Vilayati Kikar

Vilayati Kikar

News: Recently, the National Security Guard (NSG) has taken on the invasive Vilayati Kikar to regreen a 5-km stretch of its Manesar campus with local trees.

About:
• Vilayati Kikar, also known as Prosopis juliflora, is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. It has become established as an invasive weed in Africa, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere.
• The tree was brought to Delhi by the British in the 1920s when New Delhi was being built. The tree has deep roots and monopolizes water and sunlight, effectively killing off any competition, especially Delhi’s native trees. It does not let any other tree or shrubs survive around it.
• In the past couple of years, the NSG has planted nearly 10 lakh saplings of local varieties on the hills using the trench pattern of plantation to ensure judicious use of water.