Healers of Herds
By Priyashri Mani
On a recent visit to the Bargur hills in Tamil Nadu I met Jogappa, a semi-nomadic Lingayat pastoralist who had a herd of 60 animals. A resident of Usimalai, Jogappa and his family, along with their herd, travel across the state border to Karnataka for 8 months of the year in search of greener pastures for their animals. The Kannada speaking Bargur Lingayats are a traditional semi-nomadic pastoral community living around the Bargur forests of the Western Ghats. They breed the unique Bargur cattle which was registered as a distinct breed by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Research (NBAGR) in 2018.
A few weeks ago, one of Jogappa’s cows was heard lowing in a very deep tone. Jogappa’s wife, Bommi, noticed that the cow looked tired and weary. Upon examination, they found that the cow had contracted a throat infection. The next morning Jogappa went into the forest and returned with a tuber (ingelkappe gensu). This was boiled in water, mashed, and kept aside. A mixture of buttermilk, turmeric and pearl onions was prepared, and the boiled tuber was added into the mixture. The cow was fed the concoction, and, in a few days, she was bright and well.
Many studies have documented the specialised and technical knowledge of herding communities on livestock management. These studies have recorded the rich animal husbandry and ethno-veterinary knowledge possessed by certain members in the community. For instance, the pastoralists of Banni in Gujarat provide natural nutritional supplements such as mustard oil and jaggery, and eggs and ghee to calves and breeding bulls respectively. In Rajasthan, the Raikas routinely deworm their sheep and goat herds by feeding them dried and powdered pumpkin seeds. In Northeast Africa, pastoralists have highly evolved systems to manage and maintain healthy herds. Management practices include the provision of additional salt in the dry months, not mixing herds with unfamiliar ones, and housing animals well to enhance livestock health and productivity.
In Jogappa’s community, certain elders possess this specialised knowledge too.
Specific forest leaves, barks and roots are used in a variety of preparations to treat illnesses in cattle such as sores on hooves, lumps on the body, fevers, fractures, and snake bites.
In most cases, western medicine is seldom used to treat illnesses as it requires herders to incur a financial cost and, in many cases, veterinary services are inaccessible in remote locations.
During a discussion, members of the community reported that their animals fall sick more often nowadays. The herders reported that the health of their herd depends on the availability of diverse and good quality fodder found inside the forest. However, their inability to access these grazing lands due to restrictions by forest officials has had an impact on the health of their herd. Erratic rainfall and the widespread use of pesticides and weedicides were also cited as causes for the depletion of certain nutritious grass species.
There is a growing recognition of the wealth of knowledge about livestock possessed by pastoral communities around the world. However, Jogappa claims, “We don’t know even half of what our ancestors knew.” There is an urgent need to document and safeguard this cultural heritage. These systems of knowledge have supported pastoral livelihoods over centuries and have an important role to play in modern-day pastoralism.
Priyashri Mani has worked for over 13 years in the development sector with marginalised communities — in the areas of livelihoods, women’s empowerment and adivasi rights. She has a Masters’ degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK and an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Delhi University.
