Prosopis Juliflora - A Case Study

PROSOPIS JULIFLORA, ENERGY AND LIVELIHOODS

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PROSOPIS JULIFLORA,

ENERGY AND LIVELIHOODS

Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy

[email protected]


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INDEX

INDEX .............................................................. 2

1. INTRODUCTION.............................................. 3

2. BACKGROUND................................................ 3

3. OBJECTIVES.................................................. 6

4. METHODOLOGY.............................................. 6

5. STUDY ANALYSIS ............................................ 6

5.1 Agricultural background and evidence of increased climate variability and Prosopis

Juliflora........................................................................................................................................6

5.2 Options for Prosopis Juliflora based Livelihoods ..............................................................7

5.3 Charcoal Production Method in Practice ..........................................................................8

5.4 Quantity of charcoal production ......................................................................................9

5.5 People involved in charcoal production ...........................................................................9

5.6 As fuel wood consumption per year ...............................................................................10

5.7 The reasons for increase in price is due to ....................................................................13

6. DISCUSSION .................................................13

6.1 Positive aspects of Prosopis Juliflora. ............................................................................14

6.2 Negative aspects of Prosopis Juliflora............................................................................14

7. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................18

8. REFERENCES ................................................19


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PROSOPIS JULIFLORA AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Kothur Village, Midjil Mandal, Mahabubnagar District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Key words: Prosopis Juliflora, Energy, Fuel Wood, Charcoal, Livelihoods

1. INTRODUCTION

Kothur village is located in the semi-arid area, Midjil Mandal, Mahabubnagar District, Andhra

Pradesh State. The study is done on energy and livelihoods aspects related to Prosopis Juliflora,

which is growing abundantly in Kothur village.

In the Kothur Village, Midjil Mandal, Mahabubnagar District, about 30% of the area is covered by

Prosopis Juliflora. As a source of energy and livelihoods, this weed has been adopted as an

opportunity by the Kothur people. This adoption practice is able to control the menace of

Prosopis Juliflora to some extant. Kothur village has a total of 830 acres of land, of which about

250 acres is occupied by Prosopis Juliflora. As Kothur village has a large percentage of alkaline

soils, Prosopis Juliflora is growing very well and highly adopted, as compared to many other

types of plants.

2. BACKGROUND

The ‘Prosopis debate’ has become an important topic of discussion and policy in India during

recent years, primarily due to Prosopis juliflora becoming an aggressive weed in several states, ,

though the plant had earlier, in the late sixties/early seventies been introduced by state

Department of Forest activities for greening degraded land and as fencing material. Now 30-40

years later Prosopis Invasion of grasslands, protected forests and nature reserves has alarmed

ecologists. Invasion of irrigation channels and arable land has affected the agricultural

community, and landowners and large commercial farmers have seen their income threatened.

Over four decades Kothur village was progressively occupied by Prosopis Juliflora. Before the

advent of this weed in their fields, people were cultivating Jowar, Paddy and Raagi crops. In the

12 Rs. 8 is the price at which the villagers sell 1 kg of charcoal to outsiders by the villagers.


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year 1962 for the first time, Prosopis Juliflora seeds were brought to the village by Mr. Ramesh

Reddy, a farmer for vegetative fencing, as a protection measure for his crops from wild animals.

Later Mr. Ayodya Ram Sharma also bought ½ kg of Prosopis Juliflora seeds @ Rs. 18 from

Jadcherla and has grown the plants. In the next 5 years Prosopis Juliflora spread to about 30

acres of land. The reasons for spreading of the plant is due to ruminants like sheep, goats, and

cattle, which liked eating the pods and spread in the area through their movement and excreta.

Other important reasons for spread of Prosopis Juliflora is the existence of Alkaline soils and

increase in fallows in this village. In the last 4 decades, the Prosopis Juliflora plants spread into

250 acres of the total geographical area of 830 acres. Otherwise majority of these waste lands

would have been under paddy cultivation.

MAP 1 Map showing Prosopis Juliflora covering about 30% of the geographical area in Kothur Village.

(Latitude: 16.69 N Longitude: 78.31 E degrees). Not to scale.

