Herbal medicine as a live practice for treating livestock ailments by indigenous people: A case study from the Konar community of Tamil Nadu

Documentation of this indigenous knowledge is valuable for the communities for wider use of traditional practices in treating livestock ailments. This study shows that traditional medicine, mainly involving the use of medicinal plants, is playing a significant role in meeting the livestock healthcare needs of the Konar ethnic groups in Tamil Nadu, and hence is a viable practice. Easy access to herbal resources and their free or low cost along with acceptance to traditional herbal medicine and lack of modern healthcare facilities in the rural areas are viewed by the community as the reasons for herbal treatment being continued as a viable practice by the konars for cattle ailments. The knowledge documented from the livestock producers-Konar-could also be used to manage the country's livestock healthcare system, and improve the lives and livelihoods.