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
Homestead forestry, albeit its paramount importance and contribution to rural
socio-economy, remains a rather ignored area of study. This research focuses on the
floristic composition and socio-economic aspects of homestead forestry in two areas
(Habilashdip and Chunati Unions) in the district of Chittagong. Home gardens are
located close to houses and characterised by a mixture of annual and perennialspecies.
The proximity to natural forests and the availability of timbers in local markets also
seem to influence the propensity to plant timber and fuelwood in home gardens. Fruit
trees dominate the gardens, followed by fuelwood species. Women play an intensive
role in the management of home gardens. The article ends Vith an exhortation for
increased research on homestead forestry
The paper compares the economic performance of Eucalyptus camaldulensis
plantations of different ages. The price ofsawn timber per cubic metre was found
to be Tk. 4,076 to 8,828 (1 USS = 48.71 Tk.). The fuelwood was usually sold at a price
ranging from Tk. 915 to 1,677 per ton. The staking, felling and logging costs were
Tk. 864, 686 and 1,431 per hectare respectively. The IRRs were 22.87, 20.66,20.57,
39.13, 27.58, 12.67 and 59.81% for Dinajpur (rural Charkai), Dinajpur (urban
Charkai),Sylhet(Chawtali), Sylhet(Lawachara),Tangail(Charaljani), Mymemsingh
(Santoshpur) and Cox’s Bazar (Chainda) respectively at 10 years rotations. For
Dinajpur and Tangail, the NPVs were found to be negative for the 5th, 6th and
7th rotation ages
A survery was conducted to assess the present status of infestation caused by
the beehole borer, Zeuzera conferta Walker(Cossidae: Lepidoptera) in keora (Sonneratia
apetala Buch.-Ham.) plantations along the coastal belt of Bangladesh. The survey
covered plantations raised in the four Coastal Afforestation Divisions, namely
Patuakhali, Bhola, Noakhali and Chittagong of the Forest Directorate. The survey
revealed an overall infestation of 20.9% with an average of 15.6,16.6, 26.3 and 25.2%
in the four Divisions respectively. A number of plantation attributes, such as age
(3-20 years), inundation duration (very low to very high levels with which the keora
stand got tidally inundated in a year), canopy closure (open and closed), and stand
composition (single species and mixed species), were evaluated for their correlation/
association with the degree of infestation. The correlations between the degree of
infestation and plantation age in Patuakhali (r = -0.28 ) and Bhola (r = -0.31) were
non-significant, whereas those in Noakhali (r = -0.71) and Chittagong (r = -0.53) were
significant. The infestation trend reached its peak at around the age ofseven years and
then decreased slowly. Infestation was higher in highly inundated (> 9 months
inundation), open canopy and single species stands.
It is generally believed that the seedling of palmyra palm (Borassus
flabellifer Linn.) is difficult to transplant and hence requires directsowing. This
hinders mass propagation and plantation of this species. Its propagation is
mostly through natural means, and hence palm trees are found to grow
scatteredly. At present, palmyra palmhasbeen recognized as a priority species
for raising plantations in the coastal embankment. This study has been undertaken to develop technique for raising palm seedlings. Investigations suggest
that the bed mixture comprising 50% soil, 25% sawdust, 20% cowdung and 5%
ash was the best, where tire average elongation of germtubes and coleorhiza/
root-sheath was 37.3 cm by 7 weeks, the mixture depth of 38.1 cm wassufficient
to accommodate theircumulative growth. These elongated germtubes could be
removed from the temporary bed after 7 weeks of sowing seeds, when the tip
of emergent coleoptile is visible on the surface of the bed. Rootlets were also
found to occur in the root-sheath of all tire germtubes by that time. These
germtubes were then detached from theirseeds and transplanted immediately
into suitable polybags of22.9 cm x 30.5 cmsize. All the transplantated seedlings
survived and the emerging leaflets of these seedlings turned to green within a
week after transplantion. The mortality of early and late trasplanted seedlings
was 11% and 25% respectively. Germtubes were found to elongate up to 82.6%
within 4 weeks after sowing seeds. On the other hand, more than 50% elongation of the coleoptile was observed during the 5-7th weeks after sowing
The growth periodicity of clum and rhizome in Melocanna baccifera
clumps were studied. The culm emergence is maximum in July to midSeptember. It was observed that everyday only the middle internode of a
developing culm elongated maximum and moved gradually in successive
order from the base to the tip of the culm. The lower internodes rarely
elongated. The movement and elongation ofrhizome neck in the clump seemed
to take place either slowly or actively throughout the year irrespective of
seasonal variation. The culm emergence and rhizome neck development took
place simultaneously. The growth periodicity of underground rhizome system
and culm on the ground was found to be interrelated and seemed to be
alternating with each other. Periodicity for culm emergence and rhizome neck
development in M. baccifera was influenced by both soil and air temperature
and ambient moisture condition
In the context ofincreasing pollution in the cities, urban forestryhas been
suggested to redressthe adverse effects ofpollution. The role oftreesin reducing
air, gas and sound pollution in the urban areas has been discussed. The
contribution of vegetation to provide comfort to urban dwellers by improving
the climate has also been mentioned. The management aspect of urban forest to
maintain the health and vigour of urban vegetation has been narrated.
