Prosopis Julifolora

Prosopis juliflora, aka “veli kathan” or “seemai karuvel” in Tamil, is a thorny plant that was propagated by the Government of India in 1960’s for its use as firewood. This plant is aggressive, fast-growing, shade and fodder-giving. There was a recent ban on this plant by the Madras High Court. When this was in the news, I was wondering how we, as a species, could ban another species. Moral implications aside, there are practical issues behind banning something that can propagate by wind and survive in difficult conditions. Thanks to many environmentalists who appealed on behalf of this plant, the ban is now lifted. Here are our observations of this plant.

The picture above is one of the many circles that have formed “naturally” on our farm. These circles have a lot of neem, muddy (Morinda pubescens), Ziziphus mauritiana, Albizzia lebbeck, Leucena leucacephala, date palm, vines and ground cover. 

 I will walk you through the chronology of events behind these five year old poly-culture areas.

• until 2013, huge Prosopis trees were growing here. Shepherds used to bring in their cattle for grazing every day and have their cattle rest in the shade of these trees.
• we bought our land in 2013, and fenced it off primarily to stop grazing. 
• we did no maintenance of these areas – Prosopis was thriving. We used to see birds nesting there. 
• I had heard stories that Prosopis wouldn’t let any other plant survive under its shade. But what I saw, in the following years, was quite the opposite. There were many neem and muddy under the big Prosopis. These native plants were slender, trying to grow in between the branches of Prosopis. 
• In 2016, I decided to get the thorny trees cleared one by one, to make way for the more useful trees that were growing under them. Each Prosopis was cut down manually with great care, one person working two or three man days. The dug up soil was crumbly and rich in humus. Every Prosopis that we brought down had been instrumental in creating a big stand of trees.

I don’t believe that these Prosopis-created-poly-cultures on our farm are accidents or anomalies. My theory is that thorny Prosopis houses birds by providing a safe place for their nests.  Birds bring in seeds. Also, this plant’s widespread branches can trap seeds that are dispersed by the wind. Because of the moderate temperature in its shade, young seedlings stand a better chance there as opposed to germinating in a barren area exposed to the blazing heat. If there are no cattle to chew off the new under growth, soon we should see hardy, native varieties grow there. 

To think that we could ban a plant and be successful at it is quite naive. When the ban was in place, the local JCBs were working round the clock – burning precious fossil fuel and helping the rich JCB owners get richer. A year after the work, I see well-coppiced Prosopis growing more vigorously than ever before. 

Sure enough, Prosopis is not the best plant to have around. But it is certainly better than having a barren piece of land – because it provides shade, fodder and habitat. There is a pressing need to understand the tragedy of the commons (grazing areas), work with shepherds and aggressively plant native trees at the right time of the year. All these measures combined can help us reclaim our land. Until then Prosopis will rule.

-- Hema