Although Prosopis Juliflora was existed in this village since 1962, the commercial exploitation of

Prosopis Juliflora was started in the year 1986. Based on various field visits and subsequent

interaction with the villagers (especially in Kothur) it is apparent that initially, the village was

not troubled by the expansion of Prosopis Juliflora but now the population considers it as a

menace. Only in course of time the village has realised how seriously and adversely too it has

affected their lands and agriculture. Cultivation of unirrigated land during the "Kharif" and the

Rabi has dropped.

When a person called, Mr. Nageshwar Rao hailing from Nalgonda District visited this village and

explained the villagers, that cutting and making charcoal from these plants has value. The

villagers felt very happy, as the plants have grown everywhere and they were not sure on how to


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use this biomass for purposes other than fuel wood. By participating in this activity of charcoal

making the villagers felt that they would get employment and also would be able to reclaim the

lands back for cultivation after clearings. Mr. Nageshwar Rao from Nalgonda District who made a

fortune with in next 10 years, through charcoal business, is still an inspiration for many of the

villagers.

Extensive Prosopis Juliflora in Kothur village

A farmer involved in cutting Prosopis Juliflora

as an additional income activity

Farmers selling wood to the broker who is

behind

The Prosopis is kept ready for the making

charcoal


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Women are also involved in charcoal production

activity

Charcoal produced from Prosopis Juliflora

3. OBJECTIVES

• To understand the dynamics of Prosopis invasion into livelihoods of people now reluctantly

dependant on use of Prosopis Juliflora biomass for fuel wood or production of charcoal.

• To discuss coping mechanisms and response measures. (note: The intention of this

intervention is not to propagate the cultivation of Prosopis Juliflora but to deal with the

landuse with the existing Prosopis Juliflora stock in a meaningful manner and to prevent

further expansion particular into the irrigable lands.

4. METHODOLOGY

For the study focused group discussions were held with the primary stakeholders involved in

production of charcoal and fuel wood from Prosopis Juliflora. Information was also collected

from the immigrant families involved in charcoal production. Using Google Earth imageries and

GIS, mapped the Prosopis Juliflora areas and assessed the extent. Visited the charcoal production

sites and interacted with people involved, for understanding the existing process of charcoal

production.

5. STUDY ANALYSIS

5.1 Agricultural background and evidence of increased climate variability and

Prosopis Juliflora

In Mahabubnagar District in the past 40 years, the annual rainfall has decreased from 80

cms to 60 cms. As a result the farmers cultivating Paddy in Kothur village were affected.

Due to decrease in rainfall and semi-arid conditions most of the soils in this village have

turned alkaline. The consumption of complex fertilizers and use of meager groundwater


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resources has also contributed to the alkalinity of the soils. The prosopis juliflora which was

introduced in this village for fencing about 40 years back is very much adaptive to the

growing alkaline soil conditions and decreased rainfall situation. By now about 30% of the

common, waste and private lands are occupied by Prosopis Juliflora. Another reason is

that the goats, sheep and cattle which liked the nutritious pods of the plant and started

eating – their excreta contained the seeds of the plant and which were spread where

ever they went. In this way large scale propagation of the prosopis happened. The

meager groundwater resources were also exploited for Paddy cultivation. The high

temperatures, less rainfall and meager groundwater resources, agricultural practices and

leaving the lands fallow contributed for the suitable conditions for the Prosopis Juliflora

propagation.

In the year 2006 the monsoon rains have arrived late a climate variability factor. The

people have shifted to cutting the prosopis, otherwise they would have migrated in search

of work. The landless and farmers have adopted to cutting wood and making charcoal.

During this drought period they earned more than what they were earning daily through

agricultural activities. A new livelihood opportunity has emerged in the energy sector,

which is more promising and also a solution for mitigating the excess prosopis existing in this

village. The prices of wood and charcoal are escalating exponentially in the last 5 years. A

new opportunity in energy sector and as a coping or adaptation is existing for the people

of Kothur village for sustainable livelihoods, where climate change is one of the factors of

influence.

5.2 Options for Prosopis Juliflora based Livelihoods

The day since charcoal production activity was taken up in the village, landless, small and

marginal farmers were getting additional days of employment especially during the agriculture

lean season.

