SUMMARY Seeds of Grewia oppositifolia have a hard seed coat, and germination is usually below 22% if sown in nursery beds without any pretreatment. To improve germination, seeds collected from different sources (provenances) were treated with cold water, hot water, concentrated sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and rumen fistula (i.e. using fresh sheep's faecal matter as an incubation medium). Treatments with hot water and rumen fistula significantly enhanced (P=0.01) percent germination, irrespective of provenance. Soaking in conc. H2SO4 or cold water was ineffective in improving percent germination of the seedlots of G. oppositifolia collected from various sources. Elevational range of seed source exhibited significant positive correlation with percent germination, when seeds were pretreated with hot water or acid.
SUMMARY A field experiment was conducted to determine the growth rates of Alhizia lebbeck (siris) grown under different methods of micro-catchment water harvesting in the Indian arid zone. Six micro-catchment water harvesting treatments were: control (only pitting), saucers of 2.5 m diameter, ringpits, trench-cum-mound, trench and mound and deep ploughing. The five water harvesting treatments were associated with significant increases in height and collar girth of Albizia lebbeck, compared to the control. Twenty-one months after planting, trees were 2.3 times taller in ringpits and two times taller in saucers and trench and mound than the control (P=0.001; F=9.8). Eighteen months after planting basal girth was 3.3, 3.0 and 3.8-fold higher, respectively in T3, T2 and T5 treatments than the control, (P=0.000; F=13.8). With advancing age of plantation, growth differences between the control and the above treatments decreased. Fifty four months after planting, the most growth was attained by the trees in ringpits (446 ± 25 cm height and 36.7 ± 4.3 cm girth) followed by saucers (422 ± 1 1 cm height and 35.3 ± 1.2 cm girth) and trench and mound (427 ± 36 cm height and 32.7 ± 2.0 cm girth), compared to 284 ± 54 cm height and 23.7 ± 5.3 cm girth in the control. Ringpits and trench and mound structures resulted in 50 % higher soil water storage in the upper 75 cm layer, compared to the control (P=0.000; F= 12.99). Plant survival improved from 50% in the control to 92 to 97% in microcatchments. Biomass yield of pruned material was higher in ringpits, trench and mound and saucers by 12 to 20 times, compared to the control. Since the cost of planting in ringpits was 60% higher than in the control, adoption of trench and mound structures and saucers, which cost 21% and 27% higher compared to the control, is recommended. These structures could be made under drought and famine relief works, which are quite common under Desert Development programmes. The technique will provide useful employment and a source of livelihood to people, besides increasing wood production and green cover.
ABSTRACT To understand the potential role of forest products in household livelihoods, a study of the woodcraft industry in Zimbabwe was initiated. The woodcraft industry has increased steadily since the late 1980s. The factors driving the upsurge in the woodcraft industry are (a) the increased demand by tourists and (b) the need by rural households to find cash income sources. The structural adjustment programme, with one of its emphases being the decontrol of the currency, has probably played a key role in driving the rise in woodcraft production. Although all markets have a committee and all have some basic rules governing their operations, few of the rules are strictly enforced. There is also a lack of enforcement of the national legislation that governs the use of the tree resources. The local traditional rules governing resource use from the commons are also not strong. Given the problems in the national legislation and in the local rules, it is difficult to see how the resource can be managed on a sustainable basis. It appears that the benefits from the industry may not be substantial, given the lack of interest in the market from outsiders and the various elites who could monopolise the trade given the lack of enforcement structures in place. In communal areas, where deforestation is advanced, the selective use of certain species for carving is likely to drive the species to local extinction. The carvers are likely to switch to different tree species in order to maintain their production levels.
ABSTRACT Among the reasons why an income that people get from any given non timber forest product can decline are, over-harvesting of the resource base, capturing of the business by local elite, domestication of the product, decreased demand, or manufacturing of substitutes. In all of these scenarios, income for local collectors is likely to diminish or disappear altogether. This Special Issue of the International Tree Crops Journal brings together a number of studies from Bolivia, Peru, Zimbabwe and Cameroon assessing the sustainability of incomes from non timber forest products once their commercialisation has already been achieved. The studies conclude that avoiding over-harvesting of a commercially successful forest product will in most cases require some restraints on harvesting, usually through developing rules and regulations at the appropriate level. These institutional arrangements are also needed to avoid exclusive income capturing by powerful elites. Sustained production can also be achieved through intensified management or cultivation. Maintaining market demand requires constant marketing effort, or adjusting the products that are supplied to different demands. Even so, there is always the possibility that commercially successful forest products will be replaced by others that provide a higher consumer satisfaction or are produced more efficiently. A constant effort is thus needed to develop new products, for which the entire production-marketing may have to be setup.
