Urban agriculture in the semi-arid

production of medicinal plants in the sertão baiano

Abstract

The agroecological-based urban agriculture strengthens the production of medicinal plants that historically are part of the daily life of the population interested in valuing ancestral healing practices through natural or alternative therapeutic methods to allopathic medicine. Local initiatives include a broader logic of valuing popular knowledge, the work that men and women commonly do in rural productive farms. The purpose of this study is to map the plant species cultivated and commercialized in the Community Garden of the Urban Social Center in the Bairro Alto do Alencar, in Juazeiro / BA. The results revealed that of the 122 beds, 61% are occupied with medicinal herbs that meet the demands of a local population, with the regular supply of basil, mallow, mastruz, holy leaf and tanchagem among other species.  The cultivation of herbs is associated with that of vegetables and is part of a recent concern with the promotion of health, through the consumption of agroecological products.