Banjari and Gond Traditional Medicine Plants of Katni Forest

Katni eastern forests shelter Gond and Banjari communities with herbalist knowledge of the Vindhya-Satpura transition zone. Safed musali — Chlorophytum borivilianum — is found in shaded forest floors and is highly prized as a general tonic, classified in Ayurveda as Ashwagandha alternative. Gond healers apply it in formulations for convalescence and debility. Banyan aerial root decoction is used for diabetes. Arjuna bark prepared as a milk decoction — kshirapaka — is the primary cardiac tonic. The demand for wild-collected safed musali has made it critically scarce; healer families now cultivate small plots under the forest canopy to sustain supply. The Katni forest division runs an NTFP cultivation training programme teaching traditional collectors sustainable harvesting and cultivation techniques for high-value medicinal plants.