Authors:Â Manjunatha M.C, Basavarajappa H.T
Abstract:Â Mysore-betel leaf is a variety of heart shaped betel (Piper betel) leaf grown in and around Mysuru region. These are said to differ from other betel leaves due to their smooth texture, hot taste & flavor and traditionally offered as a mark of respect and auspicious beginnings. Mysore-betel leaf (Chigurele or Veelyedele) has been traditionally used as ink, stimulant, laxative and contraceptive and has held pride of place in cultivation within villages and palace gardens since the time of the Wodeyar Maharajas of Mysore. The air in the district was once thick with the aroma of Mysuru Mallige (Jasmine), but unplanned and rapid urbanization has seen the cultivation of the flower decline perceptibly. Now after Mallige, the famed Mysore-betel leaf farms are disappearing due to urbanization threat that could become casualty of near unfettered modernization. There are hardly any Mysuru-betel leaf growers in the city limits. Betel leaf farms in the city ran into hundreds of acres-stretching from Shankara Mutt to Koppaluru in JP nagar; from KG Kopplu to Ashokapuram- but now most of them have either been transformed into large residential layouts, or hospitals and colleges.
Keywords: Urbanization threat, Mysore-betel leaf, Mysuru, Geospatial technology
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