Informatics Publishing Limited

N. Bala , G. Singh , N. K. Bohra , K. R. Choudhary , R. K. Gupta

Abstract

A trial was initiated in July, 1995 to study the performance of Eucalyptus camaldulensis under different irrigation regimes on an arid sandy plain. Six treatment combinations of water quantity (W₁ and W₂) and watering frequency (I₁, I₂ and I₃) were imposed. Irrigation schedule was maintained on the basis of IW/CPE ratio (Irrigation water/cumulative pan evaporation). Plant growth and biomass at 40-month age was high in I₃W₂ treatment where 45/ 60 mm of water per irrigation was applied with a total of 1935 mm (36 applications). Inspite of receiving more irrigation water, (2040 mm in 53 applications) growth and biomass accumulation by plants in I₃W₁ was less in comparison to plants in I₃W₂ treatment. Irrigation increased total dry biomass by 9 fold in I₃W₂ treatment over I₁W₁ treatment. Analysis of variance showed significant difference both at 5% and 1% level between the treatments. Incremental growth followed more or less the same trend in the first and second year but in the third year no significant variation was observed among treatments signifying absence of any treatment effect. More than six fold higher water use efficiency (WUE) was recorded in I₃W₂ over I₁W₁. Soil organic matter and electrical conductivity decreased significantly in all the treatments whereas, significant increase in pH was observed after 40 month of plant growth. Results of the study show that quantity of water added per irrigation is more important than the total irrigation input. I₃W₂ treatment provided more soil volume with favourable moisture condition for ischolar_mains where wetted ischolar_maining zone was more and thus resulted in better growth and biomass production.

Keywords

Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Arid Zone, Biomass, Irrigation, Water Use Efficiency

Full Text

     

N. Bala , Pramod Kumar , G. Singh , N. K. Limba

Abstract

A study was conducted on the work carried out to reclaim waterlogged area near Rawatsar of Hanumangarh District in Rajasthan, India. It was amply demonstrated that a government initiative supported by active community participation could reverse poverty linked resource degradation. The area that was under the influence of water logging and salinity since the introduction of Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna (IGNP) and Ghaggar flood diversion channel stands reclaimed to a great extent after the project interventions. Surface drainage was provided to drain out stagnant water. It was supplemented by plantation of trees to biodrain water and to decrease water table further. Farmers who once fled from the area in search of living were once again seen busy with agricultural activities. Crops like cotton, wheat, and mustard etc. are now grown in the field, which was submerged under saline water a few years back. The project interventions have been proved to be a boon for that area.

Full Text

     

Pramod Kumar , N. Bala , G. Singh , S. P. Chaukiyal , S. Mutha , N. K. Limba , N. K. Bohra

Abstract

A total of 66 villages were surveyed from six types of degraded land areas in arid and semi-arid parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Availahility of common access resources (CARs) i.e. Gaucher/Oran and Community wasteland varied from 4% in Johrheed (Bikaner) to 93% in Ramgarh (Jaisalmer) of Rajasthan. Arahle farming and animal husbandry are the main occupation in the area with very high cattle population. 62-100% household fall under the category of marginal land holding (<5 acres) and are totally dependent upon CARs for getting fuel , fodder and even food. The average fuelwood and fodder requirement per household in the area were worked out to be 3.46 tonnes and 2.07 tonnes per year , respectively. To meet this requirement on sustainable basis , productivity of the available CARs need to be maintained at 4.2 tonnes ha^-1 yr^-1. Female members of the family and children mainly carry out collection of fuel and fodder for which they devote 30 to 40 % of their time.

Full Text

     

G. Singh , N. Bala , V. Kuppusamy , T. R. Rathod

Abstract

Growth and productivity of Cassia angustifolia was studied during 1997 to 2000 in presence of adult neighbours namely Acacia tortilis , Prosopis juliflora and Calligonum polygonoides. The objectives were to find out suitable combination to control sand drift and to increase overall productivity of arid area. Seedlings of above species were planted in September 1996 , whereas the C. angustifol ,ia was sown in July 1997. Growth of woody perennials , growth , phenology , biomass productivity and ischolar_main study of C. angustifolia and soil water content were the recorded observations. C. angustifolia flowered twice in a year and remains green during peak summer of May and June and therefore would be beneficial in sand drift control. It had deep penetrating ischolar_mains to gather limiting resources in this unproductive land. Production of C. angustifolia was higher (P<0.05) with C. polygonoides as compared to P. juliflora and A. tortilis. Soil water content was higher under C. polygonoides than that under other two species and suggested to be due to spreading type of canopy. Fresh weight of stem + twigs and leaves of C. angustifolia ranged from 61.9% to 66.7% and 33.3% to 38.1% , respectively with total above ground biomass production of 3.70 to 7.35 tonnes ha^-l. There was no difference between biomass of summer and autumn harvesting , though the production decreased with age of the plants. The combination of C. polygonoides and C. angustifolia was best to increase production of this dry land with additional benefits of sand drift control.

