ETHNOBOTANICAL USES OF XERIC PLANTS IN DOMESTIC LIFE IN AN ARID AREA OF TARANAGAR TEHSIL (RAJASTHAN)

ABSTRACT

For the livelihood of people in arid and semiarid areas they are extravagantly dependent of xerophytic plants and their products like timber, bark, wood, medicine and fibres. Numerous artefacts are constructed using them. These artefacts are utilized in different ways by the use and exploration of indigenous knowledge/information of local people. The knowledge has been passed verbally through generations, which is not a way of preserving it and its lost to eternity. So there is on immense need to document it. Various products which can be manufactured are necessary domestic articles, musical instruments, kitchen designing, interior decoration artefacts, fibre and stuffing articles etc. Various plant parts used are bark, stem, leaves, twings, roots etc. The process on manufacturing using plants and its techniques are an ancient knowledge. To conserve this knowledge and enumerate its uses perfectly, various field visits were conducted and a structured questionaire was used many people were surveyed, such as shopkeepers, instrument constructors, tribal groups, carpenters, weaver etc. Many ethnobotanical informations regarding these items are collected, summerised, enumerated, observed and tabulated through many tables which are set up according to their use in domestic purpose. The role of conservation and sustainability is also discussed in various paragraphs. A through survey was followed by enumerating various uses against various plants and its parts. The various steps used in the methodology are seminstructured interviews, data collection, analyses and observation.

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