Khejri (Desert Bean) Farming in India 2026
The tree of life of the Thar, giving fodder, food and sangri.
Overview
Khejri (Prosopis cineraria), the state tree of Rajasthan, is the legendary tree of life of the Thar Desert, valued for centuries for its fodder, fuel, shade and its tender pods called sangri, a prized desert dry vegetable. It is one of the toughest trees on earth, surviving extreme heat, prolonged drought and very poor sandy soils where almost nothing else grows. Crucially, it fixes nitrogen and enriches the soil, so farmers traditionally grow crops under and around khejri trees in a classic agroforestry system that raises yields rather than reducing them. The pods, sold dried as sangri, are a key ingredient of the famous Rajasthani panchkuta and fetch high prices as a desert delicacy, giving farmers a valuable cash product. With khejri populations sadly declining in the desert, growing and protecting these trees offers both income and ecological benefit. For arid zone farmers khejri is less a single crop and more a multipurpose lifeline tree.
Climate
Khejri is supremely adapted to hot, dry desert climates and is among the most drought hardy trees in the world. It survives extreme summer heat, scorching winds and rainfall as low as a couple of hundred millimetres a year. Its very deep taproot reaches moisture far underground, letting it stay green through severe dry spells. It tolerates the temperature extremes of the Thar and grows in true arid conditions.
Soil
Khejri grows on the poorest sandy and desert soils, including loose sand dunes and gravelly arid ground where most plants fail. It tolerates alkaline and mildly saline soils. As a nitrogen fixing legume tree, it actually improves soil fertility under its canopy, raising organic matter and nutrient levels, which is why crops grown around it often do better. It needs little fertility and thrives on neglect.
Planting & Spacing
Khejri is grown from seed, which germinates better after light scarification, or from nursery raised seedlings planted in the monsoon. It can also be allowed to regenerate naturally in fields, where farmers protect young trees. Spacing is wide because trees are kept scattered in fields for agroforestry. Young plants need protection from grazing animals and some watering in the first dry seasons until the deep roots establish.
Varieties
Khejri is grown as the native species Prosopis cineraria rather than as named horticultural varieties, with desert farmers selecting healthy local trees that give good pod and fodder yield. Arid zone research institutes have studied superior germplasm with better pod production and growth. Most plantations and farm trees use locally adapted seed or seedlings suited to the harsh desert, prized for their proven survival and useful pods.
Care & Management
Khejri needs very little care once its deep roots are established. The most important traditional practice is lopping, the careful cutting of branches in winter for fodder, which keeps the tree productive and is done without harming it. Protect young trees from grazing, give minimal watering in early dry years, and avoid heavy over lopping that weakens trees. Beyond this the tree largely looks after itself in the desert.
Pests & Diseases
Khejri is a tough tree with few serious pests, but it faces some threats. A stem boring beetle and other borers can attack and weaken trees, and in recent years many khejri trees have been dying due to a poorly understood decline linked to borers, drought stress and other factors. Grazing damages young plants. Keeping trees healthy, avoiding over lopping and protecting seedlings help reduce losses.
Yield & Harvest
Khejri pods, the tender sangri, are harvested in the hot summer months around May and June while still green and tender, before they mature, and are then dried for storage and sale. Mature trees also yield large quantities of nutritious leaf fodder through winter lopping, with a single good tree giving substantial fodder. Trees take some years to grow before giving worthwhile pods and fodder, but then produce for decades.
Cost & Profit
Khejri gives multiple income streams rather than a single crop yield, combining sangri pods, fodder, fuelwood and soil improvement that boosts companion crops. Dried sangri is a high value desert delicacy and can fetch high prices per kilogram in specialty and urban markets, sometimes a few hundred rupees a kilogram for good quality. Because output per tree is modest and spread across uses, income depends on tree numbers and product quality, so any figures are best treated as broad indicative ranges.
These are indicative ranges. Actual cost and income vary by region, market and management, so verify locally.
Market & Demand
Dried sangri sells strongly as a Rajasthani specialty in local markets, urban stores and online, where its status as a desert dry fruit and panchkuta ingredient commands premium prices. Fodder is sold or used on farm for livestock, which is vital in the desert. There is growing demand from health and ethnic food buyers. Cleaning, grading and good packing of dried sangri raise returns and help reach distant premium markets.
Subsidy & Support
Khejri planting and protection are supported through state forest and agriculture departments, agroforestry promotion schemes, and dryland and desert development programmes in Rajasthan and neighbouring states. The rural employment scheme can support tree planting, and being the state tree of Rajasthan it gets special conservation attention. Farmers should contact the forest, agriculture or agroforestry office for seedlings and current support, and follow rules protecting standing trees.
Where to grow it in India
Frequently asked questions
What is sangri and why is it valuable?
Why is khejri called the tree of life?
Can crops be grown under khejri trees?
When is sangri harvested?
Why are khejri trees declining?
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