Palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer L.) as a bio-shield: Conservation and disaster reduction options in Tamil Nadu, India. M. PANDIAN (1) P. POORNIMA (2) and S.NATARAJAN (3) (1) Research Scholar, Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, G.S. Gill Research Institute, Gurunanak College (Autonomous), Velacherry, Chennai - 600 042, Tamil Nadu, India. (2) Assistant Conservator of Forest, Koraput Division, Odisha. (3) Head of the Department, Plant Biology & Bio-Technology, G.S. Gill Research Institute, Gurunanak College (Autonomous), Velacherry, Chennai - 600 042, Tamil Nadu, India. ABSTRACT Tamil Nadu is a state with rich population of panai (Borassus flabellifer L.). Tamil Nadu is famous for its palmyrah tapping village industries. The state tree of Tamil Nadu, Palmyrah, has historical importance and has been quoted in ancient sangam literatures, as well as worshipped by Tamil people. It has rich medicinal values, gives food, shelter and employment to rural artisans. Its population has been steadily decreasing in the last couple of decades due to industrialization, urbanization, dwindling of cultivable lands, indiscriminate felling, as well as lack of awareness among the general public about its economic importance. Accurate census however would unearth the real status of palmyrah population in the state. B. flabellifer has the ability to withstand even cyclonic storms and acts as wind barrier along the coastal regions besides giving employment to rural people. Keywords: Palmyrah; Palmgur; wealth; Destruction; Save. 1. Introduction: Borassus flabellifer L. (Palmyrah Palm) belongs to the family Arecaceae. In Tamil it is called Panai or Karumpanai, Karimpana (Malayalam) Tal (Sanskrit), Trinaraaj (Hindhi), Taala (Bengali), Tadichettu (Telugu) and Tala Mara (Kannada). It is called "Karpaga Vriksha" and is one of the sacred trees in Tamil Nadu. It provides food, shelter and raw materials for rural handicrafts. From the root to fruit of the tree the species is useful to mankind. Tamil Nadu Government had declared Palmyrah Palm as State Tree in 1978. Palakkad District of Kerala State is popularly called as "land of Palmyrah trees". It is also the National symbol of Cambodia and the country s flag has palmyrah symbol. Still many palmyrah trees are found around Angkor wat temple in Cambodia. It is also the symbol of south Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It grows in wild from the Persian Gulf to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, which includes India, Srilanka, Malaysia and Myanmar and also in the warmer regions of Hawaii and Florida. (Mortin J.F, 1988) 8 The Oldest Tamil grammar work Tholkappiam" mentions the Palmyrah flag of Balarama. Thiruvalluvar also has quoted Panai (Palmyrah) thrice in Thirukkural. Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador who visited India during the period of Chandragupta Mourya quoted about palmgur. Nakkheerar, in Puranaanaru verse 56, also praised Balarama carrying Palmyrah flag and plough. Palmyrah is the Sthala Vriksha (sacred tree) in many temples in the State of Tamil Nadu. For example, Palmyrah tree is the Sthala Vriksha of Panangatteeswarar temple, Panaiyapuram, Villupuram District, Patteeswaraswamy temple (Perur), Coimbatore, Vedhapurishwarar temple, Thiruvannamalai District, Nallinganeswarar temple, Kancheepuram District and Vaishnava temples in Thimmarajapuram and Tirukurungudi in Tirunelveli Districts. The practice of worshiping Panai is also prevalent among a section of people in Kannyakumari, Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram Districts. Likewise, villages are also named with the prefix Panai like Panaikulam, Kurumpanai, Kunjapanai, Panaiyur, Panaiyapuram etc. (Panchavarnam. R, 2016) (11). 37
Palmyrah palm symbol was in the flag of Cheras one of the ancient Tamil Nadu ruler. In Sangam Tamil Literature, Palmyrah tree is said to be worshipped by people of "Neithal landscape" (sea shore and its surrounding areas). Alamperi Sathanar, in Natrinai verse 303, said that there was a Palmyrah tree in the meeting place of the village and the tree had a huge stem where God resides. (http:// tamilandvedas.com) (4) In Sri Lanka, Palmyrah tree, known as Panai or Panam in Tamil and Thal Gaha in Sinhala, grows mostly in northern and eastern provinces and it is known to be a valuable economic plant species. It also symbolises the Jaffna Peninsula. Moreover, the 2000 year old Sangam literature and Sri Lanka's Chronicle "Mahavamsam" specifically mentioned that Palmyrah trees were abodes