Khejri Tree (Prosopis cineraria): Where It Grows in India and How to Plant It

Khejri is native to the arid and semi-arid regions of Western Asia and the Indian subcontinent: the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west India. In India its home is the north-west dry zone and the Thar desert. ICAR-CIAH (Bikaner) describes it as tolerating extreme heat of up to about 50 °C, hot loo winds, frost and severe drought, and it grows with as little as 75–450 mm of rain a year. CIAH notes that it grows on plains, undulating ground and ravines at low altitudes, below 600 m.

Regions. The north-west dry zone is its home ground: plant with the monsoon in July–August, or in September–October with watering. In the northern plains, ICAR-CIAH records it as abundant in Haryana and Punjab and common in Delhi, Agra and western Uttar Pradesh; it does best in the drier western part of the plains.

Elsewhere it needs care and the right site. CIAH records it in the Bundelkhand area of central India, in the driest parts of Maharashtra (Nasik), Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and in dry Tamil Nadu (Tuticorin). In these regions plant it only on dry, well-drained sites: in the rain-shadow interior of the southern peninsula, and on the dry southern east coast with the north-east monsoon in October–November. The east lies outside the dry range CIAH describes, so try it there only on raised, well-drained, sunny sites.

It is not advised in the north-east, on the west coast or in the Himalaya. ICRAF describes its natural climate as dry to arid and says poorly drained soils are not suitable, so the very wet north-east and the heavy June–September rain of the west coast are far outside its range, and the Himalaya is above the low altitudes where it grows. The planting months for each region are in the Planting calendar.

Soil and light. Khejri puts out new leaves, flowers and pods in the driest months, March to June. It tolerates alkaline soils (reported up to pH 9.8) but needs good drainage, and does poorly on shallow soil over a hard layer or on strongly saline soil. Dense shade kills its seedlings, so plant it only in full sun.