{"id":368089,"date":"2026-07-23T18:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=368089"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:07:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:37:23","slug":"sal-shorea-robusta-and-sal-borer-infestation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sal-shorea-robusta-and-sal-borer-infestation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sal (Shorea robusta) and Sal Borer Infestation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong>The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has sought permission to fell nearly 150,000 sal trees after a severe sal borer infestation in Dindori district.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Sal (Shorea robusta) Tree<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_368097\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-368097\" style=\"width: 404px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-368097\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE-2.jpg?resize=404%2C202&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Sal (Shorea robusta)\" width=\"404\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE-2.jpg?w=704&amp;ssl=1 704w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 404px) 100vw, 404px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-368097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; DTE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sal (Shorea robusta)<\/strong>\u00a0is one of the <strong>oldest and strongest tree species<\/strong> and is an important forest tree of <strong>northern India<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Family:<\/strong> It belongs to <strong>the Dipterocarpaceae family.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution:<\/strong> In India, Sal is naturally found in <strong>Uttarakhand, the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The tree is also native to <strong>Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet,<\/strong> and <strong>across the Himalayan regions.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key Aspects:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Importance:<\/strong> Sal provides <strong>valuable timber<\/strong>, <strong>seed fat used in chocolate manufacturing,<\/strong> and non-timber forest products that support rural livelihoods.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Special Feature:<\/strong> It is known as the &#8220;<strong>Sentinel of the Forests&#8221;<\/strong> because it can <strong>survive for many years and withstand environmental changes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Climate Requirement:<\/strong> It grows well in a <strong>warm and humid climate,<\/strong> <strong>light loamy soil with good drainage,<\/strong> and <strong>annual rainfall of about 1,000\u20133,000 mm.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Life Span:<\/strong> The tree can live for nearly 100 years and does not require frequent watering or care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Sal Borer Infestation<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_368098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-368098\" style=\"width: 412px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-368098\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE.jpg?resize=412%2C231&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Sal Borer Infestation\" width=\"412\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE.jpg?resize=300%2C168&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE.jpg?resize=1024%2C573&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE.jpg?resize=768%2C429&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Source-DTE.jpg?w=1066&amp;ssl=1 1066w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 412px) 100vw, 412px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-368098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; DTE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Caused by:<\/strong> The infestation is caused by <strong>the sal borer, a dark brown beetle of the order Coleoptera and family Cerambycidae.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Nature of Damage:<\/strong> It is the most <strong>destructive insect pest of sal forests<\/strong> and <strong>damages both standing trees and freshly felled timber.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pest Outbreak Cyclical: Major outbreaks occur naturally in a cycle of about 30 years,<\/strong> with the <strong>last major outbreak reported in 1997.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Symptoms of Infection:<\/strong> <strong>Sawdust-like material appears<\/strong> around the trunks of infected sal trees.\n<ul>\n<li>The borer <strong>first attacks weak and unhealthy trees<\/strong>, while <strong>adult insects are often seen gathering around household lights.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>India Current Scenario:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Region of Infection:<\/strong> The current sal borer outbreak has affected <strong>Dindori district and the Amarkantak<\/strong> region of neighbouring <strong>Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Government Action:<\/strong> The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has sought <strong>permission from the Central Government to fell 147,380 infested sal trees in Dindori <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is <strong>using the &#8216;trap tree&#8217; method to control the spread of the pest.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Community Participation:<\/strong> The Forest Department has set up <strong>insect collection centres and is paying Rs 2 per insect.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has sought permission to fell nearly 150,000 sal trees after a severe sal borer infestation in Dindori district. About Sal (Shorea robusta) Tree Sal (Shorea robusta)\u00a0is one of the oldest and strongest tree species and is an important forest tree of northern India. Family: It belongs to the Dipterocarpaceae&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sal-shorea-robusta-and-sal-borer-infestation\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sal (Shorea robusta) and Sal Borer Infestation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,12039,11834],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-368089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}