of Gods. The earliest form of Sanskrit writing was made on Palm leaves some 6000 years ago (Ferguson, 1888) [2]. Ancient Tamil scripts have also been found in dried Palm leaves. Such a practice has been in vogue for Thousands of years in many parts of peninsular India. While referring to the Palmyrah trees of Travancore State, Bruce Foote, Geographical Survey of India, has remarked that the most striking feature of the flora of South Travancore is the immense forest of fan palms which covers a large part of the country. The fan palms or the Palmyrah attains a much greater height here than elsewhere. Trees measuring from 90 to 100 feet tall are not uncommon and with their stems covered with white or silvery grey lichens, they present a much finer appearance than the comparatively stunted specimens one in accustomed to sea in the Karnatic areas in Mysore and Deccan Plateaus (Nagam Aiya.V., 1906) [10]. Palmyrah Palm is grown mainly in the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal (K & VIC, 1975) [6]. In dry and semi arid areas of the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, B. flabellifer is grown with cashew (Munasinghe J.E., 2003) [9]. As part of agro-forestry, farmers in the northern region of Bangladesh are cultivating B. flabbellifer along with their agricultural crops. (Sirajul Islam S.K. 2003) [15]. 2. Materials & Methods: 2.1.Study area: Map -1: India Map -2: Tamil Nadu- Districts Tamil Nadu with an area of 1,30,058 sq.km is situated in the South Eastern part of the Indian peninsula between 8.5N and 13.5N and 78.35 and 80.20E. Tamil Nadu is drained by a number of rivers, such as Palar, Cheyyar, Ponnaiyar, Cauvery, Moyar, Bhavani, Amaravathi, Vaigai, Thamirabarani etc. The climate of the State is tropical monsoon type. The temperature during winter seldom goes below 18 0 C, while in peak summer it raises to 43 0 C. The annual rainfall varies between 60 cm. and 118 cm. (Map 1 & 2) This study was undertaken through field visits, interactions with Palmyrah workers, villagers, workers engaged in felling of trees, representatives of civic bodies, brick-kiln workers and informants in southern districts from May, 2016 to January 2017. It included visits to various parts of Cuddalore District and adjoining places in the aftermath of Thane cyclone (30.12.2011) and Chennai City, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram Districts after Vardah cyclone (30.12.2016). Secondary data were collected from Journals, Magazines, Newspapers, Books and Documents as well as from the officials of the Government of Tamil Nadu. 2.1.1. Objective: The objective of the present study is (i) to find out the ways and means to save the declining population of Palmyrah species in Tamil Nadu (ii) to study the impact of cyclones Thane and Vardah on Palmyrah trees (iii) to create awareness among 38
the public on the ecological and economic importance of the species and increase the Palmyrah cultivation in order to improve the socio-economic conditions of Palmyrah workers. 3. Results and Discussion: 3.1 Palmyrah Wealth: B. flabellifer is an un-branched robust tree and can live for more than 100 years and can reach a height of 30 meters and the trunk has a circumference of 1.7 meter at the base. Palmyrah Palms are slow growing dioecious perennials and have no distinguishing features to identify the sex until flowering. Trees commences flowering only after 12 to 15 years of maturity. The overall percentage of Male:female was 52:48, which is almost 1:1 ratio. ( George and Anitha Karan (2011) [3]. According to Davis and Johnson (1987) (8), Palmyrah is very important tree and it has been estimated that as many as 40 million Palms may be growing in Tamil Nadu State alone, ranking second only to the coconut Palms. According to Palmyrah wealth data from Central Palmgur and Palm Products Institute, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh stands first (600 lakh) in Palmyrah wealth in the country followed by Tamil Nadu (520.05 lakh) Karanataka (36.20 lakh), Odisha (21.80 lakh) and West Bengal (16.32). Statistical note on Palmgur industry of Tamil Nadu states that 501 lakh Palmyrah trees were found in Tamil Nadu during 1986 (Table-1). According to the Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops (2015-2016), Palmyrah is grown on 11084.34 hectares in the state (Table -2), of which Ramanathapuram District has rich in Palmyrah wealth (3650 ha), followed by Thoothukudi (2918 ha), Kanyakumari (1150 ha), Tirunelveli (1121 ha), Nagapattinam (419 ha) and Virudhunagar Districts (365 ha). Bruce