Appropriate tree species have been recommended for different locations in the
urban areas.
The paper presents the leaf epidermal micromorphology of 26 bamboo
species under seven genera occurring in Bangladesh both in wild and under
cultivation. The results are presented in a tabular form. The findings indicate
that micromorphological features of abaxial leaf epidermis work as taxonomic
characters at species level. The paper also provides a dichotomous key to
identify bamboo species occurring in Bangladesh based on leaf epidermal
characters
Sandal wood, Sautalum album L. contains
fragrant oil in the scented heartwood which issold
by weight, and perhaps it is the most precious
wood in this part of the world (Troup 1921).
However, Bangladesh imports sandal wood for
commercial purpose. Recently, the Bangladesh
ForestResearch Institutehad undertaken research
work on the silvicultural aspects of this species to
help raise its commercial plantations. The Forest
Department has undertaken an afforestation
project with this species. As a consequence,
hundreds of seedlings were raised in polybags in
January, 1993. A serious root rot disease was
observed in late February of the same year.
The typical symptom of the disease was
manifested through the gradual browning of the
leaves of the seedlings. Brown spots appeared
first on the branch and tap roots, which later
turned black. The leaves of the infected seedlings
lost their freshness and began to die out with the
stem standing erect. The disease caused 50%
mortality of the seedlings within 3-5 days. One
fungus, Fusarium moniliformae Sheld. was consistently isolated from the samples. A pathogenicity
test confirmed that the fungus was the pathogen
of the root rot.
The root rot ofsandal wood seedlings was
successfully controlledby the use ofDithaneM-45
@ one gram/I of water. The fungicidal mixture
was sprayed over the diseased and healthy
seedlings in such a way that the mixture could
reach the rootsystem. A second spraywas applied
after an interval ofone week. Arrangermentswere
also made for allowing sufficient light on the
seedlings for about six hours a day.
This disease is a new record on sandal
wood in Bangladesh. Although root rot is a
common phenomenon in our forest nursery, the
disease was indeed a serious one. No report of
such kind of root rot is available. Excess moisture
causes damping-off to the sandal wood seedlings
(Troup 1921). However, it was not a case of
damping-off. F. moniliformae is mainly a soilbome
fungus which can cause leaf blight of maize, foot
rot of rice and mango floral malformation
(Rangaswami 1988). It also causes pre-and
post-emergence seedlings blight of maize
(Baruah et al. 1985). Rahman et al. (1980) isolated
F. moniliformae from agar,Aquillaraiaagallocha tree.
The fungus can survive in soil for a long period,
and isfound in fields having general deficiency of
water (Singh 1983). In Bangladesh, January and
February are the months of dry and cold
period of the year. So, this may be the favourable
time for its sporulation and infection in our
country
Pot culture experiments were carried out in non-pasteurised soil to determine
the effects ofsix different VAM fungi such as Gigaspora margarita, Glomus deserticola,
G. fasciculatiim, G. mosseae, G. monosporum and G. versiforme individually as well as in
combinations with Frankia sp. on the seedling growth of Casuarina equisetifolia.
Inoculation of VAM fungi or Frankia sp. increased the growth and biomass. Among
the different VAM fungi, Glomusfasciculatiim followed by G. versiforme significantly
enhanced the growth, stem girth and biomass. Inoculation with G. monosporum
increased mycorrhizal infection and spore number in the soil. Co-inoculation with
Gigaspora margarita and Frankia sp. significantly increased root colonization and
spore number. Nodule number and nodular biomass were increased with the
inoculation of VAM fungi. They were further increased by inoculations with Frankia
sp. with a maximum in G. mosseae and Frankia sp. inoculated seedlings. Inoculation
with Gigaspora margarita individually orin combination with Frankia sp.significantly
increased tissue P and K concentration. Significant increase of N concentration was
observed in Glomus monosporum inoculation
The rural people depend largely on homestead forestry for their fuel, energy and house
building materials (Alam et al. 1988). Deforestation of this homestead forstry have been causing
severe environmental degradation and poor yield
of crops, livestock, fisheries, etc. (Haq 1986).
Considering these facts, the present study was
conducted to find out the perception of the
farmers regarding the impact of homestead
afforestation and deforestation on environmental
upgradation and degradation respectively.
The Salna village under Kaultia Union
which is adjacent to the national forest area of
Gazipur district was selected for thisstudy. Out
of 378 farmers 100 were selected randomly as
sample. Data were collected through personal
interview, using a semi-structured interview
schedule during October24 toNovember23,1996.
The trend of plant population was measured by
considering 1975 as the baseline year and then the
change was shown after 10 years (1985), 5 years
(1990), 5 years (1995) and the study year which is
1996. The 5 years gap was used for two times
because it was assumed that the awareness
programme regarding deforestation wasstrengthened from that time. The number of tree during
the past period was measured on the basis of
number mentioned by the farmers depending on
their memory. For this reason, the farmers aged
above 40 years were selected for the study
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