Shisham tree is dying, experts are baffled: Getting to the root of problem

Researchers say farmers are worried because they plant shisham about 20 years in advance to sell them later, especially at the time of their children's marriage

Indian rosewood or the shisham tree — used to make durable dark-reddish tables, beds, bookshelfs or chairs — is dying.
 
That is what scientists at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun have been hearing for over two decades.
 
Although one killer has been identified (a fungus), several mysteries surround shisham’s sickness and death.
 
“We don’t know enough,” says Amit Pandey, who heads the forest pathology department at FRI. Many killers could be working together, say scientists. “People are constantly approaching us, claiming that their shisham is dying,” says Pandey.
 
“And, it’s happening across the shisham