Foote of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has aptly stated that "the most striking feature of the flora of South Travancore is the immense forest of Palmyrah palm which covers large part of the country (Nagam Aiya.V. 1906) (10). According to Sankaralingam et al. (1999) (14), the districts of Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari Districts are endowed with 10 million Palmyrah Palms. As stated by Bruce Foote, the statistics of Palmgur industry in Tamil Nadu reveals that about 501 lakhs Palmyrah Palm were found in Tamil Nadu during 1986. (Table - 1) TABLE - I: District-wise Palmyrah population in Tamil Nadu 1986 S. No. Districts No. of trees (In lakhs) 1. Kanyakumari 25.00 2. Tirunelveli 168.00 3. Ramanathapuram 86.00 4. Madurai 6.00 5. Trichy 4.00 6. Thanjavur 9.00 7. Coimbatore 50.00 8. Salem 60.00 9. Dharmapuri 25.00 10. North Arcot 8.00 11. South Arcot 10.00 12. Pudukottai 10.00 13. Chengalpet 40.00 TOTAL 501.00 Source: Statistical note on Palmgur Industry in Tamil Nadu issued by State Federation, 1986, P.14 39
TABLE - 2: Details of Palmyrah grown in Tamil Nadu (2015-2016) S.No. Name of the District Palmyrah grown (in ha.) 1. Ariyalur 9.00 2. Coimbatore 30.00 3. Cudalore 49.00 4. Dharmapuri 130.00 5. Dindigul 61.00 6. Erode 8.00 7. Kancheepuram 6.00 8. Kanyakumari 11510.00 9. Karur 26.00 10. Krishnagiri 54.00 11. Madurai 177.00 12. Nagapattinam 419.00 13. Namakal 0.00 14. Perambalur 3.00 15. Pudukotai 132.00 16. Ramanathapuram 3605.00 17. Salem 7.00 18. Sivagangai 1.00 19. Thanjavur 182.00 20. Theni 30.00 21. The Nilgiris 0.00 22. Thiruvallur 68.00 23. Thiruvannamalai 59.00 24. Thiruvarur 71.00 25. Thoothukudui 2918.00 26. Tirupur 9.00 27. Thiruchirapalli 79.00 28. Thirunelveli 1121.00 29. Vellore 38.00 30. Villupuram 60.00 31. Virudhunagar 365.00 Total 10867.00 Source: Department of Horticulture and Plantation crops 40
Map -3: District wise of Palmyrah wealth in Tamil Nadu Map -4: District wise of Palmyrah products in Tamil Nadu The population of this species has declined in Tamil Nadu after 1980's due to various factors. According to the Statistics of the Department of Horticulture and Plantation crops in Tamil Nadu (2014-2015), Palmyrah was grown on 10867 hectares and 185 tonnes of Palmyrah products were produced (Table-2) & (Maps 3&4). According to Policy Note (18) of Tamil Nadu Budget 2016-2017, Khadicraft Department has issued licenses (9710) to Palmyrah artisans in the State and Palmyrah products worth Rs. 1337.03 lakh were produced in 2015-2016. In reality the population of B. flabellifer varies from the available data. Major factors are indiscriminate felling due to industrialization, urbanization, expansion of roads, construction of buildings and fire wood. Palmyrah palms are being uprooted during expansion of village roads, State and National Highways. In view of urbanization, conversion of cultivable land in to housing plots and increasing brick-kilns, more number of Palmyrah palms have been cut in the private as well as public lands. Thick population of Palmyrah palms were found on the bunds of lakes/ponds, on river banks in the rural areas and also on the agricultural lands in the State. Due to lack of awareness, these plants are being felled by the wood cutters and transported to brick-kilns. Palmyrah palms are also being destroyed due to installations of windmills, High power line/cable and towers in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari and Virudhunagar Districts. The expanding prawn farming along the 13 coastal Districts of Tamil Nadu (1076 km) also causes decline in Palmyrah population. However this needs to be studied further in detail. In Kanyakumari District the areal expansion of cultivation of rubber also causes removal of Palmyrah palms from the land. In 2001, rubber was cultivated in 18442 hectares in Kanyakumari District and 15 years later (2015-2016) rubber cultivation has increased to 27716 hectares. ( Source: Department of Agriculture and Plantation Crops, Tamil Nadu). Palmyrah palms have also been found to decline in the sugarcane fields because of frequent ratooning (burning of wastages after cutting) burning of Palmyrah trunks and preventing growth of seedlings/young Palmyrahs. Setting Palmyrah groves ablaze by miscreants along the coastal districts of Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli are also reported. Frequent occurrence of such incidents have resulted in destruction of thousands of Palmyrah of various age groups. During the study period (May 2016 to August 2016) fire incidents had occurred