Influence of short rotation forest tree species on growth and productivity of sapota.
Patil S. J., Mutanal S. M., Girish Shahapurmath
Author Affiliation: AICRP on Agroforestry, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, India.
Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences 20 : 800-803
Abstract : A field experiment was initiated on medium black soils during 1977 at Forest Research Station, Prabhunagar, Dharwad to study the suitability of fast growing tree species with sapota under degraded soils of rolling mountain of hill zone. The base crop sapota is planted at 10×10 m spacing and three rows of tree species viz., Leucaena leucocephala, Casuarina equisetifolia, Acacia auriculiformis and Eucalyptus tereticornis were planted with 3 m from sapota and 2 m between two rows. Among four trees species tried, L. leucocephala and C. equisetifolia had less effect on growth and yield of sapota while A. auriculiformis and E. tereticornis drastically reduced its growth and fruit yield. However, income from tree species was higher in E. tereticornis. And consequently income from sapota+E. tereticornis was higher as compared to sapota+other tree species studied. Benefit:Cost ratio and Internal Rate of Return were higher (2.24:1 and 26% respectively) in sapota+E. tereticornis as compared to other tree species. Hence, orchard of sapota or mango can be established on degraded sloppy lands along with Eucalyptus sp. in early stages.