EFFECT OF LOPPING INTENSITIES ON TREE GROWTH AND GRASS YIELD UNDER SHISHAM (DALBERGIA SISSOO) BASED SILVIPASTORAL SYSTEM ON SODIC LAND
VINITA BISHT, CHHAVI SIROHI AND B. S. RANA
Department of Forestry
N. D. University of Agricultureand Technology
Kumarganj, Faizabad
(Received : 7 October 2014; Accepted : 27 December 2014)
SUMMARY
The study was carried out during 2011-2012 in Dalbegia sissoo based silvipastoral system raised on sodic land at main experiment station (Forestry) of Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad. The silvipastoral system had Dalbergia sissoo in combination with three stress tolerant perennial grasses viz., Pennisetum purpureum, Brachiaria mutica and Panicum maximum. The investigated area was divided into five equal quadrats (20 x 25 m size) within 0.25 ha area. Of these, four quadrats were chosen for trials of different intensities of lopping (25, 50, 75, 100% lopping intensities) and one quadrat was treated as control (0% lopping intensity). Initial tree height across different lopping intensities ranged from 12.8-15.2 m (averaged 13.9 m) and dbh from 10.8-13.9 cm (averaged 12.4 cm). Across lopping intensities tree growth increments were maximum in rainy season (Tree height increment = 0.20-0.60 m season-1; dbh increment = 0.20-0.80 cm season-1) followed by summer season. Interestingly, there was a clear cut decrease in growth along increasing lopping intensity. Across lopping intensities, the annual green fodder yield for P. purpureum grass was found maximum (33.6-45.5 t ha-1; average, 40.54 t ha-1), followed by B. mutica (19.4-28.9 t ha-1). There was a clear cut increase in herbage yield of all three grasses along increasing lopping intensities under this study.
Key words:Dalbergia sissoo , herbage yield, lopping intensity, silvipastoral system