Pterocarpus santalinus (Tamil : Santhana Vengai)

Name of the plant - Pterocarpus santalinus (Red Sanders)
(Tamil : Santhana Vengai, Sivappu Santhanam)

‘N’ fixing capacity - No

Fodder Tree - Yes

Deciduous - Yes

Drought tolerance - Moderate

Soil type / pH range - Red + gravel mixed soil, mixed soils, river beds

Tolerance to water logging - No

Seeds - 900 – 1400 seed pods / tree
Germination - %

Vegetative propagation - Cloning is the best way. New shoots sprouting from the
roots around the plants can also be used.

Spacing for border planting - 3 m
For bulk planting - Initial 3 m X 3 m and then remove slow growing
trees to give 15 feet x 15 feet spacing.

Maturity Years - 25 - 30 years. Tree can be felled if the basal dia is 0.6 – 1.0 m. Heart wood hardening starts from 18th year and completes by 25 – 30 years.

Growth : Height - 19 m ( Average Ht 10 m )
Girth - 1.0 to 1.5 m
Yield - Timber Density - 1.09, Hard wood,
Reddish black heart wood Weight - 1105 Kgs / Sq.m

Uses - Wood carvings, photo frames, carved pillars

Ratoon - Allowed.

Special features if any - Very high value timber. Termite proof. Sound proof. Temp proof. Atomic radiation preventer. A red dye is extracted from its timber. Requires more sunlight and will not grow well in shades. As wind breaker. Plant it separately to avoid root competition. New shoots sprouting from the roots around the plants can also be removed and used for new plantation. Performs well in irrigated conditions.

A 8 year old piece of Red sanders log with the developing of heart wood:

When compared with high value trees like Teak (maturity 50 yrs) and Rose wood / Dalbergia latifolia (Thothakathi in Tamil) (maturity 80 yrs ), cultivation of Red sanders (maturity only 30 yrs) is more profitable because of its short duration and its physiological characters are favourable to our climatic and soil conditions.

Dalbergia sissoo (Tamil : Sissoo)

Name of the plant - Dalbergia sissoo (Tamil : Sissoo)
(Indian Rose Wood)

‘N’ fixing capacity - In root nodules. Improves soil fertility.

Fodder Tree - Give only tender leaves. Matured leafs should
be mixed with other fodder.

Deciduous - Yes

Drought tolerance - Yes

Soil type / pH range - Sand mixed soils, Mixed soils and river beds

Tolerance to water logging - No

Seeds - 50 seeds / gm ( 1 to 3 kgs / Tree )

Germination - %

Vegetative propagation - Cloning is the best way. New shoots sprouting
from the roots around the plants can also be used.

Spacing for border planting- 2 m

For bulk planting - Initial 2 m X 2 m and remove 50% after 4th
year to obtain vertical growth.

Maturity Years - 10 – 15 years

Growth : Height - 15 – 20 m Ht
Girth -
Yield -

Timber Density - 0.82, Hard wood, Black colour heart wood
Weight - 801 – 850 Kgs / Sq.m

Uses - For furniture, Boat, Railway coach, carved
wood panels

Ratoon - Poor, not recommended.

Special features if any - Because of its ‘N’ fixing capacity it improves soil fertility. Performs well in irrigated conditions. For the first 2 – 3 years irrigation is essential. Requires more sunlight and will not grow well in shades. Tendency to branch sideways so moderate pruning is necessary to induce vertical growth. Plant densely to induce vertical growth and remove alternate trees in 4th year. New shoots sprouting from the roots around the plants can also be removed and used for new plantation.

Please refer the following links to know the difference between

'East Indian Rose Wood' from 'Indian Rose Wood':

and 'Leaf pattern of Sissoo'.

A Dalbergia latifolia tree (Rose wood/Thothakathi/Eetti)

Regards,
Vishnu Sankar

Crop combinations

There are three types of Agroforestry systems namely, Agrisilvicultural, Agrihorticultural and Agrihortisilvicultural.

Among the above three systems Agrihortisilvicultural is highly diverse in vegetation, with many tree and agricultural crops mixed together resulting in highest productivity of total aboveground biomass per hectare per year.

Models Crop Combinations

1 Agri-Silviculture - Casuarina + Maize / Fodder Sorghum / Pulses

Casuarina + Vegetables (Chillies / Tomatoes / Pumpkin / Groundnut)

2 Horti + Silvi - Casuarina + Mango

Casuarina + Coconut

Casuarina + Banana

Casuarina + Teak + Papaya

Casuarina + Drumstick + Hybrid Tomato

Casuarina + Tamarind + Drumstick

Casuarina + Teak + Eucalyptus + Guava

3 Silvipasture - Casuarina + Napier grasses

4 Bund Planting - Casuarina as Wind Breaks

5 Block Planting - Block planting of Casuarina

6 Line / Boundary Planting Boundary planting in single as well as double rows.

Casuarina + Teak on Boundary

Casuarina + Coconut as line planting

7 Homestead Multi-storeyed Cropping System - Teak / Casuarina / Banana / Vegetables.


Please see the comments section below this post for more details regarding "Tree crop combinations" diagram uploaded here under:

 

 

Regards,

A.Vishnu Sankar

Gmelina arborea (Tamil :Kumil)

Name of the plant - Gmelina arborea (Tamil : Kumil, Kumul)



‘N’ fixing capacity - NO

Fodder Tree - Good Fodder

Deciduous - NO

Drought tolerance - YES. Without water even up to 7 months

Soil type / pH range - Red soil, Calciferous, Mixed soil. The tree will die if planted in high clay soil and in water logging area after initial establishment.

Tolerance to water logging - No tolerance. Tree wil die.

Seeds - 1200 to 1400 seeds / kg

Germination - 90%

Vegetative propagation - Possible

Spacing for border planting - 2 m x 2 m

For bulk planting - 5 m x 5 m

Maturity - Min 5 years to Max 10 years

Growth : - In normal condition: 12 m Ht to 15 m Ht with a girth of 40 inches and in irrigated conditions max 30 m Ht with a dia of 60 – 70 inches.

Yield - 25 – 30 Sq.m / Hect / Year

Timber Density - 0.42 to 0.64, Hard wood,

Weight - 480 Kgs / sq. m

Uses - For furniture, Paper mills, particle boards, match boxes, match sticks and craft paper.

Ratoon - Good. Ratoon crop attains maturity in 5 Years.

Special features if any - Prone to pest attack. Bulk cropping attracts more pests (Borers) so go for mixed cropping. Continuous pruning is necessary. Performs well even in dry areas but tremendous growth is noticed in irrigated conditions. Can be grown as wind belt. It is one of the fastest growing trees in the world.


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