ABSTRACT Commercial exploitation of non-timber forest products has been playing a major role in the northern Bolivian Amazon for more than a century. Initially relying on the exploitation of rubber, the regional economy underwent a first diversification as a consequence of the post-World War I rubber crisis: rubber tapping became supplemented with subsistence agriculture and Brazil nut extraction. This mode of making one's living prevailed in the region for several decades until Bolivian rubber trade came to a standstill in the early 1990s. The recent rubber crisis called again for substantial modifications of the regional economy. This paper examines the conversion from a rubber-based economy into production modes making broader use of forest resources. A village- level survey conducted in 163 rural settlements gave evidence that increased commercialization of Brazil nuts, palm hearts, and timber largely offset progressively lower incomes from rubber exploitation. In addition subsistence and market-oriented agriculture were expanded. Palm heart and timber extraction is likely to exceed natural regeneration rates, and therefore socio-economic needs and ecological requirements are yet to be reconciled in the post-rubber era of the northern Bolivian Amazon.
ABSTRACT Uncaria tomentosa and U. guianensis appear to hold a potential to become an important export commodity and a source of income for small farmers in the tropical forest belt of the country. Both species have been important in traditional healing in many South American countries. They contain some sixty active substances which are being tested widely for possible medical treatments. U. tomentosa has been traded from Peru since 1994 until it reached a peak export of 726 t in 1996. Despite the general discourse on the potential that species like the two Uncarias have, the many stakeholders that have some interest in these species do not seem to co-ordinate their activities sufficiently to enhance sustained income for the country and the rural poor. At the national level, there has been pressure put on the government to implement legislation to prohibit the sales of the raw material of these species, in order to capture larger shares of benefits for the national economy. Initially false conservation arguments were used to stop the collecting from the wild, as there is sufficient evidence to argue that at current harvesting levels there is no threat to the two species. Regional government agencies have promoted the production of the two species without having a clear picture of future market development, allowing the possibility that much of the future production cannot be sold. Both actions may possibly negatively affect the benefits that accrue to local collectors or producers.
ABSTRACT The economic and social interactions of tree planting on farms in Haryana were investigated by means of a pilot survey followed by the issue of a questionnaire. Virtually all farmers in three villages in N Haryana were interviewed. The three main crop plants were sugarcane, rice and wheat, with maize and mustard being important secondary species. Populus deltoides vars. were planted on the majority of farm boundaries with Eucalyptus spp. on a minority. The data were used to generate Farm Household Models. The aim of the study was to optimise, using five possible situations, the most suitable balance in socio-economic terms of crops and trees. First year plantings were separated from annualised plantings and both were investigated under situations where capital borrowing was either restricted or unrestricted. Growing trees only on boundaries would result in a substantial increase in gross margins. A comparison of woodlot and alley plantings with boundary or no tree planting indicated that a combination of unrestricted woodlot and alley cropping was the most profitable. Such a plan is not appropriate, however, where social needs related to crop production and livestock maintenance need to be accommodated.
ABSTRACT Investigations were made on the growth of young neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) seedlings, planted among mature Acacia tortilis trees, and associated soil properties, to determine whether seedlings could be successfully introduced among old tree stands in the arid environment. Size measures of 52 mo-old neem seedlings planted along the mature and unlopped trees of Acacia tortilis (mean height 8.3 m, crown diameter 12.6 m and diameter at breast height 24.7 cm), indicated that A. tortilis significantly affected the growth of neem seedlings planted under the canopy. Maximum size reduction was observed in the plants found under the inner crown (IC) compared to the plants in the outer crown (OC) and outside crown (OS) zone. Soil parameters (0 to 75 cm depth) of pH, electrical conductivity, and P, Ca and Mg concentrations, were higher in the soil of the OC (6 to 9 m) zone of A. tortilis compared to the IC zone (1 to 4 m) and OS zone (15 to 24 m). The concentration of K, NH4-N and NO3-N were highest under the IC zone soil and decreased in order of IC> OC > OS zone. The concentration of Na was minimum in the IC zone compared to the OC and OS zones. The order of percent soil organic matter was IC < OC < OS zone. Foliar analysis of neem showed that concentrations of N, P and Mg were higher in the seedlings of IC zone whereas the concentrations of Ca and K were highest (P<0.05) in the neem foliage of OS zone. The concentration of Na was highest in the OC zone plants. The variations in nutrient status of soil and seedling were attributed to the effect of competition between old A. tortilis trees and the young A. indica seedlings.
