Sandalwood Spike Disease

News:

India’s sandalwood trees, the country’s pride — particularly of Karnataka — are facing a serious threat with the return of the destructive Sandalwood Spike Disease (SSD).

About Sandalwood Spike Disease:

• It is an infectious disease which is caused by phytoplasma.
• Phytoplasmas are bacterial parasites of plant tissues — which are transmitted by insect vectors and involved in plant-to-plant transmission.
• There is no cure as of now for the infection.
• Presently, there is no option but to cut down and remove the infected tree to prevent the spread of the disease.
• The disease was first reported in Kodagu, Karnataka in 1899.
• More than a million sandalwood trees were removed in the Kodagu and Mysore region between 1903 and 1916.

About Sandalwood Trees:

• The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for use. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world.
• Some species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past.
• They are found in the Tropical Dry Deciduous forest of the Palakonda and Seshachalam hill ranges of Andhra Pradesh and also found in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• Red Sanders usually grow in the rocky, degraded and fallow lands with Red Soil and hot and dry climate.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put it under the category of near threatened from earlier endangered species in the Red List.