In place of bawal

The price of sandalwood is rising by leaps and bounds, as is that of kathi wood. Some people have suggested that the area of plantation of the kathi yielding bawal tree be increased. However, the bawal (Acacia nilotica) is a slow growing species and it is time we look for a fast growing substitute. The answer may lie in an Australian species, Acacia holo­sericea. This fast growing tree reaches maturity in seven years and has wood with good calorific value for burning. An added advantage is that it can grow on not-so-fertile soils of wastelands, needs little watering or manuring or other forms of care.

This tree has given good results on the red laterite soils of Pondicherry, West Bengal and even in the forest nursery of Chinwai in the Valsad district of Gujarat. Trials are needed to test its utility as a cheaper substitute for the kathi wood we use in our atash behrams and agiaries. I had received some seeds of Acacia holosericea from Australia for trying out its suitability as a species for firewood. Friends in Auroville took up the challenge, with successful results. I may approach them to send a few samples of the wood for trial.

The seeds of this tree have served as a source of food in the famine stricken parts of Africa. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry has attempted making food items like idli, sambhar with the seeds. The True Biscuit Factory in Pondicherry even tried making biscuits and cakes out of the flour made from these seeds.

When the late Homi Taleyarkhan launched a plantation program in Udvada in 1995 under the Save Udvada project, Acacia holosericea was also planted there. After his demise the social forestry department of Navsari, involved in the Udvada program, lost interest and the plantation did not survive. However, the seeds given to the Navsari department were tried out in the forest nursery at Chinwai and the foresters are happy with the progress of this small tree species. I wonder whether the tree still survives in Chinwai and whether the Navsari or Valsad forest department can supply us with samples of its wood for trial to ascertain its suitability for use in our fire temples as a substitute for kathi wood.

If plantations are taken up on wastelands the tree may go a long way in solving the fuel wood shortage in the country and in preventing deforestation. Forests need not be felled for meeting the firewood requirements of the large rural population.

V. M. MEHER-HOMJI