This division was created in August 1992 and has assumed critical importance in the semi-arid tropics where high mean annual temperature and low variable rainfall are serious constraints in crop production. It is engaged in designing agro forestry models for improving land use in various agro-climate regions based on different tree-crop production systems, their spatial geometry, production of goods and services and their ecological impact. The division also carries out regular market survey of  timber and non-timber  forest  products and socio-economic studies. The research priority of the division is to develop site specific  agro forestry systems which  is socio-economically  viable and acceptable by the farmers  residing nearby. So  far various agroforestry systems like Silvi-agri system, silvi-horti-agri system, Silvi-medicinal system, Silvi-pastoral system, agri-lac systems were developed by the division.

This Division is the core division of TFRI, Jabalpur. The mandate of the division is to carryout researches on various aspects of Non-Wood Forest Products viz. conservation, cultivation, sustainable harvesting and value addition of NWFPs including medicinal and aromatic plants, biologically active phyto-chemicals, gums, mucilage, dyes, fibre yielding species, tree borne oilseeds of forest origin and biofuel.

This division was established to pursue applied research on silvicultural and forest management aspects. The activities of this division have been focused mainly on the development of nursery and planting techniques of various species, seed technology, seed ecophysiology, regeneration of forest species, assessment of silvicultural management systems, sustainable harvesting techniques of medicinal plants. 

Ongoing Projects:

(A) In Agfoforestry field

1. Development of multitier cropping (Silvi-Agri-Spice) system

2. Development of lac based agroforestry (Silvi-Agri-Lac system)

(B) In NWFP Field

(1)    Evaluation of Schleichera oleosa (Kusum) fruits for their nutritional value and development of value added products for economic development of local people.                                        ID No. 190/TFRI/2012/NWFP-2(34),  Project period:  2012 � 2016

Under this project, Kusum fruits were collected from the forest areas in the month of June & July. The pulp was separated from fruits and evaluated for nutritional value (protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber, vitamin-C etc.). A protocol for storage of pulp was also developed. Different value added products like Kusum vati, Kusum squiash, Kusum sarbat, Kusum Murabba etc. were prepared.

(2)    Standardization of processing and storage techniques of Malkangni (Celastrus panuculatis), Paheda (Terminalia belerica) & Baividang (Embelica tsjeriam-cottam) fruits/Seeds.  ID No. 206/TFRI/2013/NWFP-1(37), Project period:  2013 to 2016                                             

Under this project, fruits/seeds of selected medicinal plants were collected form Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh state. The fruits/seeds were dried in sun-shade & oven and powder was made.  The powdered materials were evaluated for their active ingredients using HPTLC technique. The sun dried fruits/seeds were found to have more active ingredient. The dried materials were stored in different containers like Jute, polythehe, tin, plastic, steel and these stored materials were evaluated for their active ingrediants at three months intervals to find out the appropriate storage conditions & suitable containers.

(3)    Standardization of non-destructive harvesting practices of Commiphora wightii (Guggal) gum oleogum resin in Madhya Pradesh ID No. 208/TFRI/2014/NWFP-1(NMPB)(38)   Project period: 2014 to 2017

 For standardization of non-dustructive harvesting practices of Commiphora wightii (Guggal) gum oleogum resin, different girth size plants were selected at Bhind, Morena and Gwalior districts and different type of incisions were made for tapping of oleogum resin.

(C) In Silviculture Field

1. Studies on the effect of different level of seed collection on natural regeneration of Sal (Shorea robusta) in Chhattishgarh. (Externally funded)

2. Germination ecophysiology of two important tropical forest tree species : Schleichera oleosa and Pterocarpus marsupium.

3. Standardization of the techniques for germination, collection and maintenance of maximum viability of four important tropical species: Bridelia retusa, Sterculia urens, Boswellia serrata and Saraca indica.

Major Achievements:

A. In agroforestry

•           Standardized package of practices of Silvi-medicinal system  like teak-turmeric and teak-keokand system under the shade of teak plantations existing in the farmers field as well as in the experimental area of TFRI .The system can produce multiple products  like germ plasm /planting material ,  dried form of turmeric , pole of teak   and farmers can enhance their income.