Last year very few local people were involved in the charcoal production activity because of the

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) going on in the village, which assures

100 days of employment. For cutting wood and charcoal production, people from Guntur, Nellore

and Prakasham Districts are seasonally migrating to this village. There are presently 8 such

families residing in this village. The major reason for migration of labor from far off places is

because, they were being paid only Rs. 70 per bag of charcoal produced in their respective areas

as compared to Rs. 120 being paid per bag of charcoal in this village.

During Dasserah festival period majority of Kothur villagers participate in cutting Prosopis

Juliflora and sell. This is because of plenty of Prosopis Juliflora available during that period of

time and also to make some quick money for better celebration of the festival.


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5.3 Charcoal Production Method in Practice

About 4 kgs of Prosopis Juliflora wood is required to produce 1 kg of charcoal by ‘Earth Mound

Kiln method, which is in practice in Kothur village. Before processing, wood is first cut into about

1 meter in length and sorted into similar diameters. Wood is stacked in the shape of a mound by

placing sticks vertically. There should be very little space between the sticks. The stack is then

covered with paddy straw and then with soil. Few holes are made at the bottom against the wind

direction for the escape of some volatiles and wood venigar, which are released during the

process. The mound is lit at the top by removing some soil and covered after the fire is started in

the mound, which burns very slowly for several days depending on the size, condition of the

stack and site. After about 8 to 10 days, the stack is opened and the charcoal is removed and

allowed to cool, graded and bagged up for use or for sale.

The process is explained below in steps for better understanding the charcoal production: 1. Cut wood

2. Select the thick wood and trim the wood to the required length.

3. Bring wood, straw and earth to a point

4. Prepare the earth mound kiln

o Sort and arrange the wood vertically in the shape of a mound with little void spaces

o Cover the mound with straw

o Cover the straw with clay (leaving the small portion at the top open)

5. Lit the mound at the top

6. Once the fire is started cover the top of the mound with earth

7. Create opening for escape of some volatiles and wood vinegar on the sides of the mound against wind ward direction

8. Monitor the mound to prevent accidental fires – use fresh wood / soil to prevent such accidental fires.

9. Remove the charcoal from outer side towards inner side slowly

10. Sort the charcoal and pack in bags and remove un-burnt wood.

11. Unburnt wood is burnt again for charcoal – a small earth mound kiln is prepared for

this.


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Photo 1 The earth mound kiln under preparation – Straw layer is being covered by earth.

Small and large scale production of charcoal is in practice in this area. In small scale production,

about 5000 kgs of charcoal is being produced by a group of people per batch. In large scale

production the mound size is 5 meters in diameter and 2 meters in height, which can produce

about 10,000 kgs of charcoal per batch. In small scale production process the risk is less, the

quality of charcoal produced is good and there won’t be any wastage, so majority of people in

this village prefer small scale production method.

5.4 Quantity of charcoal production

On an average every year about 24 truck loads of charcoal is being produced and marketed in

other parts of the State. Which is about 240 tons of charcoal produced from 960 tons of Prosopis

Juliflora wood considering 25 kgs of charcoal is produced from every 100 kgs of Prosopis Juliflora.

Since 1986 about 462 trucks of charcoal was produced and exported from this village. The

current wholesale price of one truck load of charcoal is Rs. 80,000. i.e., @ Rs. 8 per kg. The coal

is being exported to the factories, hotels and wholesale dealers who in turn would supply for

domestic energy needs in Hyderabad and parts of Andhra Pradesh.

5.5 People involved in charcoal production

There are 7 households from Kothur village and 8 households consisting of 32 people from outside

this village are involved in Charcoal Production. About 2250 (i.e., 30 members involved in


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charcoal production for about 75 days) person days of employment is created per year by the

Charcoal production sector in this village.

Seasonally about 50-55 people from Kothur village are engaging in cutting prosopis juliflora,

between October and May months. On an average each couple was able to earn about Rs. 150 to

200 per day which is more than what they would earn from agricultural labor work (i.e., @ Rs.

100 per day).

