FORESTS AND FORESTRY K. P. SAGREIYA I 3J NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA NEW DELHI INDIA - THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE FORESTS AND FORESTRY First published : /967 (/888) Second revised edition : 1971 (1893) Third revised editioll : 1979 (1900 ) © K. P. Sagreiya, 1967 U. A. S. L ,I .... L.uR:.:. UNiV c. SITY L1Jf~A. Y h ~ ;;JI 1980 NO ... _§H!i§!_ . . -. _. 1 . , .......................... . Rs. 17.50 PUBLISHED BY THE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA, NEW DELHI-! 10016 AND PRINTED AT NATIONAL PRINTING WORKS, 10, DARYAGANJ, NEW DELHI-! 10002 PREFACE "I wonder sometimes if there is any other natural resource which r;ives us so much and of which we know so little as the forests. There is. therefore, a good case for producing readable literature to enlighten the common people about India's forest wealth." - DR . RAIENDRA PRASAD THIS BOOK Forests and Forestry has been written with the object of making available to the ordinary educated Indian, the non-specia- list, basic facts concerning the forests of the country and the practice of forestry in simple language. In general, as a result of protection and management in accordance with the comprehensive forest policy of J 894, the forests have pro- gressively improved. But as the population of men and livestock increased, insufficiency of forests made satisfaction of the rapidly rising agricultural and industrial demand more and more difficult. Therefore when the country became independent it was considered desirable to enunciate a national forest policy and then to plan for the progressive development of the forests. This work is continuing. There are, however, still certain lacunae because of which maximum benefits cannot accrue from the forests, viz., their inadequate extent, ill-distribution and low productivity. The remedy is obvious. All suitable wasteland and marginal agricultural land should be afforested. The production from forests should be increased by their proper protection and introduction of valuable fast-growing, site-suitable, high-yielding species of trees, and by modernizing methods of felling, conversion, transport and utilisation, to minimise waste and to meet the rapidly rising demand for industrial wood. The forests should also be managed to fulfil their protective and bio-aesthetic role. The spokesmen of the people could do much to carry the message of forestry to the masses and thus convince them of the need for enforcing certain restrictions on the use of forests. If this book makes the reader forest-minded and thus enlists his willing co-opera- tion in protecting and developing the forests, so that eventually they confer the greatest good on the largest number for all time. he shall feel amply rewarded. vi PREFACE The writer is grateful to Shri B.K. Bhalla, A.T.F.C. Chief, Dehra Dun Centre, Logging Training Project (U.N. Sp. Fund), for going through the typescript and for making some useful suggestions. K.P. SAGREIY A PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION I HAVE availed myself of this opportunity to bring all data, as far as possible, up-to-date, mostly from Government sources. I have also given definitions of technical words according to the latest departmental publication, "Indian Forest and Forest Products Terminology", and added some matter here and there to make the book more readable and useful. JABALPUR May 5, 1970 K.P. SAGREIYA PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION J am happy to learn that the second edition had a brisk demand and the Publishers have asked me to get the book ready for another edition. I have done this now. Not only does this edition contain the latest available statistics- mostly from Government publications, but I have also availed myself of the opportunity to add from the interim reports dealing with forestry of the National Commission on Agriculture with which I have been associated, and from other sources. ~ am gratified to find that the book has received adequate publicity aud only hope this has resulted in better appreciation of the forester's view-point, namely, that the forests should be so managed as would maximise production and prove useful to the nation for all time. NAPIER T OWN JAB..t.LPUR. A llgllst 5, 1974 q;:r ~cru.; ~ ~ K.P. SAGREIYA CONTENTS Page Preface v PART I- FORESTS Clrapter 1 Forests, Forestry and Man 1 1( Basic Data 22 1lI Forest :'lOd Trees 36 IV Forest Resources: Trends and Prospects 59 V Wild Life 77 VI forest Conservancy and Potential Productivity 89 VJI Organisation 99 PART l[- FORESTRY VIJ[ Silviculture 121 IX Forest Mensuration 142 X Forest Economics 169 Xl Forest Management 174 XII Forest Protection 195 XIII Forest Utilisation 208 XIV Forest Industries 231 EPILOGUE 240 ApPENDICES I Temperature, Rainfall and Humidity Data 244 11 Compound Interest Table 246 III List of Plants Mentioned 248 Bibliography 256 Index 257 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate Facing Page I. Van a Mahotsava 16 2. Rocks Exposed after Severe Erosion, Madan Mahal, Jabalpur 16 3. Unrestricted Goat Browsing Denuding the Forest Cover, Bhakra Catchment, H.P. 16 4. Northern Tropical Semi-evergreen Forest of Gurjan, Bengal 16 5. Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest of Sal (Shorea robllsta), U. P. 17 6. Sub-tropical Pine Forest (Pinlls roxbllrghii), U.P. 17 7. Himalayan Moist Temperate Forest of Deodar (Cedrus deodara), H.P. 17 8. Tapping of Chir Pine for Resin. H.P. 48 9. Bans- The Common Bamboo 48 10. One-horned Rhinoceros (R. ullicomis) in Kaziranga Sanctuary, Assam 48 II. The Swamp Deer (Ru(wl'uS dUl'aueeli) in Kanha National Park, M.P. 48 12. Intensive Gully rosion, Ghumarvin Range, H.P. 49 13. Ravi ne Formation 49 14. Forest Research In titute. Dehrn Dun 49 J 5. Teak (Tectona gra/ldi.\') Plantations. U.P. 80 16. Deodar (Cedrus deodars) Plantations, H.P. 80 J 7. World's Oldest Teak Plantation (1846), Nilamber, Kerala 80 J 8. Well-thinned Forest of Deodar, Punjab 80 19. Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) Plantations, Madras : 45 Years Old 81 20. Single Stem Silviculture, M.P. Teak Forest (CI) Before Treatment (b) After Treatment 81 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 21. Rehabilitation of Degraded Ex-private Forests (a) When Acquired (b) After Rehabilitation 128 22. Ravine Afforestation, U.P. (I0-year-old) 128 23. Well-preserved Simla Cantonment Forest 128 24. Skin and Bone Animals Dependent Solely on Forest Grazing 129 25. A Sandal Tree Attacked by Spike Disease 129 26. Heart-rot Decay in Living Sal Tree 129 27. Three-dimensional Micro-photograph of Teak Showing Anatomical Structure V-Vessels; F-Fibres; P-Parenchyma; R-Rays 192 28. Micro-photographs of Wood (a) Diffuse Porous Wood Sernal (Salamaliamalabarica) (b) Ring Porous Wood Teak (Tectona grandis) 192 29. Logging Operations, H.P. (a) Log on the Long-dIstance Sky-Line Crane (b) Logs Loaded on a Truck 192 30. Modern Internal Fan Steam-Heated Seasoning Kiln 193 31. Sala; Billets at NEPA Mills 193 32. A Lofty Semal Tree (Sa/mafia ma/abarica) 193 33. Sandalwood Trees in Scrub Forest, Mysore 193 LIST OF MAPS 1. Main Soil Types 2. India Showing Forest Areas 3. India- Annual Average Rainfall 4. Forest Types of India 5. India Showing Productivity Regions To/act page 24 40 64 112 176 PART I FORESTS