•           Established Agri-silviculture system-Shisham-maizeas an OSR (On Station Research trial) in the campus to  reduce the pressure on forest for fuelwood and fodder obtained from the silvi- crop D.sissoo and interspaces of the trees were utilized by intercropping of the hybrid maize during the initial growth of the tree.

•           Established bamboo based two agri-silviculture system like bamboo-wheat and bamboo-urad as an OSR . The farmer can get  income  after  4th year by selling the stem of bamboo with the agri crop. The yield of crop can be compensate by  the income of bamboo.

B. In NWFP

Standardization of Non-destructive harvesting practices

•  Non destructive harvesting practices of Acorus calamus (Bach), Andrographis paniculata (Kalmegh), Asparagus recemosus (Satawar), Bauhinia variegata (Kachnar), Buchanania lanzan(Chironjee), Celastrus paniculatus (Malkangni), Cyperus scariosus (Nagarmotha), Desmodium gangeticum (Sal-parni), Dioscorea hispida (Baichandi), Embelia tsjeriam cottam (Baividang), Gymnema sylvestre (Gurmar), Holarrhena antidysenterica (Kutaz), Litsea glutinosa (Maida), Oroxylum indicum (Sheonak), Phyllanthus amarus (Bhui-aonla), Phyllanthus emblica (Aonla), Rauvolfia serpentina (Sarpagandha), Saraca ashoka (Ashok), Terminalia belerica (Baheda), Tinospora cordifolia (Giloe) and Curcuma angustifolia (Tikhur) had been standardized. The techniques of sustainable harvesting have been transferred to various stakeholders such as SFDs, NGOs, farmers, SHGs and tribals through regular training programmes.

• Non-destructive harvesting practices of Terminalia arjuna (Arjun) has also been developed. On the basis of findings of the project Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal has lifted ban on harvesting of Arjuna.

Arjuna: Bark harvesting

Maida: Bark harvesting

 �         A non-destructive harvesting practice for MFP-Cyperus scariosus R Br. (Nagarmotha) was standardized. For sustainable harvesting of Nagarmotha, on first priority 90% plants and on second priority 80% plants should be harvested uniformly from the whole plot to insure proper regeneration.

Figure 1.  Different harvesting Intensity of Nagarmotha plants a: 90% harvesting intensity; b: 80% harvesting intensity; c: 70% harvesting intensity; d: 60% harvesting intensity

Figure 2. Profuse seedlings of Nagarmotha found at experimental site Bhabarganj

Figure 3. Seedlings of Nagarmotha found at experiment site Jabbarra

• Established a herbal garden at the Institute housing over 150 species of NWFPs many of which are in rare and threatened categories. The collection provides a live reference of samples for educational and research purposes. The different dignitaries, different stakeholders, farmers, NGOs etc. are regularly visiting the garden.

• A drought type drier was developed and fabricated for drying of NWFP species and value addition. The dryer is available for the users.

 Drier for NTFPs

•     A user-friendly database package for storing and retrieval of NWFP species has been developed. Package is successfully tested for about 75 species.  The package is successfully providing retrieval based on Local Name, Botanical Name, Trade Name, Family Name, Soil Type, Propagation method and Active ingredient. All the utilities like modification, calculation, internet browsing, scrolling through records and backup are working properly.

• Butea monosperma dye was extracted & tested on cotton fabric 30shades were developed from Butea monosperma dye. In B. monospema and W. fructicosa dye, heavy metals like lead and arsenic were estimated for use in beverages and it was found higher than permissible limits.

• The process for extraction of maximum starch from wild varieties like Tikhur rhizome (Curcuma aromatica) and Kumhi seeds (Koria arboria) was standardized. This starch was further used to produce other volue added products like syrup, papad, pickle etc.

•   Establishment of a bambusetum with 17 species. Provenance trial of Dendrocalamu strictus with 11 provenances has been laid out.

• Training programmes on conservation, cultivation, harvesting and value addition of Important NTFP species has been conducted on regular intervals.

• Botanical Surveys of National Park of Bandhavgarh, MP and Melghat, Maharashtra and recorded 230 medicinal plants & in-situ conservation of rare and threatened medicinal plant was implemented through the State Forest Departments.

• Book entitled Medicinal Plants of Central India having brief description of 280 medicinal plants with colour photographs was published.