Under the employment guarantee scheme the removal of Prosopis Juliflora was taken up in the

lands of 20 farmers covering an extent of 25 acres of land. So far the Prosopis juliflora trees

have been removed from the lands of government, assigned and private. At present Kothur

village people are coming forward to produce charcoal on their own and the involvement of the

outsiders has come down. The villagers are also planning to start the fuel wood selling business,

which would provide additional employment to the villagers. About 320 acres of government land

in Sy.No.311 is available in between Kothur and Mallapur villages, a chance for both the villagers

for production of fuel wood and charcoal.

5.6 As fuel wood consumption per year

As fuel wood for cooking needs, the amount of fuel wood consumed per year is about 273 tons (@

5kgs x 150 households x 365 days = 273750 kgs). This is a rough estimate considering seasonal

migration of families, small and big families, children and old people, and some families having

alternative sources of energy.

The quantity of charcoal produced in the last 21 years is equivalent to about 5040 tons of

charcoal from 20160 tons of Prosopis Juliflora wood harvested and used from about 200 – 300

acres of area.

In the last two months the ongoing charcoal production activity in the village is as follows.

# Name No. of kilns No. of bags x

weight in kgs

Total

production (in

Kgs)

1. Vema Reddy 5 1200x50 60000

2. Anantha Reddy 2 30x50 1500

3. Janardhan Reddy 1 40x50 2000


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4. Maisaiah 2 80x50 4000

5. Kavali Anjaneyulu 1 50x50 2500

6. Prathap Reddy 1 30x50 1500

7. Krishna Reddy 1 20x50 1000

8. Musali Reddy 1 15x50 750

9. Total (in Rs.) 73250

In the last two months the value of charcoal produced is Rs. 5,86,000/- (i.e., 73250 kgs x @ Rs. 8

per kg of charcoal)2. The quantity of wood harvested and used is about 293 tons.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

19

86

19

87

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88

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89

19

90

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91

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92

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93

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94

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95

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99

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00

20

01

20

02

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05

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06

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07

20

08

Year

(in

Rs.)

Rate of wood (for 100 kgs of wood)

Cost of selling 1 bag (~ 50 kgs) of

charcoal produced by individual

household to the broker at village

level (in Rs.)

Cost of selling 1 bag (~50 kgs) of

charcoal in the wholesale market by

the broker (in Rs.)


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From the above graph it is very much evident that the market value of charcoal is increasing

every year as compared to the cost of production. Therefore in the coming years it would be

more attractive for many villagers to be involved in making a livelihood out of Prosopis Juliflora.

Year Price of wood in Rs.

For every 100 Kgs. (in

Rs.)

Cost of selling 1 bag

(~ 50 kgs) of charcoal

produced by

individual household

to the broker at

village level (in Rs.)

Cost of selling 1 bag

(~50 kgs) of charcoal

in the wholesale

market by the broker

(in Rs.)

1986 7 10 15

1987 10 14 25

1988 12 25 50

1989 20 50 60

1990 25 55 70

1991 30 60 100

1992 30 60 100

1993 35 65 110

1994 35 65 110

1995 40 60 130

1996 40 60 130

1997 40 65 150

1998 45 65 150

1999 45 70 200

2000 50 70 200

2001 65 75 200


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2002 65 75 220

2003 65 75 220

2004 70 75 230

2005 70 80 230

2006 80 90 280

2007 85 100 280

2008 100 120 320

5.7 The reasons for increase in price is due to

1. Increased consumption of charcoal in hotels for making traditional dishes.

2. The commercial cost of LPG is high and also often there is shortage.

3. There is a demand from factories and industries for various purposes.

4. Demand from sponge iron plants for production of steel.

5. Consumption for cooking, iron boxes, etc.

6. DISCUSSION

The Prosopis Juliflora provides many of the needs of populations living in tropical dry zones the

world over. Over time, Prosopis Juliflora exhibits the ability to improve soils via biological

nitrogen fixation, leaf litter addition and incorporation, nutrient pumping, changes in soil

structure and in soil fauna and microbial populations.

