Biomass production in short rotation effluent-irrigated plantations in North-West India

O.P. Toky, D. Riddell-Black, P.J.C. Harris, P. Vasudevan, P.A. Davies

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study estimates above-ground biomass in high density plantations of six important semi-arid tree species at Palwal (70 km from Delhi) irrigated with secondary treated sewage water at the rate of 0, 25, 50 and 100% of daily net evaporation potential (EP). In 2.5 y old plantations (plant spacing, 2 m x 2 m for single stem species and 2 m x 1 m for multi-stem species), Melia azedarach showed fairly high biomass production (38.4 t/ha) followed by Ailanthus excelsa (27.2 t/ha). Order of biomass production (kg / tree) was: Eucalyptus tereticornis (24.1) > A. excelsa (21.8) > M. azedarach (12.6) > Populus deltoides clone G 48 (8.3) > Alstonia scholaris (6.6)> Pongamia pinnata (3.7). Survival of plants after 2.5 y ranged from 25.2% in P. deltoides to 71.7% in P. pinnata, and had a significant effect on biomass production per unit area. ANOVA shows that levels of irrigation (0 - 100%) did not have statistically significant effect on plant growth. Correlation between diameter and biomass was found highly significant (p< 0.01) with R2 nearing to 1.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)601-609
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Scientific and Industrial Research
Volume70
Issue number8
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2011

Bibliographical note

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India

Keywords

  • biomass
  • semi-arid trees
  • sewage water irrigation
  • short rotation plantations

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Biomass production in short rotation effluent-irrigated plantations in North-West India'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this