eChapters

1. Physiologically heart wood is_____________. (Dead)
2. Sapwood is rich in_____________ material. (Starch)
3. Growth rings are also called as_____________. (Annual rings)
4. Earlywood and late wood are referred as and_____________ respectively. (Spring wood and Summer wood)
5. _____________ is the light coloured outer portion of a tree log consisting of the youngest growth rings. (Sapwood)
6. The deep coloured central portion of wood is_____________. (Heartwood)
7. _____________ and_____________ are function of sapwood. (Conduction of sap and Food storage)
8. The function of the heartwood is_____________. (Mechanical strength)
9. Vessels and fibres are absent in_____________ wood. (Non-porous)

1. The process of harvesting, conversion and disposal of standing forest produce is called _____________. (Forest utilization)

2. Palmarosa grass oil is known as_____________. (Geranium Oil)

3. Terminalia chebula fruit tans is commonly called as_____________. (Myrobalans)

4. The gum resin_____________ is obtained from Garcinia morella. (Gamboges)

5. Black dammer is_____________. (Canarium strictum)

6. Rock dammer is_____________. (Hopea odorata)

7. White dammer is_____________. (Vetaria indica)

8. True dammer is_____________. (Agathis loranthifolius)

9. The Indian copal tree is_____________. (Vetaria indica)

10. The Indian gum arabica or babul gum is obtained from_____________ species. (Acacia nilotica)

1. The Indian Institute of Forest management is located at_____________(Bhopal)
2. First forest policy in independent India was enacted in_____________(1952)
3. A plan of operations for the management of the forest is known as_____________. (Working plan)
4. _____________ are the yields harvested as a matter thinning operation. (Intermediate yields)
5. Indian Wildlife Protection Act was enacted in the year_____________.(1972)
6. The present National Forest Policy envisages having_____________percent of forest and tree cover. (33%)
7. Forest conservation act was enacted in the year_____________. (1980)
8. Indian forest act was enacted in the year_____________. (1927)
9. Density of tree in a forest stand is normally expressed as__________________________. (Basal area of the stand in square feet.)

1.      Callipers are used to measure_____________. (Diameter)

2.      Biltmore stick is used to measure_____________. (Diameter)

3.      Wedge prism with 5 BAF and tallied 50 numbers of trees/ acre then basal area per acre is_____________ __________. (250)

4.      A ring count is most accurate in aging tree by using increment borer on _____________ of the trunk. (Lower region)

5.      False ring is a/an_____________ ring for a given year. (Second)

6.      A formula to determine diameter quotient for each form class is called_____________. (Hojer’s formula)

7.      The instrument used to determine the age of a tree is_____________. (Pressler’s increment borer)

8.      _____________ ,_____________ and_____________ are the variables required for general volume table preparation. (Diameter, height and form)

9.      The sampling method used in non-random sampling are_____________ ,_____________ and _____________. (Selective, Systematic and Sequential)

10.  _____________ formula is used for determining increment per cent. (Schneider’s)

1. The “silviculture of Indian trees” in three volume was published in 1921, by _____________. (R.S. Troup)

2. _____________ silvicultural system aims at opening of the canopy for regeneration and even-aged condition of the crop. (Uniform shelter wood system)

3. Irregular involutions and convolutions on the bole just above the base of a tree are called as ____________. (Fluting)

4. Stool shoots refers to the production of coppice shoots from_____________ of stumps. (Near the top)

5. Geographical area covered by forest area in India is_____________ per cent. (21-22%)

6. Indian forests were classified into _______ number of groups by Champion and Seth in 1968. (16)

7. The most favourable soil for the growth of Shorea robusta (Sal) is_____________. (Well drained deep moist sandy loam)

8. The clear felling system was introduced for the first time by_____________. (Heinrich Vancotta)

9. The book “Genera Plantarum” was written by_____________. (Englaer and Prantl)

10. “Pricking” is a term used in raising plants in_____________ area. (Main plantation)

1. Taungya is a method of raising forest plantation in combination with_____________. (Agricultural crops)

2. Buffer strips left along streams to reduce erosion and provide shade for fish, which are known as _____________. (Streamside Management Zone, SMZ)

3. Agroforestry system journal is published in_____________. (Netherland)

4. Indian journal of agroforestry is a_____________journal. (Quarterly)

5. Taungya was developed by_____________. (Brandis)

6. The interaction in which both the member of the community in an ecosystem are benefitted is known as_____________. (Mutualism)