Full Text

     

N. Bala , G. Singh , Pramod Kumar , A. K. Sinha

Abstract

The size of the global forest carbon stock appears to be declining , thereby generating a net carbon source. While forest decline contributes to the build-up in atmospheric carbon , analysts widely agree that the primary cause of the build-up in atmospheric carbon is not attributable to land use changes , but rather is due largely to fossil fuel burning and its associated emissions. However , forestry can playa major role towards increasing the global carbon sequestration if the world's forest could be managed properly with due importance to afforestation and reforestation. Recognizing the role of forestry in carbon sequestration the 1997 Kyoto protocol specifically mentioned afforestation and reforestation as tools that can be used to reduce level of carbon dioxide from atmosphere.

Full Text

     

G. Singh , N. Bala , K. K. Chaudhuri , R. L. Meena

Abstract

A study was carried to observe the vegetation status of Common Access Resources (CARs) and carbon stock in some selected villages of 10 degraded sites in six ecozones namely degraded forest areas, land with scrub, gullies and ravines, degraded pastureland, salt land and sand desertic with objective of strategic planning to improve their productivity. High vegetation status in Gujarat resulted greater carbon stock compared to that in Rajasthan. Carbon in the form of vegetation biomass ranged from 1.96 to 2.83 Mg ha^-1 in Gujarat and 0.24 to 1.73 Mg ha^-1 in Rajasthan. Soil carbon was 3.60 to 6.38 Mg ha^-1 compared to 1.13 to 5.18 Mg ha^-1 in Rajasthan being lowest in the sandy area of Mokal and Ramgarh. The potential of carbon sequestration in the CARs has been worked out to he 6.13 Mg ha^-1 yr^-1. With this sequestration potential the CARs should be able to meet the local need for fuel fodder and small timber.

Full Text

     

G. Singh , Bilas Singh , V. Kuppusamy , N. Bala

Abstract

Investigations were made on soil properties and foliage nutrient compositions under four age classes of Acacia tortilis (L) Forsk plantation to determine the nutrient buildup and the impact of Acacia tortilis plantation on soil properties. The study was carried out through simple random sampling using four stands of different ages viz 4 years (Y₄) , 9 years (Y₉ ) , 12 years (Y₁₂) and 19 years (Y₁₉). Elemental concentration of
A. tortilis foliage differed significalltly (P4) and increased with increasing stand age. Mg , K , Zn , Mn and Fe showed a reverse trend that was attributed to the effect of irrigation during the first five years and increased competition for resources in older stands. Most of the soil nutrients were higher in plantation area compared to control area (Y_o). Soil organic carbon (SOC) increased with increasing age of the stand , influencing the soil pH and soil nutrient availability. Soil available nitrogen N (NH_4-N+NO_3-N) , P0_4-P , Ca , Cu , Zn and Fe increase through SOC/litter accumulation. K and Zn also showed increasing trend , though the availability was less compared to Y₀ area and was due to higher utilisation in actively growing young plantation. Extractable Mg decreased with age and was probably utiJised in stand development. Accumulation was greater in 0-15 cm soil layer compared to 15-30 em layer. The increased soil nutrients under A. tortilis plantation had direct impact on site improvement. Thus the study suggests that the species can be utilised in wasteland development and other afforestation programmes.

Full Text

     

N. Bala , Pramod Kumar , N. K. Bohra , N. K. Limba , S. R. Baloch , G. Singh

Abstract

Litter production varied greatly with plantation age and stem density in E. camaldulensis being high in 12-year-old plantation (6087 kg ha^-1). Lowest litter production was in 4-year-old plantation (2042 kg ha^-1). Bimodal pattern of litter fall was observed in younger plantation where, two peaks of varied intensity were observed in summer and winter. Overall, litter production was more in summer. Component wise, leaf litter accounted for the major part of the total litter production. It varied from 64% in 17-year-old plantations to 73% in 8-year-old plantations. Woody litter component varied from 16% to 23% in different age plantations. Bark litter also constitute a significant proportion of the total litter production rangingfrom 9-13%. Value of decomposition constant (k) was 0.1508, signifying very slow rate of decomposition. A significant positive relationship between annual total litter production and girth at breast height (GBH) as well as tree height was observed. Conclusively, lowrate of decomposition signified slow rate of nutrient turnover.