Charcoal is consumed mostly in urban areas and is often produced considerable distances from

the point of consumption. Prosopis Juliflora wood burns evenly and hot. Goel and Behl (1992)

stated that the good heat of combustion of Prosopis Juliflora wood is due to its high carbon

content and high levels of lignin. The wood has a high calorific value, estimated at 4216 kcal/kg

by Khan et al (1986). The positive qualities as firewood are present even in juvenile wood, and

Prosopis Juliflora wood burns well even when green. This is a benefit as firewood does not

require storage and drying, avoiding losses from theft and decay. Moisture and ash content of

one year old Prosopis Juliflora were estimated at 39% and 2.2% respectively (Goel 1987). All data

for physical and mechanical properties of Prosopis Juliflora wood fall well within acceptable

limits.


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Wood of Prosopis Juliflora is a very important source of domestic fuel for millions of people

in many arid and semiarid zones of the world.

6.1 Positive aspects of Prosopis Juliflora.

1. Prosopis Juliflora is playing a vital role in sustaining the livelihoods of the rural poor,

including the landless, small farmers and artisans. These groups of people also want a means

to increase the value of this tree.

2. Prosopis Juliflora is the major source of fuel wood and dry season fodder, and provides

additional income for some of the families.

3. The wood does nor spit, spark or smoke excessively, and the smoke is never unpleasant.

4. Its popularity is linked to its ubiquity, i.e. that where trees are present they are generally

present in large numbers and are often found on common land and are, thus, freely available

to all sections of society.

5. All the villagers are getting fire wood for cooking purpose, which is free of cost

6. Large branches and trunks yield a high quality timber, comparable in colour, finish and

physical attributes to Indian rosewood and other commercial hardwoods. Also used for posts

and poles, the wood is also called ‘wooden anthracite’ in some areas. Useful to build cattle

sheds with the big size poles.

7. Fruit pods are high in sugar, easy to digest, high protein content and are a rich food source

for livestock like sheep, goats and cattle. The yield of milk is relatively high if consumed by

cattle.

8. Prosopis products have added value if processed, by turning firewood to finished timber, and

even more if manufactured into furniture.

9. It is useful as vegetative fencing to protect the lands.

10. Additional employment opportunities are created and livelihoods are sustained during

agriculture lean season.

11. Charcoal is used for cooking, iron boxes, etc.

12. Charcoal + amendments help in reclaiming degraded acidic or alkaline soils.

6.2 Negative aspects of Prosopis Juliflora

a. In India, Prosopis Juliflora is an exotic plant, native to a region from Mexico to Peru.

There, the people have developed local economies based on this tree and its

products. They use the timber and the pods stored year-round for fodder and are an

important item of trade. The tree has been introduced in parts of India, but the

‘indigenous knowledge’ surrounding its use has not percolated.


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b. In Kothur village, lands have become alkaline over years and they are left fallow, of

which about 250 acres of land is occupied by Prosopis Juliflora.

c. Difficult to walk on the tank bunds because of the presence of Prosopis Juliflora.

d. Covered fully in tank sikham, therefore the storage capacity of the tanks is gradually

decreasing.

e. Removing trees is very costly i.e., @ Rs. 10000/- per acre as a JCB should be used for

extradition, because it is almost impossible to eradicate Prosopis Juliflora manually,

as it has a deep root system.

f. It spreads in all conditions, due to deep roots leads to depletion of local groundwater

resources.

g. The thorns of Prosopis Juliflora cause lots of pain when accidentally people get

pierced by them and sometimes some people were hospitalized.

h. Under the shade of Prosopis Juliflora tree no other plant thrives well, therefore no

other biomass is cultivated under this tree.

i. It is a deep rooted plant depletes soil moisture and makes water less accessible to

other shallow water plants.

This biomass does not create a micro-environment to attract rains.

Case Study 1:

Name: N. Vema Reddy, Kothur Village Midjil Mandal, MBNR District.

Mr. N. Vema Reddy aged about 60 years is a farmer, having 3 family members. He is having seven

acres of land, earlier he used to cultivate Paddy as the main crop. Because of less yield of water

from his borewell, he is presently cultivating less extent of area under paddy.

Earlier he was not having any experience in charcoal production and he was also not interested.

Then about 10 years back a person called Mr. Nageshwar Rao came to this village and met him

and asked for his support in charcoal production from Prosopis Juliflora which was abundantly

available in the village. He joined him as one of the partner and got involved in the production of

charcoal. Initially, they engaged local people for cutting the wood and production of charcoal,

but because of lack of experience the efficiency was less, so sometimes they incurred losses.

