Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.) (2012): Tackling the Future Challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry.
Proceedings of the 2 nd OAHC, Hamburg/Trenthorst, Germany, Sep 12-14, 2012
using references from the herbarium of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, the national herbarium
in Peradeniya, and scientific texts (Jayaweera 1980).
Results
In total, 4,448 cattle and buffalo disease symptoms described by traditional healers were recorded.
It is important to note that the traditional vernacular names and classifications of disease do not
correspond with diagnostic classifications used today. Traditional healers did not have access to
modern laboratory tests. They relied on observable symptoms for their diagnosis and their prescriptions
were based on these observations. Sri Lankan livestock healers that are still practicing say
that because of this a single treatment formula may be used for multiple diseases and a combination
of multiple treatments is usually prescribed to increase the chance of recovery.
The majority of treatments involve botanical infusions or decoctions that are used topically or administered
orally or rectally. More than 500 different formulas were recording using more than 200
different plant species. A few examples are provided in simplified form in Table 1.
Table 1. Examples of treatments used by traditional Sri Lankan livestock healers
Symptom Examples of Treatments
Teat infection
(mastitis)
Infected naval
Maggot infected
wounds
Worms
Stomach problems
Fever
Cataracts
• Prepare ash from king coconut shell (Cocos nucifera,). Mix with komarika
leavs (Aloe vera). Apply topically.
• Combine ghee and bee honey. Apply topically.
• Combine coconut milk (Cocos nucifera) and kollankola leaves oil
(Pogostemon heyneanus). Apply on mouth of nursing calf.
• Prepare clean ash. Apply topically.
• Prepare neem oil (Azadirachta indica). Apply topically
• Combine eramudu leaves (Erythrina indica) and fireplace ash. Apply topically.
• Combine waldunkola (Lobeliya sp ), panu ala yam (Typhonium tilobatum)
and calcium carbonate. Apply topically.
• Combine cannibis leaves (Cannabis sativa), neem leaves (Azadirachta indica
), gotukola leaves (Centella asiatica), maduwell (Eupatorium sp.), pineapple
(Ananas Cosmosus) and cardamom (Amomum sp). Administer
orally.
• Combine aralu fruit (Terminalia chebula), bulu fruit (Terminalia bellirica),
nelli fruit (Phyllanthus emblica), garlic (Allium sativum) and Epsom
salt. Administer orally.
• Fill papaya stem (Carica papaya) with 2 inches of water and 4 inches of
castor seed oil (Ricinus communis). Insert into rectum and blow.
• Fill papaya stem (Carica papaya) with equal parts kireaguna (Dergea voluvilis)
and lime juice (Citrus sp). Insert into rectum and blow.
• Boil asamodagam(Trachyspermum roxburghianum) walagasahal, and
wadakaha root (Acorus calamus). Add Epsom salt and administer orally.
• Boil coriander leaves (Coriandrum sativum) with sesame oil (Sesamum indicum).
Administer orally.
• Boil garlic (Allium sativum), black pepper (Piper nigrum), coriander leaves
(Coriandrum sativum) in water. Administer orally.
• Mix copper sulfate powder, ghee, and water from red rice with an extract of
naran seeds (Citrus sp) and ginger (Zingiber officinale) Apply topically.
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