Plantation Crops

Botany and species

Botany
Palmyra (Borassus flabellifer L.) belongs to family palmae,
It is a dioecious (rarely hermaphrodite) palm where in male flowers are embedded in fingers where as female flowers are sessile.

Species
Borassus aethiopium - African Palmyra Palm (tropical Africa)
Borassus flabellifer -Asian Palmyra Palm (southern Asia)
Borassus heineanus- New Guinea Palmyra Palm (New Guinea) .
Borassus madagascariensis - Madagascar Palmyra Palm (Madagascar) .
Borassus sambiranensis - Sambirano Palmyra Palm (Madagascar)
Fruit: It is botanically drupe contains three seeds and are 40 - 50 in a bunch.
The palm produces fruits when it attains 15-20 years, giving an annual crop pf 50 –200 fruits in 6 – 12 bunches per tree. When the fruits are tender the seeds contain a soft, sweet, jelly like endosperm called nongu in Tamil. The gelatinous pulp gradually hardens into a bony kernel and develops a fibrous coat. Male and female palms can be distinguished only when they start flowering which occurs after 15-20 years of growth. .
Flowering season: starts from January and continues till August with a peak during May.
Tapping season : Female palms = April – Dec, ( 8 to 9 months)
Male palms = Dec – Feb, (2 to 3 months)