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 of seven 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 cm size. 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 mid September. 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 forestry has 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 of DithaneM-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, Aquillaraia agallocha 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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