Research carried out by Makerere University has revealed that about 80% of Ugandan poultry farmers know how to use medicinal plants to treat bird diseases.
Prof. Bukenya Ziraba of the university's Department of Botany said the research shows that many farmers were using medicinal plants to treat cough, diarrhoea, swollen eyes, mites, worms lice and coccidiosis, as well as for Newcastle prophylaxis.
Plant species like Capsicum frutescens (kamulali) and Cannabis sativa (enjaga) were used in all the three districts of the study, while Nicotiana tobaccum (taaba), Aloe sp (lukaka) Vernonia amygadalina (omubirizi) and Tagets mihuta (kawunyira) species were used in Rakai and Mbarara.
Bukenya says the most common way of preparation and administration of the medicine is by crushing the plant material, adding water and administering the concoction orally. Some farmers prefer to serve it directly to the chicken, while others put the medicine in a container and leave the chicken to drink it when they are thirsty.
Bukenya also says using medicinal plants saves farmers losses due to outbreaks of diseases. “Since some of the farmers cannot afford to buy modern poultry drugs, medicinal plants work as a substitute,” he says.
Ziraba presented the research during a symposium on drugs discovery from African flora, organised by the Natural Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa.
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