The Himalaya also comprises diverse human groups, which differ in terms of language, culture, tradition, religion and pattern of resources use (Sharma et al., 2005).

Himachal Pradesh, a north Indian state, lies in western part of the Himalayan range with variation in altitude, rainfall and temperature. Average elevations above mean sea levels vary from 350 to 7000 m and the climate is typically temperate. It has a forest cover of 26% (FSI, 2013). Himachal Pradesh is home to a sizeable tribal population like the Gaddis, Pangwals, Kinnauras, Lahulis, Bhots and Gujjars. Nomadic graziers use sub-alpine and alpine pastures for rearing their livestock. Due to ever-increasing demand of animal products, the livestock population has increased manifold, thereby increasing pressure on these pastures (Suri, 2014).

Nomadic tribes rearing sheep and goats move their livestock throughout the year in search of fodder and pastures. They move from high hills to low hills and vice versa and move throughout the year, leaving for low hills and plains with the commencement of winter season and returning to their villages in summer season. Shepherds move from high hills in the month of July towards mid hills, and finally by September-October reach low hills and plains where they settle temporally upto March, and again start their return journey for high hills.The routes followed are century’s old. Their duration of stay both during migration and reverse migration often differs. The carvans generally move along the roads for convenience and avoid traffic. Every year the movement of shepherds is in the early morning and the routes of migration and reverse migration differ and there is no set pattern to the variation (Suri, 2014).

Although in the state of Himachal Pradesh, it is very difficult to make an exact estimate of the migratory goat and sheep population it has been reported that these constitute about 70% of the total goat and sheep (Misri, 1998). The recent trend of nomadic herders settling in hospitable climates has brought agriculture and other occupations to front and shepherding taking the secondary position (Biswas and Rao, 2016). Wild edible plants have supported human populations in all inhabited continents (Khyade et al., 2009) and the relationship between the surroundings and their indigenous people form the subject of ethnobotany dealing with the study of plants used by people for medicine, clothing and food (Jain and De, 1996). The majority of ethnobotanical surveys and reviews focus on medicinal plants. Native knowledge of wild plants is important for sustained utilization of these edible plant species (Kapoor, 1978; Arora, 1981; Jain, 1987; Jasmine et al., 2007) and the availability of enormous diversity of wild plants has attracted attention of researchers over time (Joshi et al., 2018). However, there is still paucity of detailed information and documentation of wild edible plants in the country and Himachal  Pradesh  is  no  exception  to  this; and the available information is sparse and scattered (Arora and Pandey, 1996).

In the recent past, prominence of wild plants in food and other nutraceutical uses has gained importance and, as a result, there is extractive pressure on these plant resources. Extraction of these edible plants (like Picrorhiza kurrooa, Rhododendron arboretum, Bauhinia variegata, Cannabis sativa, Morchella esculenta, Ficus palmata, Dioscorea deltidea, Zanthoxylem armatum, Asparagus filcinus, Juglans regia, Ephedra gerardiana, medicinal and aromatic plants, etc.) is already popular even amongst urban people. This is now putting increased market pressures on these species with the rural people realizing the supplementary income generation and nutritional potential of these plants (Jana and Chauhan, 1998). Therefore, there has been a revival of interest in survey, identification and documentation of wild edible plants during the last few decades (Jasmine, 2007).

Furthermore, the shepherds who are always on the move throughout the year are mostly dependent upon the wild food and fruits available as they move and no much studies have been conducted to know about the use of wild plants as food by migratory shepherds in Himachal Pradesh. With this aim in view the present studies were conducted to know the wild edible plants used by shepherds during migration. It was also aimed to analyze the migration route of shepherds from upper regions to the foot hills of the Himalayas.

Himachal Pradesh is one of the most fascinating mountainous state of India (Figure 1). Nestled in the lap of the Western Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh is located almost in the center of the Himalayan mountain range and is a land of remarkable bio-geographical diversity (Kayastha, 1971). The present study is undertaken in Himachal Pradesh situated between 30°22’40’’-33°12’40’’ N latitude and 75°45’55’’-79°04’20’’E longitude, covering an area of 55,675 sq Km. Physiographycally, the state consists of three discrete regions, the outer Himalaya, mid hills and greater Himalaya. The outer Himalaya, also called Shivalik hills, ranges from 350 to 1,500 m a.m.s.l. The mid hills cover an area up to 3,500 m. The greater Himalaya also called as high altitude alpine zone generally starts from an elevation of 3,510 m and above. It includes higher altitude areas of Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahul-Spiti districts and Pangi valley of Chamba district. Because of varied altitudinal variations and climatic conditions, the state is enriched by diverse plant species, which include around 3,400 species of flowering plants ranging from tropical to alpine zone (Kaur and Sharma, 2004). The unique feature of Himachal Pradesh is the presence of fodder and fruit trees, shrub and herbs throughout the state (Thakur and Puri, 2016).

