Bastar News: The existence of Salfi trees, which are famous as Bastar beer in the whole country and are called Kalpavriksha of the tribals in Bastar, a tribal dominated area of Chhattisgarh, seems to be in danger these days. In fact, Salfi trees are dying continuously due to a fungus called Feserina Oxyxorum. This fungus is destroying the Salfi trees so fast that the villagers have started worrying about it.
Actually, the juice of the sulfi tree is the main source of income for the villagers in Bastar. The villagers earn income by selling the juice of sulfi in the markets held in rural areas and in every village. But ever since the sulfi trees are getting affected by this fungus, the trees are drying up rapidly. Although agricultural scientists have found a solution to this through research, the villagers are proving unsuccessful in saving it. The reason for not being able to save the sulfi trees is that most of the villagers are not aware of the remedy, due to which the villagers are now giving up planting sulfi trees.
Villagers earn 50 to 60 thousand rupees every year
The juice of the Sulfi tree is one of the main sources of income for the tribal villagers in Bastar. This juice is the first choice of the local villagers as well as the tourists visiting Bastar. The local villagers and tourists drink the Sulfi juice with great pleasure.
The sulfi tree is present in all the districts of Bastar division and in every house of the villagers and the villagers take care of this tree like their son, but for the last few days, a fungus called Fisarium oxyxorum in this tree has put the villagers in trouble, suddenly this fungus is causing rapid damage to the sulfi trees.
Gives juice for about 25 years
Due to this fungus, the trees are drying up and dying rapidly, which has become a matter of concern for the entire villagers. Villagers say that about 10 to 15 years ago, a large number of Salfi trees were seen in the gardens of every village in Bastar, but now gradually the number of Salfi trees is decreasing in rural areas.
In fact, villagers consume sulphi juice to cure their stomach ailments. A sulphi tree starts to give juice after about 15 years and the tree gives juice for about 25 years. Villagers earn about 50 to 60 thousand rupees from one tree every year. This is the reason why villagers take care of the sulphi tree like their son.
Villagers do not know how to protect trees with anti-fungus
Plant pathologist and scientist of Shaheed Gundadhur Agricultural University, Dr. R.R. Bhanwar, tells that to save the sulfi tree from dying, digging a pit near the root of the tree and adding anti-fungal chemicals called Dicoderma and Denomile destroys the fungus, after the destruction of the fungus, the tree starts getting nutrients and the tree is saved from drying up.
He said that this experiment should be done as soon as the symptoms appear on the Salfi tree, but due to lack of knowledge of this, many villagers in the interior areas do not take care of the tree after the fungus is infected and this fungus starts drying the tree rapidly due to which the tree dies.
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