.
T. quallica	Galls and twigs used as astringent and for dysentery.
Tamarix dioica	Bark used as tonic for skin diseases
Thespesia iampus	Roots and fruits used for gonorrhoea and syphilis
Thespesia sp.	An ointment made from seeds kill lice. The leaves furnish a specific active principle for relieving earaches.
Trianthema portulacastrum	Entire plant used for heart disease and anaemia.
Xylocarpus mekongensis	Bark used for dysentery, diarrhoea and as febrifuge

SOS-arsenic.net

Home Garden - To Save Herbs and Traditional Plants from Extinction

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION

Medicinal plants and local herbs may be extinct

Banana and Pineapple orchards Plantation Destroying the Existance of Adivasi

Shal, Shorea robusta forests shrink to 40,590 hectares from 1,20,000 9466 hectare forestlands grabbed illegall

Sal Shorea robusta

Ayurvedic Health-Illness Dichotomy

Garden can give you relief

Leaves of Jarul (Arjuna) :anti-diabetes herbal tea.

1. 1. Globalisation

Biodiversity, Trade and Development Linkages: Favoured Developed Northern Countries

The judicial system - serves the interests of the ruling classes

Economic globalization has outpaced the globalization of politics and mindsets – it's time for change by Joseph Stiglitz

1. 2. Tree Worship

Worship of Tree 'Karam Puja'

Jhum Cultivation

1.3 Poor People's Rich Food: Arum Proyecto: "Kachu" (Bangladesh)

Arum farming gains ground in Bangladesh

Fortune from growing vegetable at homegarden

2. Home Gardens- Stabilty of Ecosystem

Homegardens as a special agroforestry niche for women

Home garden benefits poor people

3. Neem Azadirachta indica The Wonder Plant

1.3 Poor People's Rich Food:
Arum Proyecto: "Kachu" (Bangladesh)