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BORASSUS PALM

Borassus  palm species stands adopted by the Chairman of the Palm Promoters Society, Mr.G.V.S Reddy for reasons of genealogical and family traditions allegiance and its multi utility and spiritual status. All age old Indian classic literature like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam, Vedas, Puranas, Yoga, Natya, Astrology shastra  stand etched on borassus palm leaves, and preserved, and  passed on to subsequent  generations. It is very hardy and versatile come relishing a wide range of habitat from arid to cool climates, sea coasts to high altitude mountain ranges, form rich to barren, alkaline, degraded soils. It starts yielding fruits and 7-15 litres of sap per day for about 2-3 months in a year from 5-14 years of age for more than 100 years. Its taller variety grows upto 100 ft while dwarf variety grows up to 40 fit. Its number of utilities seem infinite  and an ancient Indian Tamil language poem titled ‘ tala vilasam’ enlists no fewer than 800 uses. Its sprouting tubers are considered a delicacy meal in southern India. They are very nutritious. Many substitute these tubers to working lunch. Its kernels known as ‘munjalu’  in Telugu are called ‘ice apples’ are in high demand in the summer season. The palm promoters society is the first to pick up the dwarf variety from Bihar state of north India and spread to parts of southern India to fill the gap in demand for neera. Dwarf borassus is suitable to be grown in homesteads, communities, and field boundaries while taller varieties need to be promoted in open lands and deep forests. Borassus palms are robust, fire resistant, windbreakers, and shelter to many birds and animals. Each female palm can yield up to 150 bulky, sweet and nutritious fruits of which humans and forest animals like elephants, deer, camels, monkeys, wild boars, bears are very mad. Spreading them in deep forests can help in providing summer time food to forest animals, and confining to deep forests reduces the chances of coming to agricultural crops, and dwellings leading to conflict with humans. They being fire resistant can save many creatures in times of forest like that of recent amazon, and Australian because of their high canopy and fire resistant strong bole. Many governments started sowing them in interior agricultural fields to save labor from lightning, which is the 2nd most natural calamity after floods causing human casualties. Their sap, fruits, and serve as natural ready made sources of nutrition food in usual and unusual times of prolonged multiple famines, and pandemics, and failure of supply chains. Thus they serve the dual purpose of reshaping our food system and sinking carbon footprints. Father of India Mahatma Gandhi advocated growing these palms as panacea for poverty and hunger, and its seet neera sap for its nutritional value. It figured high in Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry. Many local varieties of borassus palms are available in different parts of the world. Promoting dwarf varieties like that of Bihar region is desirable as it yields early and contains 2-3 kernels. The African variety (borassus aethiopum) yields late and contains only one kernel. Improvisation of Indian dwarf variety which is not much known to the outside world  with tissue culture is urgently needed in this species for more effectively  serving as the source of food and carbon sinker.

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