• 14 brochures/bulletins on medicinal and aromatic plants were published.

C. In Silviculture Field

• A field study was conducted for assessing plant density, regeneration, coppice growth, woody perennial species and ground flora by laying out suitable vegetation quadrate in People Protected Area (PPA), Rehabilitation of Degraded Forest (RDF) and un protected forest area (UPF) at Udaipur Forest villages in Satna Forest Division and Narwar, Nipnia, Aintajhar,  Singpur Forest villages, South Shahdole Forest Division (Madhya Pradesh), and Gadchiroli and East Nasik Forest Division  (Maharashtra).

• Nursery technology for Terminalia chebula, Strychnos nux-vomica and Strychnos  potatorum, Azadirachta indica, Acacia catechu, Emblica officinalis,  Pongamia pinnata,  Albizia lebbeck, Pterocarpus marsupium and Emblica officinalishad been developed.

• Seed pretreatment for better germination, maturation indicators for proper seed collection, and storage protocols are available for 12 species: Schleichera trijuga,  Terminalia arjuna, Hardwickia binnata, Moringa oleifera, Holoptelea integrifolia, Sapindus laurifolia, Terminalia chebula Ablomoscus moscatus, Rauvolfia serpentina, Emblica officinalis, Bassia latifolia and Mimusops elengi.

• Harvesting levels of different medicinal plants such as, Andorgraphis paniculata, Chlorophytum borivillium, Celastrus paniculata, Aspargus racemosus had been determined at different agroclimatic conditions of Madhya Pradesh.

• Macro propagation protocol for mass multiplication of  bamboo species viz. Bambusa tulda, B. vulgaris and  Dendrocalamus membranaceus was standardized

• Preliminary studies on seed technology of  khair and bijasal had been performed.

Significant achievements:

In Agroforestry

PROJECT  1: Evaluation  of  medicinal plant based agroforestry  system (Silvi-medicinal) under existing teak plantations.  (ICFRE funded project)

Achievements :

1. Successfully  established and grown medicinal plants (except Gloriosa ) under Silvi-medicinal system at On Station Research (OSR) and On Farm Research(OFR).

2. Under the Silvi-medicinal system, C. longa performed significantly better followed by C. speciosus  and G.superba in terms of tuberous yield and qualitatively (its active ingredient).

3. Hence data indicates that Curcuma and Costus can be grown successfully under the 12 year old teak plantations  as these crops are shade loving in nature.

         PROJECT 2 : Evaluation of productivity of maize in Dalbergia sissoo (Shisham) and Zea mays (Maize) Agro forestry system.

        (ICFRE funded project)

Achievements :

1. Established Sissoo-zea mays system as an OSR trial at TFRI campus- by doing cultural operation like ploughing, weeding and manuring of the experimental plot of two year old Dalbergia sissoo plantation which were established in 21 plots ( size 10m x 10m) at 3 different spacings of 4m x 4m, 5m x 5m and 6m x 6m  and  3 plots were kept as blank outside the plantation area.

2. Data on growth and yield of both agriculture as well as tree crops were recorded and data indicates that maximum yield was found in the spacing of 5m x 5m for the agri-silviculture system.

PROJECT 3 : Sustainable Development of  new Bamboo Agroforestry techniques for increased income generation in the Central Indian States. (NBM funded project)

Achievements :

1.  Two bamboo species like Bambusa nutans  and  Dendrocalamus strictus were  selected for bamboo based  Agri-silviculture system. So far two agriculture crops viz. wheat in Rabi season and Urad in Kharif season were intercropped  with these bamboo species.
2. Motivated farmers of  Gwalior and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh  and Raipur  and Devpur of  Chhattisgarh  through training and distribution  of seedlings towards adoption of bamboos in their field.

3. Successfully established bamboo-wheat and bamboo-urad Agri-silviculture system as an OSR.

In Silviculture

• Maximum root nodules (46.6/plant) were formed in Acacia nilotica on combined application of 12.5 ppm N, 50 ppm P and 50 ppm K.

• Relative suitability index was prepared for species successful in degraded soil. Albizia. procera scoring 100% was emerged to be the most suitable species followed by Dalbergia sissooand D. latifolia.

