The most frequently cited vegetables were commonly cultivated species, which reflects the fact that plants cultivated on a large scale comprise the major source of vegetables. The possible reason was that we counted only the vegetables that were from entirely wild sources as “wild vegetables”. Nevertheless, the diversity of wild vegetables was seemingly relatively low. The diversity and local knowledge of healthy vegetables in central Myanmar were rich. Twenty-eight species of vegetables were collected from wild places. Sixty-four species were recorded in selected herbal books on traditional Myanmar medicine, and forty-seven taxa were not recorded in these books but were nonetheless used as healthy vegetables by local people. The main health function of the vegetables was treating digestive problems. Most (106 taxa, 80.3%) of these vegetables were cited by the informants as functional foods that had health benefits, while others were regarded as merely “good for health”.
ResultsĪ total of 132 plant taxa from 47 botanical families and 116 genera were collected. Quantitative analysis, including frequency of citation (FC), relative frequency of citation (RFC) and use value (UV), was used to assess the diversity and local knowledge of these vegetables. We compared the local knowledge we collected with selected important and typical herbal books on traditional Myanmar medicine. A total of 277 vegetable stalls or shops were visited. Observations and interviews were used in the field study, and 10 markets and fairs were selected in central Myanmar. Thus, we collected and documented typical vegetables and local knowledge in local markets and then analysed the diversity and local knowledge of these vegetables.
Local healthy foods and knowledge are regarded as treasures for resource development and pharmaceutical drug discovery, and market surveys are a good strategy in ethnobotanical research. Despite being the core region of the country, central Myanmar has been ignored in previous ethnobotanical studies. “So if you want to claim that you’re a full-fledged nuclear-armed state, it tends to undercut your message if you keep testing.Central Myanmar is located in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, and the Bamar people are the main ethnic group, which settled there over 1000 years ago. “Nobody else does it anymore,” said Joshua Pollack, a senior research associate with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, in California. The North’s declaration that it will end its underground testing and close the Punggye-ri site could just as well be interpreted as a move to bolster Kim’s claim that his country is now a responsible nuclear power and appease the concerns of its neighbour and economic lifeline, China. None of this is necessarily about denuclearization. The talks later fell apart, and the reactor at Yongbyon is once again producing plutonium. The move prompted Washington to take North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism and lift some sanctions. With international talks to dismantle its nuclear program underway in 2008, North Korea called in the foreign media to film the demolition of a 20-meter-tall cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. Veteran North Korea watchers note that we have been to this rodeo before. He believes it was a “demonstration-of-principle device” that was not designed to be small or light enough to be delivered by missile. Wright said the North’s most recent test is a prime example.
“North Korea certainly would need more tests to have any confidence in its H-bomb,” said physicist David Wright, co-director of the global security program of the Union of Concerned Scientists. While the North has demonstrated beyond a doubt that it can produce viable, high-yield nuclear weapons, many experts believe it could still benefit considerably by conducting more tests. Kim’s claim that such tests are no longer needed may have an element of bravado to it. Photo by DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company via AP / AP This April 20, 2018, satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Korea. All of its tests have been carried out at Punggye-ri, in the country’s mountainous northeast interior.īefore Kim’s announcement, North Korea was the only country that still conducted underground tests.
Its most recent and most powerful explosion, which the North claims tested a hydrogen bomb, was in September. North Korea has conducted six underground nuclear tests since 2006. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.