The present study documents the use of wild edible foods (plants and / or plant parts) by the tribal migratory shepherds of Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh. A total of five field surveys were carried out taking into account the migratory route of the shepherds from high alpine region to low foot hills. In the higher reaches of Kinnaur district the Kinnaure  (shepherds)  started  movement  from five different villages of Kinnaur and they were Chitkul, Rakchham, Batseri, Sangla, and Kamru. Besides the place of origin of shepherds surveys were done for four other sites namely–Chopal, (mid hills),Churdhar (mid hills), Renukaji (low hills) and Poanta Sahib (low hills). These four places were their part of migratory route (Figure 2). The migratory shepherd’s groups were randomly selected and interviewed during field trips shown in Figure 4 (Khanna and Ramesh, 2000).

Shepherds migration from Chitkul (3,450 m), Rakchham (3,100 m), Batseri (2,700 m), Sangla (2,600 m), and Kamru (2,700 m) starts in the month of July. These sites situated at high altitude remain cut-off from rest of the world for about 3-4 months due to heavy snowfall and harsh environment conditions during winters. The information on wild edible plants was collected using a pretested questionnaire, through participatory observation and discussion during July 2017 to August 2018. The specimens of edible plants being used by shepherds were collected, dried and mounted on herbarium sheets, with label information describing when and where they were collected. Plants were identified either in the field itself or with the help of experts from Botanical Survey of India, and Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Vouchers of plants were places in the herbarium of the Shoolini University, Solan (BSI, 1996).

Harsh environmental conditions and non-availability of feed cause seasonal migration of shepherds. It is a traditional process in the tribes of higher Himalayan region. It was observed that most of the shepherds start migration from  their  villages  in  the  month  of  July  and August and in October there is no migration as the winters sets in. The shepherds move in a group of 5-6 comprising their own family members (Table 1). The migratory flock includes both sheep and goats and size of the flock is huge and varied from 654 to 990 (Table 1). Irrespective of their origin of migration the shepherds move first to grazing sites in Chopal in Shimla district. The shepherds also take along with them 2-4 horses (local hardy breeds) for carrying provisions and tents (Kumaravelu et al., 2008).

Often four to five dogs also accompany the shepherds and, in fact, these dogs are trained in protecting the sheep and goats from wild animals and also keep the flock together. The disparity of flock size generally is an indicator of status of farmer’s livestock holding capacity. The present study also indicated that shepherds having high number of flock are comparatively well off compared to those with less number (Table 1). Many studies have reported that flock size is directly associated with migration distance, flock with larger size travel longer distance as compared to small sized flocked (Kumaravelu et al., 2008; Balamurugan et al., 2012). In our study it was found that irrespective of flock size, the shepherds travel same distance. In the second stage, the shepherds then move to Churdhar ranges and from here to Renukaji in Sirmour district. The routes of migration are generally fixed and proper permission is obtained from the authorities for the purpose. Finally, in the months of September-October  they reach the  low  hills  in  Poanta- Sahib in Sirmour district and temporarally settle here upto the month of March, and start their return journey to their respective places by end March (spring season). Similar study on seasonal migration of Bakkarwals and Gujjars tribes from high hills to low hills has been carried out in Jammu and Kashmir (Suri, 2014).

The present studies revealed that the livelihood of shepherd’s family is dependent either getting food and fruits from the forests / trees on the path they transect and selling the meat and milk products from their herds. The wild plants not only serve as their food but also for their livestock. It was observed that during their  migration from upper hills to lower hills, a total of 50 species (Figure 3) were being used by the migratory shepherds and a few of these belonged to the same families, all these plants are integral part of shepherd’s diet during migration (Tables 2 to 5). The collection of various plants and plant parts varied from plant to plant, depending upon their availability and usability; both as those (1) consumed raw and (11) used after cooking. During their seasonal migration the shepherds are much dependent on forest products for their requirements of fruits, vegetables and medicines (Thakur and Puri, 2016).

