Just call Sal: Preserving the magnificent Sal Forests
- Sudip Sinha
- May 10, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: May 11, 2024
Hurrah for working lunches!
During a much-deserved, albeit short, break in Rishikesh, Narendra had dinner with a forest department official. The gentle discussion about life and work became a long debate, eventually leading to a joint call with the officer. In this discussion, we discovered another challenge and a new stakeholder for AgriSciense.
The Sacred Sal: Giving livelihood, health, and enlightenment
From the general discussion on the state of forests and agroforestry in Uttar Pradesh and in Uttarakhand, our discussion quickly moved on to a particular tree species, the Shorea Robusta, or as it is commonly known, the Sal or Sakhua.
Sal is a native variety with a long and deep connection to culture, religion, and landscape—it is the quintessential Indian tree. A slow-growing tree, it rewards patience with a wide girth [2-2.5 meters] and height [30-35 meters]. After all, it was a Sal tree under which Lord Mahavira is said to have attained enlightenment!
The magnificent Sal Forests
The Sal tree (Shorea robusta) is a crucial timber species with both traditional and modern applications, bringing substantial revenue for growers and the respective forest departments.
According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, at 10.87 percent, Shorea robusta had the highest contribution in absolute tree numbers and volume across all forests and out-of-forest trees (OFT). The species is distributed mainly in the tropical belt. Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh account for over three-quarters of the national growing stock. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand hold ~10% of the national Shorea robusta tree stock.
Unfortunately, that is where the good news ends! This tree species also has the highest number of insect fauna among forest trees, as Dr. N. Roychoudhury, Tropical Forest Research Institute, reported. Dr. Roychowdhury reported over 345 different insects on the Sal tree, over half from the Coleoptera family. A third of the Coleoptera were stem and root borers of diverse types.
The Case of Hoplocerambyx spinicornis
Sal heartwood borer (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis Newman) attacks the Sal tree and reduces timber yield, causing economic and carbon losses. Approximately 30% of the state's 1.2 million hectares of Sal trees are affected by this pest, resulting in an annual loss of around Rs 400 crore.
When trees affected by insects exceed the economic threshold level (ETL) of 1% of the total number of trees, it is considered an epidemic. Until 2015, over 22 epidemics of this borer have been recorded in Sal forests of different states across India. During the 1996-2001 outbreak, Sal borer affected more than 3.5 million Sal trees in around 5000 km.
The Sal borer has stubbornly resisted decades of forest department efforts at tracking and eradication.
That is a problem worth solving!
Aligning Forest Pest Management with Vision 2030
Most forest timber is grown naturally, with limited use of chemical pesticides. However, rising average temperatures (among other factors) are increasing the incidence of pest infestation.
The Forest Department encourages the use of biological and chemical control agents to manage Sal borer infestation. However, non-chemical pest management methods are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and error-prone. In one novel initiative, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department trained and incentivized the local population to recognize signs of Sal borer infestation and receive payment based on the number of heads in an insect garland.
This is an innovative, social method of involving the community in managing invasive pests. However, as several research papers highlight, it is prone to error and other challenges. More importantly, these methods, neither predict nor preempt invasive pest infestation.
There is an urgent need to develop and implement technology-driven solutions for the early detection and identification of invasive pests like the Sal borer. Technological innovations, such as automated pest detection systems and decision support tools, can help streamline these processes and enhance the efficiency of agroforestry management. AgriSciense is working to build an early detection platform, utilizing the latest in insect communication!
AgriSciense: ते पृथ्वी स्योनमस्तु ("The Forest is Earth's delight")
We are on a mission to reduce tree mortality and rampant pesticide usage. Over the next 8-10 weeks, we will be in the field conducting trials on a variety of fruit and non-fruit trees. In late summer, we will be testing our acoustic device in the tropical forests of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The Uttar Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department's Vision 2030 emphasizes sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, and community participation. Other state forest departments have similar objectives.
AgriSciense hopes to be a part of this journey in preserving the earth’s delight!
References
India State of Forestry Report, 2021
Problem of sal heartwood borer, Hoplocerambyx spinicornis Newman, in India and its management., Nilanjan roychoudhury, 2019
Advances in the Biology, Behavior, Ecology, and Management of the Sal Heartwood Borer, Hoplocerambyx spinicornisNewman, 1842 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae): A Review, Deep Sikha et al, International Journal of Environment and Climate Change, Volume 14, Issue 1, 2024
ते पृथ्वी स्योनमस्तु is the motto of Indian Forest Service
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