We are living in a green planet with plenty of natural plant resources around us. Economic botany is the study of the relationship between people and plants and the uses of plants in economy. It deals with plants in relation to human welfare as food, clothing, shelter and medicine, either directly or indirectly. Plants bring about economy to the country to a large extent: the wealth of any country largely depends upon its agriculture and plant products.
1. Economic Botany – An Introduction
- Direct use: food, clothing, shelter and medicine.
- Indirect use: the needs of man's livestock and the maintenance of the environment. The benefits may be domestic, commercial, environmental or aesthetic.
- From the earliest time, rice, wheat and millet have been the staple food of a vast population of India. This is shown by the presence of charred grains in most of the excavation sites.
- Ancient literature has abundant references to the existence and usage of several crops of economic importance.