Withering eucalyptus may dent Nilgiri oil production, jobs

Ooty: Eucalyptus oil, commonly known as Nilgiri oil or Nilagiri Thailam in Tamil, is a must-buy product to those who happen to visit Nilgiris.

Such is the fame this oil attained over the decades which is commonly used to treat cold and muscle related ailments.  The eucalyptus trees, which grow majestically to great heights in the hills that symbolise Nilgiris, secrete this oil which is extracted and processed for common use.

However, in the recent times the sudden withering of these trees in certain pockets, across the hills here, especially in the central and western parts of Ooty, has become a cause of concern.

V. Sivadass, managing trustee of Nilgiris Environment and Socio-cultural Trust, said that it is shocking to see that eucalyptus trees are withering and losing health in some pockets across the hills here.  Shedding of leaves on these eucalyptus plantations in certain pockets is making them pose a skeletal look wherein the oil extraction would be affected, he noted.

“This hasn’t happened in the eucalyptus plantations here for over decades.  Since it is happening now, a detailed study is needed to ascertain if any new kind of infection has just begun to spread here, marring the growth and health of eucalyptus plantations or there were any other cause,” he said.

“Only a detailed analysis/study would help take corrective steps, otherwise this trend may finish off the eucalyptus plantations across the hills which would adversely affect the eucalyptus oil extraction and trade leading to loss of job opportunity and revenue,” he warned.

Though eucalyptus was introduced to the Nilgiris during the British era, it had become part and parcel of the ecology of the hills over the decades and a good source of plantation linked economy in the Nilgiris, he added.

Rohit Jain, an expert in the field of essential oils production sector in Nilgiris, said that eucalyptus trees is also the great source of pulp wood, timber and firewood. 

“Eucalyptus oil extraction provides job opportunity either directly or indirectly to around 9,000 persons in the hills.  In a year about 1.50 lakh liters of Eucalyptus oil is produced in Nilgiris.  Pollution, depletion of underground water level may be the reasons for sudden withering of Eucalyptus trees. So, there is an urgent need to look into the mysterious way in which the Eucalyptus plantations are getting withered to go for corrective actions to sustain their growth,” he noted.

Setting up of a branch of the Central Institute of Aromatic Plants here in the Nilgiris will go a long way to help sustain the health and wealth of the eucalyptus industry in the Nilgiris, he said.