BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF FOREST SCIENCE
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
Bara bet (Calamus viminalis Willd. var. fasciculatus Becc.) seedlings produced a well-developed taproot within 10 days of germination. After one month the secondary roots were found to appear from the taproot system. The rate of taproot elongation declined subsequently and at the age of 5 months lateral roots developed from the base of stem. The taproot either stopped growing or degenerated between 6 and 11 months and profuse lateral roots of about 30 cm length developed by the age of 12 months. The number of lateral roots and their length and depth from ground level increased with age. A mature plant of 6 years produced about 4.13 m long lateral roots, 30 cm below ground level anchoring approximately 16 m3 of soil. The root system was of horizontal spreading type. The plant also produced maximum number of vertical rootlets within 30 from the base of long lateral roots. The diameter of root from the base to tip was more or less uniform but abruptly tapered at the tip, with a thick, pointed root cap.
Only a fair price of jute for the
growers can ensure its sustained supply for
the industries or for export. Multifarious
uses and vigorous export promotion drives,
in their turn, can keep the demand of
jute to the desired level. Thus, a project
was undertaken for making paper-pulp
from jute using a process to give a higher
yield compared to the conventional kraft
process, yet retaining the kraft like properties.
The success of such a project is
likely to open the possibility of a perpetual
high demand of jute in the industrial sector.
Safety matches are a consumer item of everyday use. There are about twenty safety match factories located mostly in the southern part of Bangladesh. In 1984-85 the country produced 940 million gross boxes of safety matches (Anon. 1985). This quantity is enough to meet the entire demand of the country. At present there is no export of this commodity presumably because of scarcity of suitable timber species and strong competition in the international market. The traditional species used in Bangladesh have different unattractive tints.
Out of a total of 150 sq. miles of Govt managed forests of Sylhet, 65 sq. miles-may be classed as nahrral -bamboo forests, aa the crop in these areas is composed of almost pure bamboos. These Forests are typically located between the rivers Kushiyara to the north and Dholai to the south in three compact blocks, all touching
the Eastern boundary of the District with India. The location falls between 24.3° and 24.8°N latitude and between 92° & 92.3°E longitude.
Black pepper (Piper nigrum, Linn.) locally known as gid marich – is a highly prized spice with heavy demand in the western countries. Oldrecords indicate that limited vines of the species were in Jessore and Sylhet districts. Large scale use of black pepper as a condiment and scope of its introduction for multiple use of land made the authors to initiate studies for cultivation and field studies in Bangladesh.
Trials were given to raise the vines from stem cuttings on trellis as well as on living support of available fruit trees. Different methods of raising cuttings were also evaluated. Growth, flowering and fruiting behaviour were also observed.
Because of limited stock, work on pollination mechanism and ratio of male and female flowers could not be undertaken.
But as a whole it appears to be a promising crop for introduction in Bangladesh.
This paper clearly shows that propagating bamboos from material other than seed is possible. Propagation of bamboos from offsets is well known and practised in village groves. The development of planting material from branch cuttings is a two-stage operation. The first is the striking of roots and the other, the development of a rhizome. Getting vigorous rooted stock is not enough because this does not always develop rhizomes ; for this the biological condition of the buds is very important. In bamboos, successful planting material must have all the characters of growing clumps, the most important of which is the production of new culms. Though offsets are a good propagating material, these are not suitable for large scale plantations due to handling difficulties, long branch cuttings with swollen basal nodes and 2-3 branch nodes physiologically similar and can be made branch 18-20 inch are morphologically and to function like the offset in suitable conditions. Such cuttings develop into good planting material in 6-30 months, depending on the biological condition of the cutting and the period of the year when the cuttings were taken. The superiority of the branch cutting over the offset is in the fact that it is easy to raise, economic to produce, and convenient to transport. At the moment the percentage of success is low, and further research in the factors governing the production of planting material from branch cuttings is necessary.
Culm-sheaths as well as other vegetative
parts are generally used for the identification
of species of bamboos because flowering
occurs at long intervals. Identification of
species in this group was originally based on
floral characters and where these characters
were lacking or found to be inadequate,
the culm-sheath characters were taken into
consideration. Subsequently, keys were prepared
on the basis of culm-sheath characters
(Chatterji and Raizada 1963). Such keys are
difficult to follow and sometimes confusing.
This is partly due to the lack of proper and
adequate descriptions of culm-sheaths and
partly due to considerable variation existing
in the culm-sheaths themselves even in the
same culm(Peal 1882)-a point that has always
In this paper efforts have been made to put together scattered information available on various species belonging to the family Dipterocarpaceae found within the geographical boundaries of Bangladesh. Importance has been given to the genus Dipterocarpus. Their taxonomy, distribution and past and present management practices have been particularly discussed.
Dendrocalamus Strictus Nees-was introduced to Hazarikhil during the year 1939 (Hasan 1978). Eight offsets of this species were collected from that area and planted in the Forest Research Institute campus (FRI), Chittagong in 1974. Later on, during 1981-1982, five clumps were also
raised in Keochia Research Station through offsets collected from the same mother clump of Hazarikhil.
Micrococca mercurialis ( Linn. ) Benth (Euphorbiaceae) cited as CaloxyIon mercurialis Thwaites by Hooker ( 1887) was reported by the same author as occurring at Mongir of Behar, the Deccan Peninsula, Burma and Ceylon. It is distributed in Arabia and tropical Africa. Prain ( 1903) reported it from Behar. This species has recently been collected from Chittagong district. In the various floristic works by Heining ( 1925 ), Raizada ( 1941 ), Datta and Mitra ( 1953), Sinclair ( 1955) and Khan and Banu ( 1972) the species has not been recorded from the region now under Bangladesh.
Welcome to the Bangladesh Journal of Forest Science (BJFS) – a leading platform for advancing the knowledge and understanding of forest science in Bangladesh and beyond. Established with a commitment to excellence, BJFS serves as a cornerstone for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts dedicated to the sustainable management and conservation of forest ecosystems.
