Innovations in Agroforestry based Farming System for
Group-II (3 m x 3 m spacing)
1. Gliricida (Gliricidia maculata) 2. Neem (Azadirachta indica) 3. Champa (Michelia champaca) 4. Safeda (Eucalyptus hybrid).
Group-III (4 m x 4 m spacing)
1. Teak (Tectona grandis) 2. Gamahar (Gmelina arborea) 3. Raintree (Samania saman) 4. White Siris (Albizzia procera).
Results
Multipurpose tree species were clear felled at 20 years of age and data on the growth characteristics are presented below.
Out of the 12 MPTs, Eucalyptus hybrid attained the maximum height of 23.8 m followed by Samania saman (23.10 m), Albizzia procera (21.10 m), Acacia auriculiformis (20.6 m), Gmelina arborea (17.40 m), Tectona grandis (16.60 m) and Michelia champaca (16.30 m). Bole height of tree species was found to vary from 2.50 to
Table 1 Growth characteristic of MPTS on clear felling at 20 years of age
MPTs Tree Bole Basal Diameter Timber Total timber
height height diameter at breast volume volume (m) (m) (cm) height (cm) (m3/tree) (m3/ha)
Density 2500 trees /ha
Acacia auriculiformis 20.6 12.8 45.59 36.94 0.37 925
Morus alba 7.40 2.50 21.33 17.52 0.019 48
Leucaena leucocephala 16.45 6.40 23.89 16.56 0.033 83
Dalbergia sissoo 10.70 6.40 17.52 15.92 0.038 95
Density 1111trees /ha
Gliricidia maculata 11.8 7.55 16.24 14.33 0.031 34
Azadirachta indica 8.65 6.10 18.47 16.56 0.035 39
Michelia champaca 16.30 10.0 36.31 27.07 0.16 178
Eucalyptus hybrid 23.8 14.5 42.04 35.03 0.35 389
Density 625 trees /ha
Tectona grandis 16.60 9.20 41.40 30.25 0.19 119
Gmelina arborea 17.40 12.0 44.59 36.62 0.31 194
Samania saman 23.20 10.75 42.99 29.62 0.19 119
Albizzia procera 21.10 11.8 44.58 40.45 0.34 213
Mean 16.17 9.17 32.91 26.41 0.17 203
LSD (P= 0.05) 1.37 0.88 3.14 2.28 0.04 61
14.5 m. Samania saman showed only 46 % of its height as bole while Gmelina arborea,69 %, Acacia auriculiformis ,62 % and Eucalyptus hybrid, 60 % of its height as bole. Basal diameter and DBH showed a variation from 44.58 to 16.24 m and 40.45 to 14.33 m, respectively, thus indicating the highest in Albizia procera and lowest in Gliricidia maculata. Timber producing tree species showed a variation from 0.16 to 0.37 m3 /tree in volume/tree with 0.67 to 0.84 in quotient (Fig. 1). So, at 2500 trees /ha, the highest timber volume could be obtained from Acacia auriculiformis. At 1111 trees /ha, Eucalyptus hybrid could supply 389 m3/ha and at 625 stand /ha, the maximum wood production was from Albizia procera (213 m3/ha) followed by Gmelina arborea (194 m3/ha) and Tectona grandis (119 m3/ha).
Fig 1 Farm Quotient of important MPTs in Tripura
Above Ground Biomass
After 20 years of age, MPTs was clear felled and above ground biomass was recorded.
The data indicated that leaf + twig biomass on dry matter basis varied from 5.40 to 60.06 kg /tree, branch,16.08 to 320.76 kg/tree, bark, 1.98 to 28.47 kg/tree and bole, 38 to 6220 kg/ha.
In contrast with Dalbergia sissoo which showed the least above ground biomass, Dalbergia sissoo could produce 10.88 kg leaf, 20.32 kg branch, 5.87 kg bark, 83 kg bole at 20 years of age. Acacia auriculiformis planted at 2 m x 2 m spacing as energy plantation could produce 15.5 thousand tones of fuel wood ( or timber) /ha over a period of 20 years. But Eucalyptus hybrid could produce (Fig.2) 1389 t timber /ha followed by Albizzia procera ( 663 t/ha), Gmelina arborea (469 t/ha), Michelia champaca (467 t/ha), Samania saman ( 194 t/ha) and Tectona grandis (175 t/ha).
Table 2 Above ground biomass ( kg/tree) of MPTs on dry matter basis
MPTS Leaf + Twig Branch Bark Bole
Acacia auriculiformis 34.62 196.27 28.47 6220
Morus alba 6.25 17.64 2.12 60
Leucaena leucocephala 9.68 33.60 3.58 86
Dalbergia sissoo 5.40 16.08 2.69 38
Gliricidia maculata 24.32 35.75 3.17 224
Azadirachta indica 7.79 25.78 1.98 92
Michelia champaca 36.35 56.75 11.66 420
Eucalyptus hybrid 73.18 205.89 14.67 1250
Tectona grandis 60.06 74.69 9.26 280
Gmelina arborea 28.92 248.26 15.28 750
Samania saman 31.02 56.32 20.86 310
Albizia procera 46.21 320.76 17.49 1060
Mean 30.32 107.32 10.94 899
LSD ( P = 0.05) 5.37 26.11 2.26 426
Fig 2 Timber volume of MPTs
Various crops were grown in association with MPTs and their productivity in Horti- Silvi systems are narrated below (Table 3).
