Abstract:

The high incidence of ecto-parasit is one of the major constraints to livestock production system in Ethiopia. In order to control various external parasites, ethno veterinary medicine is widely practiced by poor village farmers. Ethno-veterinary medicine is the community-based local or indigenous knowledge and methods of caring for healing and managing livestock. Medicinal herbs are the plants that are used for healing purposes. Resource-poor village farmers in Ethiopia rely on ancestral indigenous knowledge to control various parasitic diseases. The plants that used for the control of tick are: capurinia aurea, nicotiana tabacum L, clausena anisata and Rulus ruspolii; for mange parasite: carica papaya and capluria aurea; for leech infestation: zingibera officinale, and lippie tanica. All these plants are practiced in different parts of Ethiopian villages. All plant parts including leaves, bark, fruits, flowers, seeds and roots are used in medicinal preparations. The most common forms of EVM preparations are powders, poultice, ointment, infusion, tincture and fumigation. The most common form of administration methods are: topical application, spray, drenching, bathing and fumigation. Two important ways of preserving ethno vet medicines are storing them in a dry form or in a liquid form as a decoction. There are different methods of crud extraction. Percolation, aqeousalcoholic extraction by fermentation, counter current extraction and phytonics process are routinely used. The use of ethno veterinary medicine can be considered sustainable as it is economical, culturally acceptable and ecologically sound. Although village farmers claim that these practices are effective, there is an urgent need for applied research to substantiate their assertions.