Expert Advisory Details

Agroforestry suggestion from experts for December

The suggestions of Agroforestry from experts are given below:

• Poplar: In poplar plantations, onion should be planted in first fortnight of December.
• Training and Pruning of Poplar
• Training the leader: A straight and clean bole of poplar is always preferred by the wood industry. Keeping one sprout, healthy shoot as leader, all other shoots should be removed with a sharp knife or secateur without causing any damage to the plant. 
• Pruning: Pruning is necessary to improve stem form and timber quality. Superior stem form adds more wood to the main stem. Pruning intensity depends upon the growth of the plants and their age.
• Main target should be to remove thick upright branches that compete with main tree stem. Avoid removing thin branches as these are required for better growth of trees. Do not forget to apply Bordeaux paste on cut ends of the tree stem. Excessive pruning should be avoided, as it encourages epicornic shoots and causes swelling which may deteriorate the quality of timber wood. It is also detrimental to the tree growth.
• Safeda: For good marketing, harvest the trees for timber after 8-10 years when they attain 0.8-1.0 m girth at breast height (1.37 m above the ground level). For paper pulp, fell the trees at 6 years of age when they attain 40 cm girth. For poles, fell the trees at 4 years of age.
• Harvest the trees in winter and keep the logs in shade for drying to avoid wraping and cracking of wood.
• Tahli: For growing nursery of Tahli, its pods should be collected from healthy and straighttrees during December. The pods should be dried and stored in air tight containers.