7. The tendency of neighbouring plants to utilize the same quantum of light, mineral nutrients and space is known as_____________. (Competition)

8. Allelopathy is the best example of_____________. (Amensalism)

9. D & D approach was developed by_____________. (ICRAF)

10. _____________design is followed in greenhouse experiments. (RBD)

Multipurpose trees and shrubs are defined as all woody perennials that are purposefully grown to provide more than one significant contribution to the production and/or service functions of a land-use system that they occupy. In agroforestry systems, different species of trees and shrubs can be planted with many types of crops in a variety of patterns. Thus, it is required to know about the methods of propagation and nursery raising, planting and other silvicultural management practices along with the diverse uses of multipurpose trees and shrubs of tropical and subtropical areas before their selection for forestry and agroforestry activities. It is important to select the most suitable tree species since it is not easy to replace them once they have been planted.

MANGIUM (Acacia mangium)

Acacia mangium is a single-stemmed evergreen tree that grows to 25-35 m in height and up to 60 cm in diameter. The bole is usually straight, often fluted near the base, free of branches for up to half its height. Mangium is native to Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. However, it tolerates varied site conditions and has adaptability to different planting objectives. Mangium shows most vigorous growth on well-drained, fertile soils in high rainfall areas in the humid tropics. It is valued for its rapid growth and has been planted throughout the humid tropics and is a major plantation species in the Asia Pacific. Provenances from Papua New Guinea consistently show better growth in height and diameter.

Human societies over the ages have depleted natural resources in different ways and degraded their local environments. Indiscriminate cutting down of trees and accelerating the construction works lead to global warming and climate change. Climate scientists believe that human-induced deforestation is responsible for 18-25% of climate change. Accumulation of greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere is the main cause of global climate change. The concentration of these gases in the earth’s atmosphere is increasing, mainly due to deforestation and the combustion of fossil fuels which release carbon dioxide.

The earth receives heat energy constantly from the sun through radiation. Some of the heat is absorbed and some is reflected. Carbon dioxide works like an invisible blanket that wraps around the earth and traps the heat inside, similar to the function of a greenhouse. A greenhouse is a structure that is used in colder climates to grow plants. Even when outside temperatures drop below freezing point, greenhouses are still warm enough inside to grow plants. Greenhouses are made of glass, which allows solar radiation to enter. The heat is trapped inside the greenhouse, allowing plants to grow all the year round. Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere insulate it like a greenhouse, leading to a gradual warming of the earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas, but there are others as well, including methane and nitrous oxide.

Trees have been used in cropping systems since the beginning of agriculture. Throughout the world, at one period or another in its history, it has been the practice to cultivate tree species and agricultural crops in intimate combination. In the tropics, human beings underwent a transition from hunting/gathering to the use of domesticated plants and livestock. As a part of the process, they cut down trees, cleared the debris by burning and sowed crops in the ash enriched soil. It was the ‘slash-and-burn’ agriculture, a primary forerunner of the present-day agroforestry and a practice that might have originated in the Neolithic period, around 7000 BC.

There are innumerable examples of traditional land-use practices involving combined production of trees and agricultural species on the same piece of land in many parts of the world. Trees were an integral part of these farming systems and they were deliberately retained on farmlands to support agriculture. These practices are now known as agroforestry. However, the ultimate objective of these practices was not tree production but food production.

In agroforestry systems the various components like tree, crop and pasture exist in different proportions and orientations. It is difficult to find out which agroforestry system is the best suited for a given land situation. Similarly, it is to be decided which technologies are required for refinement and improvement of the existing agroforestry practices. But without sufficient knowledge of the existing system in a particular land situation, it is very difficult to set the research priorities for modification and development of this system.

Diagnosis and Design (D & D) is a systematic and objective methodology developed by International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) to initiate, monitor and evaluate agroforestry programmes. D & D is based on the philosophy that knowledge of the existing situation (diagnosis) is essential to plan and evaluate (design) meaningful and effective programmes in agroforestry research for development. The methodology plays a strategic role in all the phases of the agroforestry research process. D & D in agroforestry is unique and it has been specially developed for the following purposes (Raintree, 1987)

A watershed is a geohydrological unit or all the land and water area bounded by a divide which contributes runoff to a common point. Watershed is considered to be synonymous with ‘catchment basin’ and ‘drainage basin’. In watershed management approach, development is not only confined to agricultural lands but also covers the area, starting from the highest point of the land to the outlet of the natural stream. Watershed management becomes increasingly important as a way to improve livelihood of people while conserving and regenerating their natural resources.

