Aquatic weeds to the rescue
TNN | Apr 19, 2013, 01.00 AM IST
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READ MORE Women|Weeds|Lotus|common cold|Ayurveda
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Nature provided man with all the basic requirements for his existence, which is one of the reasons why nature was respected in the olden times.

After coming in contact with plants people began to realize their significance, importance and how they could be of great use to them. And since ancient times, man has been using different parts of various plants as medicine. This dependency on plants for medicine not only prompted good health but also helped in maintaining a balanced environment.

The variety of plants used differed from place to place depending on the confined ecosystem and requirements even though the human problems they dealt with remained the same. For thousands of years plants have demonstrated their effectiveness not only as healing agents but also as caretakers of the surrounding environment.

Wetlands are the vital ecosystems which provide livelihood to millions of people who live within and around them. Most of human civilizations arose around wetlands. Even today man depends on wetlands for multiple purposes such as drinking water, fishing, paddy cultivation and medicine. The aquatic weeds of the wetland ecosystem played a fascinating role in the life of human beings in earlier days. It was observed that many of the aquatic weeds had medicinal values and were used in Ayurveda and folk medicine. But with the advancement in life patterns and wetland deterioration there is a great threat to the very existence of these weeds.

Nymphyae (lotus) is a dominating wetland plant found in Goa. Petals of the flowers are cooling and act as a sedative. Seeds are a good tonic. They also function as an astringent, that is, as a mouth freshener, and are useful in curing bleeding due to internal injury. The seeds of the lotus are also a remedy for high pulse rates.

Vetivera, commonly called valo is a grass supposed to be anti-inflammatory and an appetizer. It is also used to cure vomiting during cholera. This plant is dominant in the surviving wetlands of Ponda, Pernem and Sattari talukas.

Pan lavang is used by farmers in Salcete as fodder and vegetable.

Acorus calamus, commonly called Vekhand is restricted today to the wetlands of Ponda and is another important aquatic plant having medicinal value as an expectorant. It is a stimulant and a traditional household remedy for the common cold, throat infections, sprains and external injuries.

Eclipta alba, commonly called Maka is a good hair tonic and hair dye. Traditionally, Goan women make a preparation by mixing the juice of its leaves with coconut oil and using it for various hair problems.

Bacopa aka brahmi found in Pernem is a good tonic and used in the preparation of hair oil.

Yet another beautiful aquatic plant called azolla, found in Salcete, Tiswadi and Sattari, is used as a good source of bio-fertilizer. It is an age-old practice of paddy cultivators in Goa to use this fern as a bio-fertilizer since it provides nutrition to the crop and also improves soil texture and increases the water holding capacity of the soil.

Salvinia, a fast-growing aquatic weed has occupied nearly half the wetlands of Goa. Though it causes nuisance in the fields by its luxuriant growth, farmers in Goa, before getting their fields ready for cultivation, remove this weed, dry it and then bury it in circular trenches around the coconut palms, especially on the bunds of the fields.

Hydrilla and lemna are also used as bio-fertilizers by farmers in Goa.

Aquatic weeds like marsileae, eicchorneae, found in the wetlands of Vasco, are used as livestock feed including for fish.

To conclude all these aquatic weeds are reported to contain some percentage of crude proteins and minerals. It is time to protect these aquatic weeds with multiple uses for our future generation.

The writer is an associate professor, department of botany, Ponda Education Society's SRSN College of Arts and Science, Farmagudi, Ponda.