A Study on the Sustainable Utilization of Edible Plants by Irular Tribes of Anaikatty, Western Ghats, India

Global food security has become increasingly dependent on a handful of crops. Over 50 percent of the daily global requirement of proteins and calories is met by just three crops like maize, wheat and rice and only 150 crops are commercialized on a significant global scale. The objective of this study is to assess the utility of the cultivated edible plants used by the Irulars tribes in Coimbatore district forest region (Anaikatty). A total of 75 species are enumerated in this investigation. As sources of cultivated plants, herbs are dominant with 25 species, shrubs with 18 species, climbers with 20 species and trees with 12 species. The Solanaceae recorded the highest number of species (7 species) followed by Cucurbitaceae and Amaranthaceae with 6 species. The traditional knowledge of the utility of these species which has been handed over from one generation to another faces extinction, due to their urbanization and change in their lifestyle. Therefore, it is important to document their traditional knowledge before it vanishes. The result of the present study provides the list of cultivated edible plants which play an important role in supplying the edible plants to this ethnic community for their optimal and sustainable utilization.