Summer months are supposed to be the peak season for nungu (ice apple).
This perception, however, appears to be out of place this year. Unusually this year, roadside sellers of nungu are not easy to find.
The decreased availability of nungu, farmers say, is a corollary to drying up of a number of palm trees that were hitherto considered most drought-resistant.
The trees that thrive in sandy soils are no more ubiquitous in the rural landscape of Erode district. Farmers are deeply worried as several hundreds of palm trees are drying up just like the coconut trees, indicating that the ground water level has plummeted drastically.
There is no scope for reviving the dying palm trees. Of course, when there is normal rainfall, new saplings could be planted. But, the farmers will have to wait for growth and flowering for years, Sakthivel, a nungu seller at Surampatti said.
Surprisingly, the supply-demand theory is not working in their favour. Sellers are scratching their heads since, though scarce, there has been no surge in the sale of ice apple.