Keywords

Litter, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Decomposition, Aridzone, Plantation

Full Text

     

N. Bala , G. Singh , N. K. Bohra , N. K. Limba , S. R. Baloch

Abstract

No abstract

Full Text

     

G. N. Gupta , N. Bala , K. R. Choudhary

Abstract

To investigate the influence of different run-off harvesting and conservation techniques on soil moisture storage, growth and biomass production of Prosopis cineraria (khejri), a field experiment was carried out at Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur with eight treatments such as; Control, Weed removal, Weed removal + soil working, Saucers of 1.0 m diameter, Saucers of 1.5 m diameter, Saucers of 1.5 m diameter covered with mulching around the trees, Bunding around each tree in checker board design and Inter row ridges of 20% slope. The saucer of 1.5 m diameter was found to be the best treatment which improved soil moisture storage considerably, caused eight times increase in total biomass of 26 month old khejri plantation (from 4.49 to 37.16 q ha^-1), doubled the ischolar_main mass (4.33 to 9.66 q ha^-1) and caused 30 per cent increase in tree height. The technique of inter row slopes was also equally effective. Gain in tree growth due to other water harvesting treatments was relatively lower, though significant when compared with control. The weeding treatment improved the growth of khejri by two folds. Various treatments improved the water use efficiency of khejri by two to eight times as compared to 4.78 kg cm^-1 ha^-1 in control.

Full Text

     

N. Bala ¹, G. Singh ¹, N. K. Bohra ¹, N. K. Limba ¹, S. R. Baloch ¹

Affiliations
1 Division of Forest Ecology, Arid Forest Research Institute, New Pali Road, Jodhpur – 342005, IN

Abstract

An attempt was made to remove excess water from the land through bio-drainage and to increase vegetation cover and productivity of a waterlogged area in Indian desert. Area protection, soil working and plantation of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. fastigata, E. rudis and Corymbia tessellaris on raised bunds, improved vegetation cover with simultaneous decrease in water table. Performance of E. rudis was best with respect to growth, biomass, transpiration rate and overall bio-drainage potential. E. rudis maintained uniform transpiration and photosynthesis rate throughout the year. Ground water level receded by 145 cm in E. rudis plot compared to 90 cm, 70 cm and 60 cm in C. tessellaris, E. camaldulensis and E. fastigata respectively within a period of four and half year. Soil organic carbon, electrical conductivity, NH and NO - N were high in E. rudis and low in E. fastigata. The results suggests that E. rudis has high 4 3 potential to be used as an efficient bio-drainage species in canal command waterlogged area of Indian desert. Apart from the planted species, Prosopis juliflora, Tamarix dioca and Saccharum munja also have come up in the area with recession of ground water table as natural succession and contributed significantly for further lowering of ground water table and increasing productivity.

Keywords

Biodrainage, Biomass, Eucalyptus Rudis, Transpiration, Waterlogging

Full Text

     

Parmanand Kumar ¹, Ranjeet Singh ¹, Hukum Singh ¹, Tara Chand ¹, N. Bala ¹

Affiliations
1 Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248 006, IN

Abstract

In this study, the soil CO₂ efflux was measured by closed dynamic system method along with soil and meteorological parameters at 1600, 1700 and 1800 m elevations along different directional-aspects over a period of one year. The annual CO₂ efflux rate (F_c) varied from 1.02 to 22.57 μmol m^–2 sec^–1, which was highest in the rainy season. The annual average F_c was maximum (8.67 μmol m^–2 sec^–1) at east facing slope followed by 7.58 and 7.32 μmol m^–2 sec^–1 at south facing slope and north facing slope respectively. Temperature (T_s), moisture (S_m) and evaporation of soil were found to be significant variables and selected to develop the regression model with R² value of 0.85. The effect of soil moisture on F_c above 15°C T_s exhibited a better relationship with R² value of 0.48 and temperature sensitivity (Q10) was found 3.25. This study reveals that the key controlling factors of CO₂ efflux rate are soil moisture and soil temperature, which explains 66% variation in soil CO₂ efflux.

Keywords

Seasonal Variation, Soil CO₂ Efflux, Soil Moisture, Soil Temperature, Spatial Variation, West Himalayas.

Full Text