• Three MPTS species namely Gmelina arborea, Azadirachta indica, and Leucenia leucocephala were found suitable for growing in semi arid region of central India. Significant genetic variation between different provenances was observed with respect to seed germination and growth parameters. Seed sources viz. Umaria, Shahdol (M.P.), Balaghat, Seoni (M.P.) and Shakti (MP) exhibited good growth performance and recommended for plantations.

• Three clones of Populus deltoids (G-48, S7 C1 and 65/27) were found suitable for Jabalpur area. The highly productive clone 65/27 was recommended for cultivation in farmers field at Chhindwara and Jabalpur.

• The rate of carbon sequestration was more in clear felling than in selection cum improvement silviculture system. Regeneration was better in areas of selection cum improvement system as compared to clear felled areas. In case of selection cum improvement trees were almost uniformly distributed over all GBH classes. In case of clear felling, soil pH, percentage of organic carbon and available NPK showed a decreasing trend.

• No significant reduction in viability was observed in Acacia catechu (Khair) seeds stored at 2% moisture content at 0oC and 5oC for one year.

• Germination was not decreased  in Pterocarpus marsupium (Bijasal) seeds stored at 0oC and 5oC for one year.

• Growing media having 80% organic component were found suitable for production of superior quality stock in root trainers. Sieve size of 3/11 holes per square cm helps for preparation of growing media that promotes better growth of seedlings in root trainers. Irrigation schedule of 2 times a day and seed sowing in the 1st or 2nd week of April gives appropriate planting stocks in root trainers at the end of growing season. Leaf compost prepared from locally abundant plant species such as lantana, subabul, palsh, neem and bamboos can be effectively used for production of root trainer seedlings. The findings will be useful for production of quality planting stock in root trainers of Acacia catechu, Bombax ceiba, Albizia libbeck, Dalbergia latifolia, Pongamia pinnata, Gmelina arborea, Azadirachta indica, Emblica officinalis and Pterocarpus marsiupium.

• Significant influence of graded NAA doses on  adventitious rhizogenesis was recorded in  bamboo species. In Bambusa tulda and Bambusa vulgaris best rooting occurred in the summer season, which was enhanced by 56.5 % and 19.4 % over that in winter and rainy seasons, respectively. Overall, the potential of different bamboo species for adventitious rhizogenesis was found to be in the order: B. tulda> D. membranaceus> B. multiplex> B. vulgaris. The treatment with boric acid, NAA and IBA resulted in significantly superior overall adventitious rooting than water treated control.

• Different management systems such as PPA, RDF have positive impact on plant density, regeneration and coppice growth. Plant density regeneration, coppice growth of woody perennials species and ground flora were better in the forests having Joint Forest Management programme as compared to the forest areas having no JFM programme.

• Seeds of Terminalia chebula have physical dormancy and 7 days soaking and 2 days drying is the best treatment for germination. The seeds of Sambalpur origin was found to be best with respect to germination.

• Maximum 48.24 cm  and 44.33 cm seedling height was noted on combined application of 100 ppm nitrogen and 100 ppm  phosphorus with a constant dose of 50 ppm potassium in Strychnos. Potatorum and Strychnos nux-vomica seedlings.

• Treatments for better germination, maturity indices of seeds for proper collection and storage methodology were developed for 12 species: Schleichera trijuga,  Terminalia arjuna, Hardwickia binnata, Moringa oleifera, Holoptelea integrifolia, Sapindus laurifolia, Terminalia chebula Abelmoscus moscatus, Rauvolfia serpentina, Emblica officinalis, Bassia latifolia and Mimusops elengi.

• 80% entire plants of Andorgraphis paniculata, 90% of fruits of Buchnania lanzan  and 60% Asparagus racemosus plants can be harvested in JFM areas with maximum productivity without loss in regeneration.

• 80% of fruiting branches of Celastrus paniculata (Malkangani), 60% plants with roots of Asparagus racemosus (Satawar), 80 % of entire plants of Andrographis paniculata (Kalmegh) and 100% fruits of Eagle mormelos (Bael) in PPA areas can be harvested to sustain the regeneration and production of seeds/roots.

For further details, please contact:

Dr. Nanita Berry, Scientist F

Head

Phone: +91-761-2744120 (O)

E-mail: berryn@icfre.org