ABSTRACT In this paper we use a conceptual box-and-arrow model for understanding woodland use in Zimbabwe in the context of the complex ecological-social-economic system of which it is part. Central themes within our model are: the policy framework; local institutions; land pressures; rural-urban relationships; the rise in tourism; increasing commercialisation of woodland products; drought; AIDS; and the status of the resource itself. We suggest that too little attention has been paid to the impacts of policy on woodland use and commercialisation, and that woodland use is seldom seen in the wider context of the entire household livelihood system. Conceptual models represent a tool for understanding the connections between the components of complex systems, but they need to be followed by more detailed simulation modelling, to understand both the dynamics of these systems and the possible outcomes of various interventions in them.
ABSTRACT The economy of the northern Bolivian Amazon has historically been based on rubber and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In the late 19th century, the upcoming rubber boom lead to the establishment of rubber estates. Following World War I, a first rubber crisis forced some estate owners to abandon their land, favouring the emergence of independent communities. A second rubber crisis after World War II, along with the Agrarian Reform in 1953, accelerated the disintegration of rubber estates and the foundation of independent communities. In the early 1990s, the conclusive halt of Bolivian rubber production fuelled rural-urban migration and the differentiation of rural settlements. This paper examines the evolution from pure rubber estates to a wide array of settlement types. A settlement typology distinguishes four types of estates and six types of independent communities with varying trade-offs between extractivism and peasant agriculture. The findings have important implications for NTFP-based development. First, extraction-based livelihoods are socially acceptable only when access to basic services, like schooling, health care, and transportation is ensured. Second, in the region's remote areas the supply of such services needs to rely on a forest concession system within which the private sector bears the investments needed. Finally, indigenous communities participating in NTFP trade need to demarcate their sphere in between the remote forest concessions and the non-tribal peasantry in the vicinity of town.
ABSTRACT Enterolobium (Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacq.) Griseb) is a leguminous tree that has potential for use as a shade tree, in woodlots, for soil conservation and for fodder, and has wide ecological adaptation. A greenhouse study was conducted to determine the potential of Enterolobium as a fast-grower during its first three months of growth relative to Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala Lam. de Wit) and Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium Walp.), the most commonly grown tree legumes in the lowland humid tropics of West Africa. The root and shoot growth of Enterolobium was generally similar (or better, before 6–8 weeks of growth) to that of Gliricidia, but was significantly more than that of Leucaena. Enterolobium nodulated freely without Rhizobium inoculation to the same extent as Gliricidia up to 10 weeks after planting; thereafter Gliricidia produced more nodules. Enterolobium produced more nodules than Leucaena throughout the period of sampling. There were, on average, 50 nodules/plant in Leucaena, 115 in Enterolobium and 223 in Gliricidia at 12 weeks after planting. Thus, compared with Leucaena and Gliricidia, Enterolobium is a fast-growing leguminous tree that nodulates early and freely with native rhizobia. The productivity of Enterolobium under regular cutting management and the value of the foliage as mulch/green manure and fodder need to be determined.
ABSTRACT Prunus africana trees' bark from moist forests on Mt. Cameroon produce a medicinal extractive that is traded internationally with high economic significance. Because sustainable bark harvesting was widely abandoned since the early 1990s and because the economic status of the rural population has deteriorated in the area, illegal and destructive debarking became common. Under the present form of exploitation this tree species is expected to become extremely scarce in the region within a few years. To understand this recent development, historical, legal, and social conditions of the local population are highlighted. With regard to these constraints, options for sustainable management of this valuable non-timber forest product are presented on the legal and technical level to maintain a commodity that has a high potential to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the rural people.
ABSTRACT Indigenous management techniques of traditional homegardens in four regions in Bangladesh were investigated with reference to marginal (> 0.02–0.08 ha), small (> 0.08–0.14 ha), medium (> 0.14–0. 20 ha) and large (> 0.20 ha) farm categories. Eighty homegardens (five from each farm category in each of the four regions) were assessed. Farmers' knowledge about different aspects of homegarden management is broadly comparable with scientific knowledge. Farmers used various types of planting materials such as seed, seedling, rhizome, sucker and cutting to regenerate homegardens, with more than three-quarters of the required planting materials derived from the homegardens. Mother trees were selected for fruit species only. Three sizes of seedlings (> 45 cm, 45–90 cm and > 90 cm) were recognised by farmers and medium sized seedlings (45–90 cm) were regarded as best for all sites. Regional traditions in growing certain species in particular locations of the homegarden on the basis of water and nutrient requirements were observed. Farmers practised simple cultural operations (weeding and pruning) which were rarely intensive. The fertility of homegardens was maintained naturally from leaf litter, faeces of animals, kitchen waste and the mud of fish ponds. Lack of good planting materials, funds and extension supports were identified as the major constraints of the present management systems.