Having worked with him, he gained experience in production of charcoal on his own. Instead of

engaging local people, he started hiring experienced labor from Nellore, Guntur, Kadapa and

Prakasham Districts. The work of cutting the wood and production of charcoal was completely

done by them and they would sell charcoal to him. As a broker he provides them water for

drinking, domestic use and for charcoal production apart from providing space for production of


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charcoal. He also gives them loans as advance payment and deducts the amount while purchasing

the charcoal in installments. In this way apart from making his own livelihood, he is also able to

provide livelihoods for many people.

Because he is providing all types of facilities to the people who have come to work in this village,

it is attractive for people migrating from far off places. Currently each family (one couple) is

earning about Rs. 8,000 per month. Payments are made by him weekly or monthly for the

quantity of charcoal produced and supplied by the families. Presently they are being paid about

Rs. 120 per bag of charcoal produced.

Till 5 years back the local people were participating in large numbers in cutting the Prosopis

Juliflora. Presently the local people’s involvement has come down, in this activity. Only 10

families are involved from Kothur village. According to him this trend is because of the ongoing

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), where majority of the local people

are getting assured income and they are not interested in the charcoal production activity.

Usually the wood available in the waste lands or common lands is exploited first and then they

shift to private lands. The private fields having high density and good quality of Prosopis Juliflora

is let to cut for a nominal charge i.e., 10% of the value of the wood cut and sold.

The normal cycle of production of charcoal is about 1 month, that is 15 days spent for cutting

wood and 15 days spent for producing charcoal. He sells the charcoal in Hyderabad. Each truck

load weighs about 10 tons and values about Rs. 80,000, excluding all expenditure like payment

made to the charcoal makers, transportation, handling, permit fees, etc. He makes a profit of

about Rs. 30,000 from each truck load of charcoal sold. For transportation of one truck load of

charcoal requires a permit costing about Rs. 2800/- and for charcoal kilns they have to pay Rs.

3000/- every year to the Forest Department.

As per his opinion, as long as there is Prosopis Juliflora existing in the village, there is scope for

additional employment. Vema Reddy is an inspiration for many villagers in production of

charcoal.

The fuel wood and charcoal produced in this village is being exported to Hyderabad and different

parts in the State. This activity is generating additional employment for the villagers. In the last

5-6 years the people from Prakasham, Nellore, Guntur and Kadapa Districts have been migrating

here apart from local villagers engaged in the process of collecting fuel wood and production of

charcoal.


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The profit margin from sale of fire wood is less because of high transportation and handling

costs. Charcoal is a value added high value product. So the producers prefer to make charcoal

and sell instead of fire wood.

PROSOPIS JULIFLORA OCCUPIES KOTHUR VILLAGE

This is the story of a remote village called Kothur (meaning Kotha+Vuru) = New + Village

located in the semi-arid part of the interior peninsular India. This village in the past was well

known for paddy cultivation, there used to be water, all year round surrounding the village i.e.,

because of meandering Dundubi stream and hence attracted the cranes and egrets. Especially

during and after the rainy season all the trees in the village were occupied by the birds and their

nests. Then this village was popularly called as ‘Kongala Kothur’ or Kothur with cranes. People

also strongly believed that if the cranes have not appeared, there will be less rainfall that year.

Due to climate change and variability the rainfall has come down from over 800mm to less than

600 mm in the last 50 years. As a result the traditional paddy cultivation area has come down,

and people started more and more dependant on the meager groundwater resources. The

present scenario is unimaginable and contrasting; most of the paddy growing fields are left

fallow and the soils have turned alkaline. In these soils Prosopis Juliflora is growing abundantly.

Now we can see that Prosopis Juliflora covers about 30% of the common lands and cultivable

fallows.

This present situation is the result of Climate Change and human interventions. The people from

far of coastal districts having seen the abundant Prosopis Juliflora in this area, have migrated to

this area and started making charcoal with the support of local people. Soon local people have

also learnt the method of charcoal production and are able to cope by producing charcoal during

the recurring drought conditions, prevailing in this area during agricultural lean season.

