"Sangri growth this time has fallen by 60-70 per cent due to unusual rain and climate change. The temperature was cool when it should have been hot as pests and fungus would die of heat. But they festered and started attacking the Khejri tree," said MR Baloch, director of Arid Research Zone, Jodhpur.
Khejri's fruit, Sangri, when combined with Ker or the desert berry, makes a dish integral to Rajasthani cuisine, which is also a staple of the desert people.
AdvertisementSteeped in buttermilk overnight, Sangri and Ker are stir fried in mustard oil with spices. The fruit's price has sharply increased this year and it has vanished from menus in Rajasthan restaurants.
"Ker-Sangri is the king of vegetables. But they are in short supply, so we have had to remove them from our menus," said Anand Bhati, owner of Pokhar restaurant in Jodhpur.
Farmers who would earn extra income from collecting the fruit of the Khejri tree and selling them in the market are also disappointed.
"We have some 15,000 trees in our village. None are bearing fruit this year. Earlier, we would sell them for Rs 700 per kilogram and make some extra money," said Mool Singh, a farmer from Shergarh in Jodhpur.
Ker-Sangri prices have doubled from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per kg this year.
