Introduction of Economic Botany

Economic Botany is the interaction of people with plants. Economic botany is closely related to the field of ethnobotany that word is based on two Greek roots: ethnos (race: people: cultural group) and botanikos (of herbs) and can mean the plant lore of a race or people as well as the study of that lore. Economic botanists are scientists who study the interactions between humans and plants. That makes the field of Economic Botany as far flung and diverse as both the human and plant life on our planet. Economic botanists study human-plant interactions from a variety of different angles. These skilled researchers rely on a variety of disciplines including archeology, sociology, and ecology in addition to basic botany to help them explain these interactions and their effects on plants, society and our dynamic planet.

Plants are essential for the survival of our planet and the many life Forms on it. Food plants like cereals, vegetables, pulses, root crops, fruits and nuts are hugely important for humans. Other plants provide medicines, spices and kitchen herbs, building material, fibres, cooking and technical oils, dyes, fuel, and many other commodities. Many plants have been cultivated for centuries and are of great economic value both locally and for international trade.

BOT-717         Economic Botany              Cr. 3(2+1)

Course Breakup

Suggested Books

1. Kochhar, S. L. (2016). Economic Botany. Cambridge University Press.
2. Wiersema, J. H., & León, B. (2016). World economic plants: a standard reference. CRC press.
3. Daniel, M., & Mammen, D. (2016). Analytical Methods for Medicinal Plants and Economic Botany. Scientific Publishers.
4. Duke, J. A. (2018). Amazonian ethnobotanical dictionary. CRC press.
5. Keddy, P. A. (2017). Plant ecology. Cambridge University Press.
6. Bagetta, G., Cosentino, M., Corasaniti, M. T., & Sakurada, S. (2016). Herbal medicines: development and validation of plant-derived medicines for human health. CRC Press.

                                                Outcomes

Plants are extremely important in the lives of people throughout the world. People depend upon plants to satisfy such basic human needs as food, clothing, shelter, and health care. These needs are growing rapidly because of a growing world population, increasing incomes, and urbanization. Plants provide food directly, of course, and also feed livestock that is then consumed itself. In addition, plants provide the raw materials for many types of pharmaceuticals, as well as tobacco, coffee, alcohol, and other drugs. The fiber industry depends heavily on the products of cotton, and the lumber products industry relies on wood from a wide variety of trees (wood fuel is used primarily in rural areas). Approximately 2.5 billion people in the world still rely on subsistence farming to satisfy their basic needs, while the rest are tied into increasingly complex production and distribution systems to provide food, fiber, fuel, and other plant-derived commodities. The capability of plants to satisfy these growing needs is not a new concern. The Reverend Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) in his Essay on the Principle of Population in 1798 argued that population growth would exceed nature's ability to provide subsistence. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population was about one billion in 1800, doubled to two billion in 1930, doubled again to four billion in 1975, and reached six billion people in 2000. World population is expected to be nine billion by the year 2050. The challenge to satisfy human needs and wants still exists.

Evaluation Methods

Sessional+Presentations:         15

Practicals:                                 25

Mid Term Exam:                       15

Final exam:                              45