Gum Exudation in Relation to Depth of Incisions on Stem-Bark of \u3cem\u3eButea monosperma\u3c/em\u3e L.: A Dominant Interspersed Tree Species in Grazing Lands

Butea monosperma (Palas), a medium-sized deciduous tree belonging to the family Leguminosae-Papilioneae (family Fabaceae), is a native to tropical South Asia, especially from the regions of India (Indo-Gangetic plains). B. monosperma is a gum yielding tree, found naturally in most of the rangelands and grasslands particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. It is an important multipurpose tree for the rural population providing fodder, fibre, fuel wood, gum, medicine and shade. In Bundelkhand it is most widespread species and mainly found in open woodlands, degraded/ pasture lands and forest and farmer’s lands. It is adapted to survive under harsh environmental conditions such as low and erratic rainfall, and intense solar radiation. The green leaves are lopped for fodder and the yield of milk in buffaloes fed with Butea leaves has reportedly improved. The digestibility of butea leaves is comparable to that of straw and caloric content is reported to be 3.761 cal/g dry weights. Gums and resins are almost ubiquitous in plant Kingdom and many of them continue to play an important role in our daily lives. Numerous plants produce some kind of gum and resin, but only a few are commercially important. They have been used as adhesives, emulsifiers, thickening agents, added to varnishes, paint and ink; for aromas added to perfumes and cosmetics and even play a role in pharmacy and medicine (Howes, 1959; Fernandes, 1964; Kaushik and Dhiman, 2000). India is the producer of different gums in international market. Gum-butea is a minor gum. Traditionally, tapping of gumbutea (known as kamarkas) is one of the key livelihood option for tribes particularly the Saharia community in Central India. The gum is collected by Saharia tribe by making incisions or cuts on stem-bark of butea trees (Prasad et al., 2014). They collect the gum and sell it at very nominal price in local market. It has been found that on an average 10-15 trees/ha of B. monosperma are available in farmer’s field which are used by saharia tribe for collecting gum (Prasad et al., 2014). Traditionally, tribal collects gum during November to February, once in a year. The selection of trees for gum collection is done judiciously and only those trees which have at least 25-30 cm girth are marked for gum tapping. For inducing gum oozing, tribal first remove bark or dead bark from the stem. Thereafter, with the help of a special designed bill hook (having three side sharp edges) incision or cuts or tapping are made to depth 1 to 2 cm. After two days of tapping, trees are visited again for collecting gum. The juice or tears are removed from bark with hand or with the help of small knife. The complete process of gum collection is a labour intensive as the tribal family has to visit every tree twice in a season. However, much information is not available about the tapping possibilities of B. monosperma for gum production. Therefore, study was conducted at Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi to investigate the effect of different depths (0.5 cm, 1.0 cm and 1.5 cm) of incision or cuts made on stem-bark on yield of exuded gum from B. monosperma