Ailments

Y L Nene¹
I had been reading references to Surapala's
Vrikshayurveda for the past several years in bits and
pieces. This is the first time I could read an English
translation of the complete treatise; thanks to the
excellent effort by Dr Nalini Sadhale. This time the
Vrikshayurveda made a definite impact on my mind
and I felt incrementally more excited each time I re-read
the translation. Surapala, in this brief treatise, has
documented the wide knowledge-base related to arbori-
horticulture that existed centuries ago in South Asia. I
would like to elaborate below the reasons for my
excitement:
• Plant protection was already recognized as an
important activity. Details of the symptoms of various
disorders must have been observed over long periods
before arriving at definite descriptions and attributing
specific symptoms to various causes. I am not aware of
any other attempt in the world by which plant disorders
were classified into two groups; i.e. internal and external
before the time of Surpala. Further it is very significant
that physiology of trees was considered similar to those
of humans and therefore classifying the internal
disorders into vata, kafa, and pitta kinds (humors) as had
been done in case of humans. Several of the symptoms
described can be attributed today to fungi, bacteria,
viruses, or nematodes. In addition, damage due to other
non-infectious causes (external) such as excessive heat,
frost, mechanical injuries, drought or waterlogging,
birds, excessive growth of creepers (dodder ?), and
competition by weeds was recognized (see Table 1).
• Considerable thought must have been given over
centuries to the remedies before prescriptions to manage
the disorders could have been formulated. It is most
significant that various methods of treatments, adopted
today, were conceptualized and practiced centuries ago.
Seed treatments, prior to sowing, to ensure successful
and vigorous germination were given a lot of
importance. Good nutrition was recognized as a
preventive measure for ailments and at the same time
wrong treatments and excessive application of remedial
materials were recognized as problem-creating
situations. Dressing of wounds, mechanical or
physiological, were in vogue. Application of pastes over
affected tree surfaces was suggested. Drenching of soil
with various materials was a recommended practice.
Treating roots before transplanting was recommended.
Fumigation of trees and seeds by burning (to produce
smoke) specific materials was considered to be useful.
Spraying/dusting with appliances, as we do today, had
not evolved, but the crude versions of these are found
in sprinkling aqueous suspensions of materials and
application of brick-powder as dust.
• Several botanicals and other materials had been
identified and recommended for application on ailing
plants. We know today that many of the botanicals

1. Chairman, Asian Agri-History Foundation, 47 ICRISAT Colony-I,
   Brig. Sayeed Road, Secunderabad 500 009, Andhra Pradesh, India
   and also Deputy Director General, International Crops Research
   Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502 324,
   Andhra Pradesh, India.
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