Table 3 Productivity of pineapple
MPTs Fruit Fruit
weight yield (g/fruit) (t/ha) Leucaena leucocephala 890 14.85
Dalbergia sisoo 820 7.03
Eucalyptus hybrid 743 12.69
Azadirachta indica 815 10.82
Tectona grandis 657 12.42
MPTs Fruit Fruit
weight yield (g/fruit) (t/ha)
Albizzia lebbeck 760 10.04
Samania saman 816 15.21
Morus alba 790 10.98
Gmelina arborea 705 11.11
Michelia champaca 620 5.58
Mean 762 11.07
Dioscorea alata was grown in association with various tree species and its productivity was presented below (Table 4)
Table 4 Productivity of Dioscorea alata
MPTs Productivity (kg /plant) Productivity (t/ha)
Leucaena leucocephala 2.39 10.18
Azadirachta indica 3.22 6.36
Albizzia lebbeck 1.08 4.55
Samania saman 2.58 5.69
Morus alba 2.34 8.68
Michelia champaca 1.28 5.13
Mean 2.15 6.77
Black pepper was grown in a 3 –tier system with Azadirachta indica and Michelia champaca and the average productivity of 1.25 kg/plant was obtained.
Demonstration of agroforestry systems West Tripura District
The farmers selected for demonstration the agroforestry project are 14 nos residing in the adjoining area of Lembucherra in Mohanpur Block and the total area under the demonstration was 3.75 ha. The summarized information of demonstration is as follows (Table 5).
Table 5 Summary of demonstrations
No of demonstrations 14
Area under demonstration 3.75 ha
Tree species available in the farmers plot Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis) Gamahar (Gmelina arborea), Teak (Tectona grandis), Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), Arecanut (Areca catechu)
Crop grown as agroforestry intervention Pineapple, Turmeric,Vegetable, Patchouli, Black pepper, Radish
Dhalai district
The tilla land (small hillocks with gentle to moderate slopes) of Tripura are very much suitable for developing agroforestry based farming systems. However, in most of the cases, the land remains unutilized or underutilized and are infested with weeds and shrubs.
Hence, scientific utilization of tilla lands with appropriate soil and water conservation measures were undertaken under NAIP-3. MPTs with Pineapple, tapioca, mango, guava, ginger, pepper etc can be grown on slopes, whereas, banana, vegetables etc. can be grown on valleys/foot hills, pond dykes etc. Beneficiaries and self-help groups were brought under
the purview of the programme in the clusters of Balaram and Moracherra in Dhalai district in Tripura and the area selected is presented in table 6.
Table 6 Area under selection in Dhalai
Cluster Name of the village Name of locality Name of Total no. of beneficiary/SHG farmers
Balaram West Balaram Deb Para Bhairav SHG 11
Uttar Para Beneficiary 2
Bazar Tilla Beneficiary 17
Balaram Village Council Jharmanjoy Para Abhachanga SHG 10 Moracherra Chota Surma Gram Panchayat Langutia Para Dayamoyee SHG 10
Sudhan Para Beneficiary 5
Kuchainala Gram Panchayat North Part of Beneficiary 6 Ashram Road
Agroforestry Models
At Balaram, the total area under implementation of the agroforestry based farming system models was 2.2663 ha and the information of the agroforestry models as developed is presented in table 7.
Table 7 Agroforestry based farming system models at Balaram
Name of the locality Area (ha) Tree components Crops grown
Deb Para 1.0 Mixed vegetation Ginger
Uttar Para 0.17 Teak (Tectona grandis) Ginger /black pepper
Bazar Tilla 0.9463 Teak (Tectona grandis) Ginger /black pepper, Banana
Jharmanjoy Para 0.15 Mixed vegetation Ginger
Moracherra, the agroforestry models are developed in an area of 5.436 ha of land and the components are of various tree and crop combinations and the locality wise models are presented in Table 8.
Table 8 Agroforestry based farming system models at Moracherra
Name of the locality Area (ha) Tree /Plantation crops Crops grown
Langutia Para 1.0 Mango, Arecanut Pineapple, Banana
Kuchainala 3.79 Arecanut, Coconut Banana, Cabbage, Bhindi,
Ginger and Pineapple
Sudhan Para 0.6460 Coconut, Cashewnut Ginger, Lemon
Fishery/Livestock component
Wherever possible, ponds were developed by constructing earthen dykes in depressed places (lungas) in between two hillocks for fish culture. Piggery was integrated with ponds and pig shed washing was diverted to water bodies for promoting plankton growth. Fishery and piggery components further enhanced farmers income and employment.
Conclusion
Besides multipurpose tree species, there is a great demand for growing of fruit based cropping system in Tripura. The fruit crops for utilization of land resources in Tripura are Jackfruit, Mango, Banana, Pineapple, Sweet Orange and Litchi etc. Agri-silviculture, Silvi- Horticulture, Agri-Silvi-pastoral systems are to be demonstrated among the farmers for sustainable land use and livelihood improvement.