Local news and article related to Mullu Maram

Impact of Prosopis juliflora on nesting success of breeding wetland birds at Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary, South India

Influence of exotic plant invasions on the structure and functional attributes of native ecosystems has been extensively documented and debated. The complex interactions of invasive species with native.

Source:

India Environment Portal, 10/03/2014, Current Science

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/1806/thesaurus/prosopis-juliflora/

Local news and article related to Mullu Maram

Tree species turning into environmental threat

RAMANATHAPURAM: “Prosopis juliflora,” (seemai karuvel), once touted as a saviour of the drought-prone areas in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, has now become a threat to the environmental system.

Source : 
The Hindu, MAy 27, 2009

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/tree-species-turning-into-environmental-threat/article291551.ece

Court orders removal of Karuvelan trees from waterways

Mullu Maram

Mullu maram / Velikattan , biological name is Prosopis juliflora is a shrub or small tree in the Fabaceae family, a kind of mesquite.  It is native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. It has become established as an invasive weed in Africa, Asia, Australia and elsewhere.

It also takes over pastoral grasslands and uses scarce water. Livestock which consume excessive amounts of seed pods are poisoned. It causes land erosion due to the loss of the grasslands that are habitats for native plants and animals. 

In the Afar Region in Ethiopia the pastoralists call this "Devil Tree"

thus in Hindi it is called angaraji babul, Kabuli kikar, in Kannada it is known as "Ballaari Jaali" meaning Jaali, in Tamil language it is known ascheemai karuvel (சீமைக்கருவேலை),in the Telugu language it is known as mulla tumma (ముల్ల తుమ్మ) 

Introduction of Prosopis in India

Introduction of Prosopis juliflora, a native of Central America, in India could be traced first in literature from Lt. Col. R.H. Bendome, Conservator of Forests of Northern circle (Madras) requesting the Secretary of Revenue Department of Madras to supply Prosopis seed in 1876 for planting in arid tracts of South India (Reddy, 1978). Seeds were received from Jamaica and sown in South India during 1877. Reference to the occurrence of P. juliflora in this region was given 7 years after (Raizda and Chatterji, 1954). 

In Northern India, P. juliflora was introduced in the arid tracts of Rajasthan, owing to its rapid growth features and drought hardiness during 1877 (Muthana and Arora, 1983). 

Aerial seeding of this species to cover large areas was done at Marwar in Rajasthan during 1930s (Harsh et. al. 1996). The species was declared as a “Royal tree” and the Government officially instructed planting and protection of the tree species during 1940 (Muthana and Arora, 1983)

source: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/biodiversity/weeds/issues/pro/en/

Using the wood in a fireplace has caused dermatitis, as has working with seasoned wood. The gum has irritant properties. Reports on cattle toxicity vary. Lewis and Elvin-Lewis (1977) report that ingestion over long periods of time will result in death in cattle. Further, they report that the pollen may cause allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, and/or hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Kingsbury (1964) goes into some detail on mesquite poisoning in cattle, including cases where autopsies showed pods and seeds in the rumen 9 months after the cattle could have ingested them. Mesquite poisoning may induce a permanent impairment of the ability to digest cellulose. 

Felker and Bandurski (1979) also provide interesting detail. If Prosopis pods are the sole food source for cattle, 1% become sick, and some die with a compacted pod ball in the rumen. Death is attributed to high sugar content repressing the rumen-bacterial cellulose activity. 

Mesquite feeding to pigs was promising during the first four weeks, deteriorating thereafter, perhaps due to phytohemagglutinins and trypsin inhibition.

Source: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Prosopis_juliflora.html

The Prosopis juliflora , or ‘seema karuvelam’ menace

This tree has been no use other than the fuel plant, the cost we have to pay for it is

1. Depletes the ground water  as deep as 100 feet and water bodies as lakes.

2. Poisons the ground water and the water bodies

3. Depletes the moisture in the air around.

4. Using it in the fireplace causes Dermatitis

5. The Pollen causes Allergic rhinitis, Bronchial Asthma and Hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

6. Feeding the cattle will induce permanent impairment of the ability to digest cellulose