Pune man keeps identity of Baneri bor alive
Jigar Hindocha
Pune: We know Baner for its posh locality, big footpaths, big restaurants and multi-storey buildings, but if we ask Praveen Thete, he will tell us how Baner is also famous for its Ber fruit (Jujubes).
38 year old Thete, who works as a senior trainer of agriculture and gardening for an NGO, ‘Lend a Hand India’ conducted a Baner ber heritage walk on Saturday, April 17, 2022 to make people aware of how Baner ber was in demand from not only Punekars but also from Mumbaikars.
Thete has collected 6000 seeds of Ber and now he has decided that along with the group he will make sapling of it and plant them in the surrounding of Baner.
Over 20-25 people attended the heritage walk where Thete informed people regarding how ber fruit which comes under the wild fruit category needs to be preserved for the future generation.
“In 1980 a ber tree in Baner was felicitated by the Maharashtra government as ‘best fruit giver tree’. This information came out during the discussion. People were not aware of the facts of ber, but now they want to plant the trees,” said Thete, who has been studying ber fruit since 2015.
“I was eager to find information about the tree, and I found out that many ber trees were killed in urbanisation and its need to be planted again in green zones, near river beds and other places where they could survive more,” added Thete.