Watershed management is the process of creating and implementing plans, programmes and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that affect the plant, animal and human communities within a watershed boundary. It implies the judicious use of all the resources,i.e., land, water and vegetation in an area to prevent soil erosion, improve water availability and increase food, fodder, fuel and timber on sustained basis.

Ecology of a place is influenced by a number of biotic and abiotic factors. An agroecological zone is broadly homogeneous in climatic and edaphic factors, but not necessarily contiguous, where a specific crop exhibits roughly the same biological expression. On the other hand, the characteristics of an agroecological zone influence the crops and cropping patterns of the zone. Thus, there are considerable variations in the types and management practices of agroforestry systems being followed in different agroecological zones.

AGROFORESTRY FOR HUMID AND SUBHUMID TROPICS

Humid and subhumid tropical regions have much variation in biological, social and economic parameters. The characteristics of humid tropics include high mean annual rainfall of more than 1500 mm, dry season of less than four months in a year and mean annual temperature of more than 22°C. Rainfall usually exceeds the evapotranspiration. However, demographic pressure has caused excessive deforestation and overgrazing which developed soil related problems like low soil fertility, low organic matter, high acidity and high rainfall erosivity. The agroforestry practices designed for this region should aim for improved fallows, soil fertility improvement and conservation, food production, etc. Thus, the common agroforestry systems in this zone are taungya, homegardens, alley cropping, plantation-crop combination, windbreaks, silvipastoral systems and various intercropping systems. Shifting cultivation is a common practice in tropics which should be discouraged as it causes environmental degradation and ecological imbalance, soil erosion and soil nutrient loss.

Agroforestry is a land use system that involves two or more plant species at least one of which must be a woody perennial. When perennial woody and herbaceous components are grown together on the same piece of land their performance would largely depend on their ability to share various growth resources in a given environmental situation. Due to difference in growth pattern and resource requirement of the components in agroforestry situation, a close interactive relation is obvious. Thus, careful management practices for the components are required to establish a successful agroforestry system. The characteristics of the trees and crops, and their interactions, can be modified with good management practices in order to take advantage of the positive characteristics and minimize the effects of the negative ones. Effective and efficient agroforestry management may be divided into two groups; tree management and agricultural crop management.

All agroforestry systems are characterized by three basic sets of attributes; productivity, sustainability, and adoptability (Nair, 2008).

Productivity: The majority of agroforestry systems, if not all of them, strive to maintain or raise both land productivity and output (of desired commodities). In several aspects, agroforestry may raise production. These include higher yields of related crops, less input use in the cropping system, enhanced labour efficiency, and higher production of tree products.

Sustainability: Agroforestry can achieve and indefinitely maintain conservation and fertility goals by conserving the production potential of the resource base, mainly through the beneficial effects of woody perennials on soils.

Adoptability: Improved or new agroforestry technologies that are introduced into new areas should fit the social as well as environmental characteristics of the land use system for which it is designed and should also confirm to local farming system.

Agroforestry systems are not simply systems where trees and crops or animals give useful products to the farmers, rather systems where trees and crops and/ or animals interact. Interaction literally means influence or mutual or reciprocal action. So, component interaction refers to the influence of one component of a system on the performance of other component as well as the system as a whole.

In agroforestry systems, trees are grown in close proximity to crops and pasture. Their performance would largely depend on their ability to share various growth resources in a given environmental situation. Various interactions take place between the woody trees and herbaceous plants (crops or pastures) which is referred to as tree-crop interface. These interactions take place through the media of soil and microclimate and may exert favourable or adverse effects on the crop. Study of interaction helps to know how the components of agroforestry utilize and share the resources of the environment, and how the growth and development of any of the components will influence the others. Interaction occurs both above and below the ground and includes a complex set of interactions relating to radiation exchange, the water balance, nutrient budget and cycling, shelter and other microclimatic modifications.

