Social Forestry:
Meaning:
Practice of forestry on lands outside the conventional forest area for the benefit of rural and urban communities.
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Since various social objectives are met out by such type of forestry that is why it is called social forestry.
Social forestry is also described as forestry for the people by the people and of the people.
Objectives:
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1. Fuel wood, timber, bamboo, fodder and minor forest produce.
2. Employment
3. Cottage Industries
4. Using land
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5. Soil and water conservation
6. Aesthetic value
7. Protecting agriculture
Scope:
1. Forest area – 33% target.
2. Wood requirement
3. Employment
4. Soil and water conservation
5. Farmers – own timber, fuel etc.
Components:
I. Farm forestry (private land)
11. Extension forestry (public land)
(a) Mixed forestry
(b) Shelter belts
(c) Linear strip plantation
III. Afforestation of degraded forests.
IV. Recreational forestry
Trees:
1. Jamun 2. Neem 3. Prosopis 4. Tamarindus 5. Pongamia
Agroforestry:
Meaning:
Suitable land management system which increases the yield of the land combines the crop and forests plants and/or animals simultaneously or sequentially on the same unit of land.
Scope:
1. Alternative to shifting cultivation
2. Sand dune stabilization
3. Employment opportunities
4. Rural development
5. Utilization of sub-marginal land
Benefits:
1. Rational use of land
2. Complete use of land
3. Increase in production of agricultural crops.
4. Increase fuel wood.
5. Increase industrial wood
6. Pasture/fodder
7. Additional employment
8. Solving fuel, fodder and food problem
Components:
A. Agri-silviculture system
B. Silvi pastural system
C. Agro-sylvi-pastural system
D. Multipurpose forest tree production system
Characteristics of Tree Species:
1. Self-pruning
2. Artificial pruning
3. Nitrogen fixing
4. Permit-sunlight
5. High protein content
6. Different root zone
7. No allelopathy effect
8. Litter composition
9. Shade tolerant
Example:
1. Albizzia, Eucalyptus – Paddy, Millet.
2. Poplar, Acacia – Wheat, Tapioca.
3. Cocos – Maize, mustard.
4. Leucaena, Gliricidia – Potato, pulses.
Propagation of various types of Forestry Plantations:
Plants are raised by two ways —
(i) By seeds
(ii) By vegetative parts of the plant
Direct sowing:
Any artificial plantation can be raised either by sowing seeds directly at plantation site or in the nursery for raising seedlings, and when in nursery they obtain palntable size, are planted at permanent site.
Advantages:
i. No need of nursery.
ii. Saving of time, man and material.
iii. Plant grow freely without any disturbances.
Disadvantages:
i. More seed is needed.
ii. At permanent site effective supervision is not possible for large area.
iii. At permanent site, it becomes very difficult to provide good soil conditions for good germination. Tree species raised by direct sowing.
iv. e.g. Acacial nilotica, Albizia lebbeck, Prosopis alba. Tree species raised by transplanting of seedlings.
Propagation by vegetative means:
Plant species which do not set seeds or their seeds or not viable or by nature they have the capability of making union when they are layered or planted by their stem cuttings and a few by root cuttings. Tree species propagated by stem cuttings are, Acacia melanoxylon, Bombex wiba, cestrum diurnum, Erythria indica, punica granatum.