A t Perur, the land lies limp and helpless under the glowering mid-day sun, much like a fish pinned by the talons of an Osprey. The vegetation is sparse and unremarkable. Chennai’s Great Salt Lake doglegs through the expanse, heightening the sense of desolation. There is a harshness to the whole picture; and it takes a stand of trees to smoothen it. Tall and upright, the palmyra-palm trees dominate the landscape. Likely to be many decades old, these trees are in their elements.
“Palmyra-palm trees, known by the binomial name borassus flabellifer , are drought-resistant and can survive even the harshest of seasons and conditions. It does not need any special care,” says botanist Devanathan Krishnamoorthy, mentee of renowned botanist and member of Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board Prof. D. Narasimhan.
Low-maintenance, the palmyra tree has an impressive cost-to-benefit ratio. Accounts of its uses may come across as hyperbole, but experience would show that these trees have more uses than one can shake a stick at – after all, there is a government body that functions just to manufacture, promote and market products derived from palmyra trees.
It is the Tamil Nadu Palm Products Development Board, which has its main office at Kuralagam. On Gengu Reddy Road in Egmore, there is a Tamilnadu State Palmgur & Fibre Marketing Co-operative Federation Ltd., which comes under the Board, and markets the products, working on a cooperative model.
“At the basic level, there are 720 cooperative societies across the state consisting of farm artisans who make products based on palmyra trees,” says Navin Kumar from the co-operative federation.
It is that time of the year when palm trees just mean succulent and tender palm fruits and neera, which is derived from palm sap. Every day, neera is processed and packed in sachets at the facility in Egmore and sent to various outlets across the city.
“Earlier, neera was sourced from IIT-M campus and Madhavaram. Now, every day, our vehicles head out of the city early in the morning and travel 112 kilometres to Kadapakkam on East Coast Road to buy neera from cooperative societies. It is around noon, when the vehicles would reach our facility in Egmore, and then the processing, subsequent packaging and distribution work of neera are all carried out,” explains Navin.
Besides the eatables, which also include palm sugar and chocolates, the concept of palm products encompasses the making of cleaning tools such as brushes.
With the world looking for natural and sustainable alternatives to plastics, this may be the time to promote existing palm fibre based products made by the Federation and also create new lines of products. Besides, plamyra’s role as an ecological regulator should be emphasised.
It is said that farm artisans constituting the palm-products cooperative societies are urged to grow palmyra-palms, on lake bunds and other places. Beyond farm artisans, even residents in urban parts should be encouraged to plant palmyra trees where they could be optimally useful. For this to happen, the spotlight should be kept on the benefits of having palmyra trees in one's neck of the woods.
Ecological benefits
“Palmyra-palm trees grow well on sandy soil, and that explains why one will usually find them in good numbers along coastal areas. When they are found inland, usually, they would be found planted around waterbodies and along river beds. Our forbears instinctively understood palmyra trees’ ability to hold the soil. Palmyra trees have fibrous roots that make them efficient soil binders. There are now research articles that call attention to palmyra trees’ ability to recharge the ground water table. As plamyras have a fibrous root system, each root functions like the main root, and they let multiple probes into the earth looking for water,” explains Devanathan.
"Twin" plamyra trees overlooking the Great Salt Lake in Perur. Photo: Prince Frederick
"Twin" plamyra trees overlooking the Great Salt Lake in Perur. Photo: Prince Frederick
Economic benefits
A palmyra tree can supply materials that go into the construction of houses. Devanathan points out that the base of a palmyra tree can serve as a pillar, and the stem can go into the making of rafters. “In Cuddalore, next to our house is my uncle’s which remains unchanged.
The wooden rafters used in the house had been sourced from palm trees, and according to my estimation, the rafters must be 200 years old, and yet they show no signs of disintegrating even mildly. Palmyra leaves can be used for thatching; and the petiole part of the leaves can be used for making ropes.”
Food items
The sweet palm sap is one of the most popular food items to be derived from palmyra trees. “By adding calcium carbonate to the palm sap, neera is obtained. It is high on nutritious value. Palm jaggery has high mineral content. The tender palm fruits are a body coolant.
The ripe palm fruits are rich in micro-nutrients. Palm prophyll (where pro is “first” and phyll is “leaf”) is edible, and has high fibrous content; it is called panai kizhangu in Tamil; panai kizhangu may be boiled and dried and then turned into power which can be used to make food items like adai and dosai ,” says Devanathan.
Value-added products
Devanatan continues, “ Panai kizhangu powder is exported. The fibres extracted from palmyra trees can go into the making of cleaning materials like brushes and brooms. Mats, boxes, hats and umbrellas can be made using palm leaves.
Palm leaves are used considerably in handicraft making. Sunshades made with palm material are also popular.” Devanathan says that the search for organic alternatives has led to a revival of interest in palm products, and adds that the efforts have to gain in intensity.
Empowering farm artisans who make palm products is one of the measures that will move things in the right direction.