Management approaches to soil, including problems of soil degradation and low soil fertility, have recently undergone major changes. The earlier concept was to concentrate on achieving high levels of production from the more fertile areas, leaving the marginal lands for extensive use only. Steeply sloping and highly drought-prone areas were mostly left without any cultivation as production from these areas was hardly cost effective. Soil constraints were to be overcome by inputs like improved crop varieties, fertilizers, chemical control of pests and diseases, and the use of irrigation.

The approach of use of newly developed high yielding crop varieties, improved agronomic management practices, use of chemical fertilizers, efficient water management and timely plant protection measures has been successful in achieving large increases in crop productivity in recent years. On the other hand, continuous application of fertilizers at higher rates leads to environmental problems. Yield responses to fertilizers have declined because of soil physical degradation and micronutrient deficiencies. Above all, large numbers of poor farmers simply can neither afford high levels of fertilizers and other purchased inputs, nor do they have the capital to take on the risk involved in their use. Increasing the area under irrigation has also run into severe constraints in the form of limits to available freshwater resources.

The idea of social forestry is not new in India. It may be found in Lord Buddha’s teachings from around 2500 years ago. According to Buddha’s teachings, a devout Buddhist should plant one tree and nurture it for five years so that it matures into a complete tree. By doing this, a person should plant around f ive trees over his lifetime. It is also believed that the Great Emperor Ashoka planted fruit trees and shade trees by the roadsides for the benefit of passing travellers.

The rural economy in India has been largely supported by forests. In the past, the local people kept an ecological balance while managing their woods to provide food, fuel, fibre, fodder, timber and herbal remedies. However, India’s forests have rapidly disappeared due to biotic pressure from expanding human and animal populations, a lack of technical skills, insufficient investments, and ownership changes. In addition to biotic pressure, other factors that led to the depletion of forest resources includes inadequate scientific and technical inputs; staff lacking the necessary skills and training to assume their expected new roles; poor investment in forest development; and damage from mining, irrigation projects, industries, roads; and shifting cultivation. As a result, in the early 1970s, new ideas in forestry development were introduced. Therefore, a variety of activities were incorporated in social forestry initiatives, including planting trees on agricultural bunds and roadsides, creating woodlots on shared lands, and integrating local people in the gathering, processing, and management of forest products.

Farmers have been growing trees for different purposes for thousands of years. Tree species that are grown to provide more than one significant function are called multipurpose trees. These functions may be productive such as producing fuelwood, timber, fibre, fodder, food, medicine, etc. and/or protective such as soil conservation, shade, shelterbelt, microclimate amelioration, land sustainability, biodiversity preservation, etc. All trees are multipurpose; some, however, are more multipurpose than others. Tree species can be multipurpose in two ways.

1. A single tree can provide more than one function. For example, Gliricidia sepium is grown as living fences that provide fuel, fodder and green manure for agricultural crops - all at the same time.

2. Trees of the same species, when managed differently, can provide different functions. For example, Leucaena leucocephala is managed so that some trees will mainly yield wood while others mainly produce leaf fodder.

It is vital to categorise agroforestry and its many systems in accordance with certain contemporary standards in order to have a thorough grasp of them and to enable future progress. Since each agroforestry system refers to a different set of agroforestry practices involving agriculture (crops), forestry (trees), and pasture (animals), the various uses of land are combined either temporally or spatially. Each agroforestry system has its own unique arrangement of various components, such as crops, animals, perennial trees, etc., and degree of interaction between the components. In terms of structure, composition, age intensity, technology, inputs, etc., one system varies from the other.

Creating a useful framework for the synthesis and analysis of data on current systems as well as the creation of new, promising ones should be the primary goal of classification. For this reason, every categorization system needs to have the accompanying the following standards.

A scientific evaluation of the physical characteristics of the land, the properties of the soil, and the management techniques is called land capacity categorization. Understanding potentiality, capacity, and appropriateness for the best possible use of land is the primary goal of land capability categorization. Measuring land capacity provides an objective assessment for land preservation in certain ecological scenarios.

On the one hand, land capacity aids in determining if a piece of land is efficient for a certain use, and on the other, it aids in preventing inappropriate use of the land, which poses a risk of erosion and degrades the quality of the land. Therefore, in order to maximise production, each piece of land’s potential should be assessed taking into account both its pedo-geomorphic characteristics and any constraints resulting from environmental threats. Additionally, under the necessary management practices, capacity categorization allows farmers to use the land appropriately for sustainable output.