thrice in Palmyrah groves in seven villages covering three Taluks of Ramanathapuram District, in which 6086 Palmyrah palms were gutted (Table-3). Interactions with Palmyrah tappers / villagers revealed that such fire incidents occur during the period of June to August every year, causing loss of Palmyrah wealth in the District (Photo-1 to 4). A thorough census of Palmyrah palm in the state alone can unearth the exact status of Palmyrah population. Table -3. Details of fire incidents occurred in Ramanathapuram District Date of fire Taluk Name of villages No. of Palmyrah palms gutted to fire 03.07.2016 Ramanathapuram Thekkur 1550 03.08.2016 Thiruvadanai Athiyuthu Iranianvalasai Palanivalasi Kulasekerakal 2500 350 315 445 24.08.2016 Keelakarai Pudukudiyirupu 510 Periyapattinam 416 Total 6086 41
Photo1: AthiyoothuVillage,Ramanathapuram District (Dated 02.08.16) (Dated 24.08.16) Palmyrah trees under fire Photo-2: Periyapattinam, Ramanathapuram District Palmyrah trees under fire Photo-3: Lorry laden with Palmyrah rugs being transported to brick-kiln industry in a brick-kiln industry Photo-4: Palmyrah wooden logs kept 3.2.1. Impact of Thane cyclone on B. flabellifer: (a) The cyclone, from Southwest Bay of Bengal swept the coast of north Tamil Nadu between Cuddalore and Puducherry on 30.12.2011 with a speed of 145 km/h. Apart from causing damages to properties, live-stocks and horticultural crops over 48040.92 hectares covering 11 districts, it also affected the livelihood of 70366 farmers in Cuddalore District alone. Damages were also recorded in the adjoining Villupuram, Kancheepuram Districts and Puducherry State. Cashew, Mango, Jack, Guava, Citrus and other perennial crops were also uprooted. The present study has revealed that the Palmyrah trees had neither fallen nor got uprooted in the cyclone. This has revealed that apart from surviving in varied soil conditions, the Palmyrah species also withstands cyclonic weather of 145 km/h wind speed and 54 cm rainfall within a day. (Punithavathi.J, 2012) (13) 3.2.2 Vardah Cyclone: On 12.12.2016, a very severe cyclonic storm Vardah hit Chennai City at 120 to 140 km/h and caused heavy damages to trees in Chennai and horticulture and plantation crops in Tiruvallur (3960 ha) and Kancheepuram Districts (827.37 ha). 5314 tress in the coastal regions of Kancheepuram and 18,635 tress in Chennai City were uprooted. (Source: Revenue Department & Corporation, Chennai). No Palmyrah palm was damaged during the cyclone. For example, a solitary Palmyrah tree situated on the Marina Beach, Chennai (photo-5) a few meters away from the shore is still standing majestically without any damage even after encountering a wind speed of 140 km/h during the cyclone without any barrier. The same cyclone after crossing this individual Palmyrah tree had caused extensive damages to trees in the main land. 42
- Photo-5. Solitary Palmyrah tree at Marina Beach, Chennai City (05.02.2017) Thus, it clearly reveals that B. flabellifer has the capacity to with-stand even cyclonic weather with a wind speed up to 140 km/h. Hence, cultivation of Palmyrah may be promoted along the coastal regions in 13 districts to act as an effective wind barrier. It is also imperative to preserve the existing Palmyrahs from destruction in the coastal districts. 3.3 Ecological importance: In Tamil Nadu, the Palmyrah has been praised for its 801 uses in a Tamil Poem the 'Tala Vilasam' from the medieval period, (Lubeigt, 2001) (7). The ecological importance of B. flabellifer has been ignored by eliminating them from the landscapes and structure of traditional farming system. It grows on crop lands, waste lands of the coastal areas and even hills. Because of its narrow canopy, height and fibrous root system, it would not affect crops and hence associated with crops in rain fed and irrigated lands, on bunds of fields, dikes of dams/water tanks. Its roots bind soils and prevent soil erosion. It does not require irrigation, manuring and protection/fencing. Palmgur is preferable even to cane gur for the reason that the sugarcane needs fertile cultivable land and plenty of irrigation, while palmyrah can be grown on waste land without irrigation. Skilled labour for tapping the trees are available in abundance in the State. The industry could be started with a small capital without elaborate machinery. The wastages/by products of this Palmgur industry are eco-friendly and become manure to the agricultural land. 3.3.1 Awareness on Agro-forestry: In order to prevent the declining population of Palmyrah, the existing trees, young