Acacia Nilotica, Babul, Kikar - 0.5 kg Seeds

Acacia nilotica, the babul or kikar, is a hardy, thorny, medium-sized tree that is one of the most characteristic indigenous trees of India's dry plains, ravines and roadsides. It has dark, deeply fissured bark, feathery bipinnate leaves, golden ball-shaped flowers and beaded grey pods.

An exceptionally useful tree, its hard, durable heartwood is used for agricultural implements, cart wheels, tool handles and fuelwood, while the bark, pods and gum (gum arabic) are important in tanning, dyeing and traditional medicine; the foliage and pods are nutritious fodder. Being a nitrogen-fixer that thrives on poor, saline and degraded land, it is widely planted for fuelwood lots, shelterbelts and wasteland reclamation.

• Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
• Native region: Indian subcontinent and Africa
• Mature height: 10-15 m
• Growth rate: moderate, extremely drought hardy

The tough seed coat must be softened first by a hot-water treatment (pour near-boiling water over the seeds and soak as it cools for 12-24 hours) or by scarification. Sow 1-2 cm deep in poly bags of sandy loam; germination follows in about 7-14 days. Raise the seedlings in the nursery and plant out with the monsoon rains.