It’s 7 am and the sun glares through the frizzy foliage of the 1,000-odd palm trees that stand prettily in a row along the banks of a dry brook. G Kalasamy, clad in a checkered lungi that’s carefully folded and tied above his knees, folds his hands in veneration before one of the trees. A dried flower garland dangles from a nail on the tree’s trunk and the 46-year-old touches the ochre soil thrice before tucking the sickle into the cloth around his waist. He hugs the tree and hops on to it like a toad, clinging on to the trunk with his hands and feet moving in unison. Within seconds, he’s atop the 40-foot tree, camouflaged amidst the thick and thorny palm leaves. He strikes sickle, sending bunches of palm fruit to the ground with a thud.
A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL: Row of palm trees on the Sivaganga Road, Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Photo: G. Moorthy
Extending for close to two kilometres, the palm grove at Vilathur Colony is one of the last few that once dotted the Madurai - Sivaganga Road. Ever since Kalasamy took it on lease, he has been selling nungu from the grove. “There’s another big palm forest near Tirumangalam, which is probably the largest in the district. That’s where I get the pathaneer from. But the number of palm trees are rapidly coming down every year,” Kalasamy expresses concern.
Palm seeds to be sown
Some 250 kilometre away, in Peruvilai village of Kanyakumari district, 25-year-old Anand Lal and friends gather palm seeds on weekends and have been sowing them along agriculture fields. Similarly, in the interiors of Tirupur district, young Ashok Kumar has been sensitising people towards palm conservation and propagating the seeds in private lands. P R Vishwanath, a youth environmentalist, has sown over 4,000 palm seeds over the past three years along the banks of tanks in the outskirts of Madurai.
Volunteers sowing palm seeds in Kanyakumari district
Godson Samuel, a Nature lover, has organised an initiative called Panai Nadu (Palmyra Nation), roping in youngsters across Tamil Nadu to conserve the State tree that’s fast vanishing from the face of the earth. “The first step towards conservation is to bring back the palm in to our daily routine. When apples from Kashmir are easily available here, why doesn’t the local palm fruit arrive at our dining tables?”asks Samuel.
Apart from the felling of trees, one major reason for the disappearance of the palm is the exclusion of palm-based foods utility products from our lifestyle, feels Samuel. “If people started eating palm fruits habitually, it will lead to natural seed disbursal. The palm groves were once inhabited by foxes that fed on the fruit, thus keeping the cycle running. But mass hunting of foxes have led to the degeneration of the ecosystem of palm groves.”
Conscious sowing of seeds is necessary to rejuvenate the decreasing palm population. “Though the seed may take over 12 to 15 years to grow into an adult tree and bear fruit, propagation of seeds is the only way of giving back to Nature. Unlike coconut or mango trees, palm trees are never cultivated and now it’s time we do that to restore the ecological balance. We are spreading awareness on why everyone should grow a palm tree in their lifetime,” explains Samuel.
And so, Panai Nadu has been conducting mass seed-sowing drives across schools, colleges and private lands. “We teach people how to collect and sow seeds,” says Anand Lal. “In Kanyakumari, we have collected around 10,000 seeds and sown over 5,000 so far. There were 25,00,000 palmyra trees in the district three decades ago , but now the numbers are less than a million. The heavy damage during Ockhi cyclone can be attributed to the lack of palm trees; they act as a wind arrester along the coast.”
Tree talk
Sangam Literature records the palm tree as the native of the neithal (coastal) region, however, they are found in all districts of Tamil Nadu, except the Nilgiris. Ramanathapuram has the highest concentration of palm groves
Called as panjam pokki and karpaga tharu, the palm tree is closely associated with the ancient Tamil landscape and civilisation
Eating nungu indirectly contributes to palm destruction, as the pre-mature seeds are eaten and not allowed to pave way for a new generation of trees
The seeds have to be sown in pits that are six inches deep and dug seven feet apart. The male and female species of palm trees grow in a 1:1 ratio. The palm is a water conserving tree and is drought resistant.