In the year 2006 Kharif period, there was drought in this part of the district. People have also not

sown any seeds and it was imagined that there could be migration of people from this village to

other places for work. But it was observed that during the peak of drought, none of the people

have migrated and they were engaged in the Prosopis Juliflora harvesting and charcoal

production acitivity, and they were very happy for the remuneration they could get,by engaging

in this activity. The reason is because of unprecedented demand for Prosopis Juliflora wood and

charcoal from Industries and urban areas. They were earning 2 to 4 times more by being engaged

in Prosopis Juliflora activities, as compared to their earnings from doing agriculture labor. Within

no time about 30 % of the Prosopis Juliflora was harvested. Even the people who have left their

lands fallow, over time occupied by Prosopis Juliflora, were also benefited by getting about 10%


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of the total earnings from the wood harvested by people from their respective fields. The

climate change, energy crisis, new energy demands, and the adaptations by communities to the

changes is a reality.

This is the new situation prevailing in this remote village, only since last 20 years. Charcoal

production has become a very popular activity and numbers of kilns are increasing in this part. In

this context any day reclaiming the soils and using for agriculture production is advisable.

Although, it is not sure whether to encourage community to continue to produce charcoal

efficiently and make a livelihood. This case study stands as tip of an iceberg for the changes that

would happen in the environment very fast due to climate change, energy crisis and other human

factors.

7. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. There is a need to form national, regional and local Prosopis committees to discuss the

issues, including all stakeholders; farmers, Forest Officers, elected public

representatives, private entrepreneurs, NGOs and research institutes, etc.,

2. There is a need to assess Prosopis juliflora using remote sensing, GIS and GPS tools and

plan for employment opportunities regionally.

3. State Governments should create facilities for purchase of Prosopis pod flour and should

facilitate as subsidized livestock fodder, Prosopis is cheaper and more nutritious than the

alternatives, and is locally available thus stimulating rural economy and employment

generation.

4. Joint management of Prosopis Juliflora trees in common pool resources and along

roadside between community and forest department. Forestry Department should pay

villagers for thinning, pruning so as to generate employment for villagers.

5. Encourage State Forestry Departments and State Forest Development Corporations (SFDC)

to promote and market Prosopis tree products.

6. Establish independent funds for credit for commercial processing, as lending technology

for Prosopis-based business.

7. Guarantee a market price for an initial period to stimulate management, production and

processing of new products such as Prosopis timber or pods.

8. Promote farmers’ cooperatives to increase the collective bargaining power among

producers.

9. Educate the villagers, especially women, on the value of Prosopis tree products, which

should become an integral part of all rural extension activities.

10. Organize training courses in all districts in the semi-arid areas where Prosopis Juliflora is

common.


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11. Demonstrate and introduce cheap, simple improved kilns for charcoal production and

small scale pod processors.

12. Establish demonstration farms or model Prosopis villages, either on state land or with the

support of progressive farmers to implement and demonstrate management and

utilization.

13. Promote a Technical Manual, and translate and distribute in the vernacular languages to

the community.

14. Developing a national, integrated research programme on management and utilization of

Prosopis Juliflora.

15. Need to develop economic models for Prosopis-based systems, under different site/

market conditions.

16. Local people should learn the method of charcoal production and are able to cope with

the recurring drought conditions prevailing in this area. This adaptation method could

arrest migration of people to some extant, other wise this District is well known for

migration of people to far of places.

17. The villager’s opinion about charcoal is that in the future there would be a huge demand

for the charcoal and in the last two years there is a great increase in price.

8. REFERENCES

1. MISSION DOCUMENT in evolution, NATIONAL MISSION on DECENTRALIZED BIOMASS ENERGY for

Villages and Industries, Prepared by a Team led by Shri. A.M.Gokhale, January, 2006

2. INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING MODEL FOR THE RURAL RESIDENTIAL SECTOR (IEPMRRS),

Calvin Sophistus King and M. Ramachandran

3. http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/pdfs/international_programme/Prosopis-PolicyBrief-

2.pdf

4. http://e-charcoalmaking.blogspot.com/


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Study was done by: Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy, CEO, GEO

Prosopis Juliflora - A Case Study

Environment

Transcript of Prosopis Juliflora - A Case Study