MEDICINAL PLANTS OF IMA KEITHELS, IMPHAL, MANIPUR

AMBIKA PRASAD RESEARCH FOUNDATION, MANIPUR

Urbanization is spreading the green cover at alarming rate specifically in the developing countries like India (Imam and Banerjee, 2016). As per census 1901, 11.4% of total population of India is residing in urban areas which crossed 31% in 2011 census (Kavita and Gayathri, 2017). The most urbanized states of the country are Maharashtra followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala as per census 2001 (Kadi and Nelavigi, 2015). These reflects the development and economy of the country but also leads to hazardous issues including water and air pollution, biodiversity loss and hence disbalance the environment (Kelly and Fussell, 2015). At the present scenario, most part of the country is facing the negative impacts of urbanization, including the green patch of the country, the North-Eastern region of India (Yadav and Sharma, 2013). This  leads to develop the two biodiversity hotspots in the region namely; Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and Eastern Himalayas Biodiversity Hotspot (Singh, 2016). The North-East India hosts about 13,500 plant species in  the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot region of India and about 10,000 species in the Eastern Himalayas biodiversity hotspot of which many are endemic in both areas (Mahanta, 2015) . The people of North-Eastern region use food and medicinal from the plant and animal wealth of the respective state (Mao et al, 2009). The traditional food and medicine are obtained by nearby forest areas and used in various forms. The rural and tribal communities of the regions used to sell them for their livelihood. These foods are good for health as per the climatic conditions (Debbarma et al., 2017). The rapid urbanisation in these areas are going to vanish the traditional food and medicine which are intimately connected to their sociocultural, economical, spiritual life (Satterthwaite et al., 2010). Among the eight state of north-east region of the country, Manipur is well known for its ethnic food comprising few medicinal plants in its recopies (Lokho, 2012). The state is bounded by Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam and Myanmar having 22,327 km² with 3 million populations along with Meitei, Loi, Yaithibi, Kuki and Naga communities (Mathur, 2011). The ethnic group Meitei represents 53% of the total population of state and most are settled in the capital city Imphal (Ningombam and Singh, 2014). The women of Meitei community are known for their role in conservation and utilization of medicinal plants. They run markets in Imphal city with the name of “IMA” where they sell all the medicinal food in the market thereby playing a significant role in the conservation and sustainability of the medicinal plants (Devi et al., 2010). At present scenario, city is growing and facing the negative impact of urbanization (Dociu and Dunarintu, 2012). Keeping in view all the above facts; an attempt has been made to enumerate the medicinal plants available in the IMA market which has food and medicinal value. The present study highlights the following for the urban areas:

a)Importance of urban medicinal plants.

b)Importance of IMA market in the conservation of traditional medicinal food.

c) Role of woman in the conservation of medicinal plants of Manipur.

d)Importance of urban bio wealth for screening of nutraceutical to fight against various diseases and disorders of the state.

Beans diversity at IMA Keithels, Imphal, Manipur