ABSTRACT Forests and tree resources in the rural landscape provide a number of important environmental and socio-economic benefits. This paper describes farmers' responses to changes in the rural economy as they relate to tree management on private farm land in a hill district in Nepal, and makes an attempt to determine factors that influence their decisions on tree growing. Farmers grow trees to meet their specific household needs which change as their household situations change and are influenced by a number of factors such as availability of land and labour, types of trees available, techniques for, and risk involved in, growing them, guaranteed benefits as well as markets for both forest products and employment of family labour. Implications are discussed for forestry interventions that aim to improve smallholders farming systems, which are the smallholders' livelihoods.
SUMMARY Three plantations with native timber species were established in the Atlantic humid lowlands of Costa Rica to compare growth and nutrient cycling in pure and mixed stands. As part of the project, leaf litter decomposition, litterfall and accumulation of leaf litter on the plantation floor were studied in a young plantation of Pithecellobium elegans D. C. Benth, Genipa americana L., Vochysia ferruginea Mart., and Hyeronima alchorneoides Fr. Allemao. Of the four species studied, V. ferruginea had the highest annual litterfall (867.6 g m-2), G. americana had the lowest (386.7 g m-2), and the mixed plots had an intermediate level (660 g m-2). P. elegans ‘leaves decomposed the most rapidly, V. ferruginea's leaves decomposed the slowest, and the mixed litter decomposed at an intermediate rate. Mulch bioassays testing maize seedling growth showed higher survival and growth rates than the unmulched control in every treatment except for the G. americana mulch. Overall, P. elegans appears to be a good candidate for agroforestry combinations: the sparse canopy allowed light to penetrate, and its mulch showed the most positive effect on growth of maize seedlings. The large amount of litter produced by H. alchorneoides and V. ferruginea makes them helpful in protecting against soil erosion. A mixed species treatment may combine beneficial effects of the different species’ characteristics, with the additional advantage of product diversification, especially important for the subsistence-oriented farmers of the region.
ABSTRACT This paper reviews the information available mainly on the fodder aspects of two of the important fodder tree species of Indian arid regions viz. Prosopis cineraria and Ailanthus excelsa. The fodder of both have ready markets and trees of both species are lopped heavily in the arid areas of Rajasthan, India. Whereas P. cineraria is useful for both green and dry fodder, A. excelsa is more popular for its green fodder. Complete lopping in winter produces more fodder yield in P. cineraria. The practice of annual lopping of P. cineraria needs to be investigated in detail. Trees of this species also help in improving soil properties. Both species are economic for growing in farm fields. Major pest attacks reducing fodder yield are not common in either species.
ABSTRACT An ethnobotanical survey of swamp forest plant resources in selected areas in Uganda was undertaken. Through market surveys, literature survey and a combination of participatory rural appraisal techniques, a checklist of 18 key swamp forest plants was compiled. Of these, seven species, namely, Lovoa trichiloides, Beilschmeidia ugandensis, Entandadrophragma angolensis, Phoenix reclinata, Calamus deeratus, Hallea stipulosa (syn. Mitragyne stipulosa) and Raphia farinifera were established as threatened from a conservation perspective. Their major documented uses include; timber production, craftwork, construction, fencing, fuelwood, medicines and, to a small extent, food supplements. Threats to the sustainable use of swamp forest plant resources include, in particular; over-harvesting, reclamation of the habitat for agricultural use, poor harvesting techniques and rampant bush fires in dry seasons. Challenges to address conservation of swamp forest plant resources include among, others; management of swamp forest plant resources in their wild habitats, the need for creation of awareness of the values and threats to swamp forest plant resources at various levels in the community, the need to improve on the quality of products through training of the resource users, improvement in post harvest management practices and the need to support cultivation of some of these plant resources. A list is appended of other useful swamp forest plant resources encountered.
SUMMARY To compare the impact of Populus deltoides and Dalbergia sissoo shelterbelts on wheat, a study was performed around Chandigarh, Northwestern India. A reduction in the growth and yield of wheat was noticed in the sheltered conditions in contrast to unsheltered open fields. More losses were observed on the northern sides of the shelterbelts than on the southern sides. The performance of wheat, particularly in the initial 0–3 m block, however, was deleteriously affected in the fields sheltered by P. deltoides compared to those sheltered by D. sissoo. In P. deltoides sheltered fields reductions in crop density, biomass and yield continued up to the 9–12 m block except plant height which was reduced only up to the 6–9 m block. In contrast, in the fields sheltered by D. sissoo the decrease in growth and yield of wheat was mainly in the first two blocks, i.e., 0–3 and 3–6 m, from the tree belt. No apparent change thereafter was noticed in either of the sheltered fields. The conclusion was that wheat performed better in the fields sheltered by D. sissoo, an indigenous tree, than those by P. deltoides, an exotic, and that performance was better on the south of shelterbelts than on the north side. Key words: agroforestrygrowthorientationshelterbeltstree-crop interactionswheatyield
