Palmyra palm trees in Odisha are providing dual benefits by reducing lightning-related deaths and serving as a food source for elephants during lean seasons.
About Palmyra Palm Tree:
It is commonly named as sugar palm, or toddy palm or fan palm.
It is a native of tropical Africa but cultivated and naturalized throughout India.
In India, it is planted as a windbreak on the plains.
Required Climatic Conditions
Soil: It exhibits adaptability to a wide range of soil types, including arid and wastelands. They thrive particularly well in sandy soil, red soil, black soil, and river alluvium.
Rainfall: These palms are also suited for semi-arid regions with an annual rainfall of less than 750 mm.
They can grow at altitudes from sea level up to 800 meters.
Palmyra is mainly propagated through seeds and there is no vegetative method available for its propagation
Benefits of Palmyra Palm Tree:
It is used as a natural shelter by birds, bats and wild animals.
The chief product of the palmyra is the sweet sap (toddy) obtained by tapping the tip of the inflorescence.
The toddy ferments naturally within a few hours after sunrise and is locally popular as a beverage.
Palmyra palm jaggery (gur) is much more nutritious than crude cane sugar.
Traditionally, the Indian 'Nadar' community are the people who make their living from this tree using its wood, fruits, sap, stems, petioles and leaves to process a variety of food products, beverages, furniture, building materials, and handicrafts.
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