Water Wheel July/Aug 2025: Crop Water Use

Abstract

Trunk call: Why Jumbo’s favourite goes the distance in a drier world Animals can’t get enough of marulas. Baboons binge on the golf ball-sized fruit of the Sclerocarya birrea tree. Giraffes gobble them down, fruit and leaves. Famously, it’s a favourite of elephants, who eat the bark, branches and fruit. However, the popular story about fermented marula fruit rendering pachyderms poegaai doesn’t seem to hold water. This is not to doubt that once processed, it can have a potent kick. Thanks to the 29 different yeasts present in its skin, marula beers and liqueurs certainly do the trick. Of course, the pleasantly tangy fruit can simply be eaten and enjoyed fresh. Rich in vitamin C, marulas are a valuable source of food in many African countries. It’s made into (non-alcoholic) juices, jams and jellies. Its seeds are snacked on or squeezed to extract oil. Marulas are prized for their nutritional qualities and used in medicine — conventional and traditional — to treat everything from venereal disease to flagging sperm production.

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