Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry

Eucalyptus is among the most widely cultivated forest trees in the world over 22 million hectares (ha). It provides major raw material for the pulp, plywood and paper industries in India, so it is imperative that planting stock of high genetic quality be used to increase the yield from plantations. In India, Eucalypts are in improving stage for adoption at larger level and choice of suitable clones is still a big challenge in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. To assess the suitable clones of Eucalyptus for this region, an experimental trial was established under statistical design of Randomised Block Design for 13 clones (IFGTB 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, FRI-100,104,124) of 02 eucalyptus species (E. tereticornis and E. camaldulensis). The soil analysis indicated pH 9.3, EC 0.89 mm/cm, organic carbon 0.21%, Nitrogen 47.3 kg/ha, Phosphorus 11.3 kg/ha and Potassium 184.8 kg/ha. The highest value of annual increment in gbh belonged to clones IFGTB 6 (5.18 cm) followed by IFGTB 8 (5.12 cm), IFGTB 2 (4.74 cm), IFGTB 5(4.36 cm) and IFGTB 10 (4.02cm) amongst IFGTB series whereas in FRI clones, clone FRI 100 performed superior with 3.03 cm increment in girth after one year of planting. The lowest values belonged to clone IFGTB 9 and DDN 124 with 2.44 cm and 2.49, respectively. The clones with good annual increment in height were IFGTB 2 (3.85 m) followed by IFGTB 6 (3.80 m), IFGTB 10 (3.77 m) ,IFGTB 8 (3.55 m) and IFGTB 5 (3.30 m) in IFGTB series whereas in FRI series, FRI 100 (2.70 m) performed superior over other two clones. The survival of plants was in range of 66-100%. The clones of species E. camaldulensis in IFGTB series performed better over other clones/species. The evaluation of Eucalypt clones will be helpful for identification of promising clones for the specific region, thus, planting stock of desired clones may be raised for their further cultivation in field. The expansion of plantations of Eucalyptus in agro forestry will be helpful in reducing pressure of forests, increasing trees outside forests and upgrading the economic level of farmers.

Aims: Poaching of wildlife is a major challenge in their conservation, including endemic ones like Procolobus gordonorum Matschie. Local communities in Udzungwa and Magombera poach for subsistence and small scale commerce. The Community poultry project adjacent to Magombera forest contributed towards enhancing the conservation of wildlife species through providing community with poultry as an alternative livelihood where meat and income can be generated in legal and convenient methods.

Place and Duration of Study: This study took place in communities surrounding the Magombera Forest in the Morogoro region of Tanzania. The study was conducted from July 2018 to January 2019.

Methodology: Random semi-structured questionnaires with Likert scaling were administered to 119 local community members neighbouring the Magombera Forest.  A training workshop in which the participants were trained on veterinary and improved rearing practices in order to address the challenges were administered to 52 participants, followed by pre- and post-training evaluation questions that assessed the challenges and opportunity for poultry keeping.

Results: Sixty one percent of respondents reported that they kept chickens before training, after training all showed an inclination to keep chickens for meat and income generation. The respondents reported that challenges for poultry keeping are diseases control, market for products, rearing system and predators and parasites.

Conclusion: Training on poultry production to enhance conservation of biodiversity in Magombera forest is essential.  However from this study it is clear that crucial challenges (such as diseases) for successful poultry production, specified by local communities, need to be dealt with first.

Carya tonkinensis Lecomte is a multipurpose tree species, naturally distributing in India, China, and Vietnam. Extract from leaves of C. tonkinensis contains pinostrobin acting as anti-bacteria and anti-infection. It is used as traditional medicine. Seeds are edible and contain oil. In addition, seed cover can be used to produce activated charcoal. Therefore, growing C. tonkinensis may contribute to poverty reduction in mountainous areas. This study aims to analyze suitable planting method and density for growing C. tonkinensis in Son La province, Northwestern Vietnam. Three treatments in planting method were considered: mixed planting of C. tonkinensis and Chukrasia tabularis, pure planting and scattered planting. Four treatments in planting density were considered: 625 plants/ha, 830 plants/ha, 1,000 plants/ha and 1,100 plants/ha. Stem height and stump diameter (D_o) were measured at one year after planting, and death trees were counted for survival rate. The results indicated that scattered planting is the most suitable for C. tonkinensis and pure planting could also be applied. Meanwhile, planting density of 625 plants/ha (spacing of 4 × 4 m) and 830 plants/ha (spacing of 3 × 4 m) achieved the best performance. In both planting densities, the survival rate of the plants achieved >90%, their growths were >80 cm in height and >0.8 cm in D_o after planting one year. It is recommended that site preparation should be conducted by cutting bands of 2 m width and un-cutting bands of 2 m. In addition, seedlings of >1-year old, which are taller than 0.6 m, should be used to ensure higher survival and growths of plants.

Sustainability, population and structure of woody species composition of Taraba state forests were studied for future management strategies that allow a more sustainable use of woody species and a better conservation of forest ecosystems. The objectives of the study were to study the woody species dominance, important value index and population structure in different ecological zones of Taraba State forests. Data were obtained through woody species survey and the study area was stratified into three ecological zones and two protected areas. Five plots each measuring 50×50 m were sampled in each protected area and two protected areas were also sampled from each ecological zone. A total of 30 plots and 6 protected areas were sampled and all the woody species that occurred in the plots were also sampled. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as Tables, percentages, frequency, ANOVA and LSD. A total of 3760 individual woody stands from 60, 34 and 32 species in Montane Forest, Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna respectively were recorded. Strombosia postulate, Pleiocarpa pycnantha, Pericopsis laxiflora, Hymenocardia acida and Ziziphus mauritiana were the dominance species while their corresponding rarest species were Goria sp, Afzelia africana, Elaesis guneensis, Combretum tomentosum and Ficus sur. Strombosia postulate and Pleiocarpa pycnantha were the dominant woody species with high important value indices in Montane forest zone as opposed to Pericopsis laxiflora and Ziziphus mauritiana which dominated the Southern and Northern guinea savanna respectively. The rarest species of Goria sp, Afzelia africana, Elaesis guneensis, Combretum tomentosum and Ficus sur in the study area could be connected to its usefulness as fodder species. The population structure of woody species was found to be very low in the middle diameter classes.The diameter class distribution resembles interrupted “U” shape indicating the removal of merchantable trees. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the protected areas and ecological zones due to the low dominance and important value indices. This needs appropriate management techniques to improve forest composition and structure in the study area for sustainability.

The study analyzed effect of crisis on yam production in Southern Agricultural Zone, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; determine the effect of socio-economic variables on yam production, determine the factors affecting yam production, and to compare the gross margin of yam production before and after crisis in the study area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted for this study and a total of sixty (60) respondents were sampled for this study. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics which involves use frequency, percentages and the gross margin analysis. The study revealed that before the conflict the total variable cost was 233,288.4 while after the conflict, the total variable cost was 172310. The study conclude that price of fertilizer was doubled after conflict thereby reducing production. The result shows that 17.6% of the respondent’s stopped producing yam because of the fear of conflict. And also, there was a reduction in food production between the period of the conflicts and peaceful disposition. The study therefore recommend that government should develop policies and strategies to curtail future occurrence of crisis among farmers and herdsmen, and focus more on giving incentives to farmers and subsidy on farm inputs such as fertilizer, improved varieties, chemicals among others to boost food crop production, farmers income level and to ensure maximum security on lives and properties of prospective citizens and farmers.