Once valuable Palmyra is now just a ‘deadwood’ | Visakhapatnam News - Times of India - wood charcoal briquettes

VISHAKHAPATNAM: Palmyra was once considered one of the most useful trees for AP along the northern coast, and today is only valued for its fruit and toddy.
The timber of this tall and majestic palm tree was once used to build huts, animal shelters, and even flat roofs known as Middi --Paikappu.
The houses are made up of clay sandwiched between the Palmi tie rods, providing proper roofs for residents of thatched houses during the rainy season and protecting them from the heat during the winter months.
Palmira Wood is also used to bake bricks in traditional brick making units and wood furnaces
Based on power plants.
Palmira is also a major source of toddy in the region, and its fruit Thati Munju is popular in the summer.
P. S Murthy, a former SCI feild scientist, said, "Palmira was once referred to as the most valuable tree in the dry east coast region and was promoted by the forest sector for its timber and Todi and fruit.
Wood and leaves are used to build houses, fruits are used to quench thirst in the summer, and fresh toddy is considered an extremely rich source of vitamins and minerals.
Palmira fruit is also used to make pancakes whenever it is dry.
Murthy added: "This may be the only palm tree that can grow even in the driest areas and is considered useful in soil conservation.
Regarding the sudden paradigm shift, Murthy said, "The main culprit is the change in architectural style and building materials in rural areas.
Nowadays, most buildings are crushed concrete structures and Palmira Wood is no longer needed.
More importantly, even animal shelters are using modern roof slabs and hollow ash bricks.
This has had a huge impact on the Palmira market.
P. Sanathana Rao of Salur mandal, who once owned a brick factory, said, "We use Palmira Wood as fire-proof wood.
Today, most traditional brick-making plants use burning wood and chips instead of Palmira logs.
For this reason,-
Products called charcoal.
Darlapudi agronomists from E. Raman, Visakhapatnam district said, "The problem with Palmira Wood is that charcoal coal balls can only be produced from debris (edges)
In logs, the core is very fiber and therefore has a high calorific value.
Therefore, it is not considered suitable for fire-proof wood purposes.
Raman added that the entire area is spread across the balmira tree, a natural invasive species.
Regarding the economic value of the tree today, PS Murthy said, "the average yield per tree is about 4 to 5 liters of palm wine (
Alcohol and non-alcoholalcoholic)per day.
However, most of it is sold in the form of toddy (
Alcoholic beverages)
Toddy tappers and supplier Diluted toddy charge up to Rs 150 per liter.
The season lasts for about 50 days from February to 5, after which the summer fruit will be sold for the rest of the summer.
Regarding the value of wood, Raman said, "it is absolutely zero.
Cutting down tall giant palm trees is a huge problem, and more importantly, no one eats wood except chips, and farmers give away trees for free.
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