plants/seedlings should be protected. Palmyrah palms start yielding from the age of 12 to 15 years and continues to benefit the people for more than 100 years. Thus it is essential to educate the general public about the importance of this species. Tamil Nadu Palm Products Development Board functioning since 06.01.1995 could undertake a project 'Save Palmyrah' and starts sowing seed by utilizing student communities with the active participation of existing Primary Jaggery Manufacturing Co-operative Societies (731), District Palmpur Cooperative Federations (8) and State Palmgur and Fibre Co-operative Marketing Federation. Yet another way to increase the Palmyrah population is to encourage teachers and students to grow Palmyrah trees in the campuses of Government/Government Aided/Private Schools and Colleges in the State. Awareness to be created among elected representatives of Civic Bodies in the State to grow Palmyrah on Government lands and preserve the existing trees on water bodies in their jurisdiction. Civic representatives of village Panchayats (12,618), Panchayat Unions (385), Town Panchayat (561), Municipalities (125) and Corporation (10) must be given target to grow Palmyrah on the available land in their office premises. 43
4. Conclusion: The rich Palmyrah palm wealth of Tamil Nadu is on decline due to indiscriminate felling. Reduction in the population and shrinkage of land area under Palmyrah cultivations are due to industrialization, urbanization, infrastructure development such as road laying and constructions of buildings. Hence, the Government needs to undertake immediate census to assess the exact population of Palmyrah palm to formulate steps to save them. It is shown that Palmyrah palms can withstand cyclone and hence steps should be taken to grow Palmyrah palms along the coastal districts to prevent havoc caused by cyclone in the coastal regions with the co-ordination of civic bodies and co-operative societies of Tamil Nadu Palm Products Development Board (TNPDB). The State should cultivate Palmyrahs in the Government and private lands in order to protect the traditional Palmyrah industry and village artisans. In addition, the state Government must promote sale of Palmyrah products through TNPDB in all the Districts and also through Public Distribution Systems at village levels. Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to I. Subbiah of Thoothukudi District, K. Mariyappan of Ramanathapuram District and C. Raja of Thiruvannamalai for assisting in the collection of data. References: 1. Davis. LA and Johnson, D.V ( 1987: Ceerreat Utilization and further Development of the Palmyrah Palm (Barassan flabellifer) in Tamil Nadu, India, Economic Botany 41(2) 247-266. 2. Ferguson, W. (1888): Description of the Palymrah Palm of Ceylon. Observers Press, Colombo. 3. George and Anitha Karan (2011): Marker assisted detection of sex ratio in Palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer, L.), Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargod, India, Current Science, Vol. 100, No. 6, 2011. 4. http://tamilandvedas.com/2014/09/03 Palmyrah - tree - worship-in-india-sri Lanka.Palmyrah tree worship in India- Sri Lanka. 5. Jeeva Jothi L., et al.: Disaster Management and Thane Cyclone Rehabilitation in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu, India. 6. Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Wealth from Palms, Bombay, 1975, P.120. 7. Lubeigt. G. (2001). One civilization du Palmier a Sucre en Asie.Le courier du. CNRS 44: 24-35 8. Mortin J.F. (1988): Notes on Distribution, Propogation and Products of Borassus palms (Arecaceae) Economic Botany, 1988: 42(3), 420-441. 9. Munasinghe J.E. (2003): Status of Forest Genetics Resources Conservation and Management in Sri Lanka, IPGRI. 10. Nagam Aiya, A.(1906) quoted in Travancore State Manual, The Government of Travancore, Travancore, 1906, P.95 11. Panchavarnam. R. (2016), Panai Maram-Source of life, Plant informatics centre, Panruti, Tamil Nadu. 12. Policy No.18 budget, Tamil Nadu, Department of Khadi, village industries and handicrafts, 2016-2017. 13. Punithavathi J, et al. (2012): A study of thane cyclone and its impacts in Tamil Nadu, India using geographic information system, Arhives of Applied Science Research, 2012, 4(1): 685-695. 14. Sankaralingam, A. and Hameed Khan (1999): Palmyrah Plam in Tamil Nadu, India. 45(2):97-99. P-97. 15. Sirajul Islam. SK(2003): Status of forest genetic resources conservation and management in bangladesh. IPGRI Forest Genetic Resources conservation and Management, T.Luoma et al. 44