As the shepherds move from their place of  origin  (high hills) towards the lower hills the plant species varies with altitude. In the higher hills 23 species (herbs, shrubs and trees) were found to be consumed by the shepherds (Table 2).  Interestingly, the shepherds informed that their preference for food is Morchella esculenta (Fungi) as it is one of the delicacy in food in their tribe. Similarly, in the mid hills 31 plant species were found to be taken as food as the shepherds move towards Shimla hills (Table 3). It was observed that some edible species like Chenopodium album, Cannabis sativa, Dioscorea deltodea, Hippophae salicifolia, Juglans regia, Myrsine africana, Oxalis corniculata, Rumex hastatus  and  Urtica  palviflora  were also present in  higher  hill  regions  (Table  3).  However, there are many others (numbering 22) which are new to their diet. From mid hills as the shepherds move towards lower  hills  (Poanta-Sahib),  they   encounter  34  type  of edible species (Table 4). Among these it was observed that 50% of these species are used as fruit. The use of many of these edible species has been already reported in many surveys from different parts of Himachal Pradesh (Monika et al., 2016; Thakur and Puri, 2016).

It is evident from Tables 2 to 4 that most of the plants or their parts are being used as fruits and vegetables. While  the  fruits  are  often consumed as raw, vegetables are used after cooking and in some cases these are also used as salad. Number of plants being used for collection of fruits ranged from 9 in high hills to 21 in the low hills (Table 5). In the high hills, some parts of the plants were also used as herbal tea and further for oral hygiene. Number of species used for oral hygiene is relatively higher in low and mid  hills  than  in  high hills. Other uses include the use of plants or plant parts as  condiments or as edible seeds/nuts. Ethno-botanical uses of wild plants and plant products obtained from the environment without any cost have been already reported from many states of India  (Tambe and Rawat, 2009).

The shepherds during migration generally move along   the   roadside   and    rarely   adopt   bridal pathways or shortcuts. For their own stay they use makeshift tents and shift tents frequently within 5 to 6 days. There is always scarcity of food and fodder for themselves and livestock.  For this they explore   adjoining   areas,   particularly  degraded lands, allow fields and village commons. It was interesting  to  note  that  their  migration  patterns closely mirrors the seasonal availability of natural food and fodder. Tambe and Rawat (2009) also observed in Khangchendzonga National Park that migration movements match with seasonal fodder resource availability. Shepherds during enroute migration face constraints like food, fodder, water deficit, veterinary facilities, wild animals, predators and sometimes road accidents of their livestock. Such constraints have also been reported by many previous studies (Rao et al., 2011; Suresh et al., 2011; Kaintura et al., 2017). The livelihood of shepherds and their family members is also met through selling of meat (of sheep and goat) and dairy products (milk, yoghurt, butter etc.).

The shepherds are very close to nature as they spend most of their time in forests and pastures with their livestock. They move with their livestock in search of quality grazing lands; and while on the move during migration they depend on local wild edible plants as their food. Unfortunately, deforestation activities and the changing climatic conditions have made availability of wild edible plants as a scarce resource to the migratory shepherds. Plants and plant products play an important role in the lives of these shepherds. The critical review of the past work done and the results of this survey suggest that wild edible plants are very important for migratory shepherds living in tribal areas in Himachal Pradesh. It is also emphasized that sufficient interest has not been put in conserving and promoting traditional wild edible plants. The need is to adopt large scale plantation of these wild edible plants within the forests as well as along roadsides so that the migratory shepherds are benefitted.

This study is an approach to promote the wild edible plants that are richly existing in the rural regions to the global level. Wild edible plants are  easy to available from our surroundings without any cost and provide substantial health and economic assistances to those who depend on them. It is now clear that efforts to conserve wild edible plants and preserve traditional food systems and farming practices need to be enhanced and combined.

Future work

Further research focusing on these wild edible plants might give information regarding the bioactive compounds to fight diseases in an effective manner. For future public awareness and community based management needs to be encouraged.  Research on indigenous wild edible plants should also be taken up and disseminate the results so to have diversity in diet.

The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.

The author is deeply thankful to the migratory shepherdsof the study area along with local inhabitants for their input and cooperation during the course of this work. He is highly thankful to Forest Research Institute Dehradun (Uttrakhand) and Botanical Survey of India Dehradun (Uttrakhand) for specimens identification.