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AGROFORESTRY STUDY AROUND DURG IN CHHATTISGARH STATE- 2020-21

SUMMARY- by Dr. Utkarsh Ghate, Director, Gram Mooligai (Village herbs) Co. Ltd.
Thanks to TNC (support) & Mr Devendra Kurrey (Data Collection), Mr Santosh Khare, SIRD (inputs)
1. Identification of native species with highest potential of market and value chain development

The existing common plantation tree species such as given below will be reviewed, a list of most
potential tree and bamboo species is prepared., The top 5 timber species are recommended for
agro-forestry initiatives:
1) Sagon- Teak- Tectona grandis,
2) Khamar- White teak- Gmelina arborea,
3) Munga- Drumstick- Moringa oliefera,
4) Bakain- Melia azaderach,
5) Kadamb- Azadirachta indica.

Arjun, Neem, Pongam and Chandan (Sandal) are assessed here briefly, have lower economic
potential (Rs. 2/kg) while the Sandal wood has low biomass growth and has security risk, suitable
for the rich so not recommended here.

Jackfruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) & Ber (Zizyphus jujube) look promising to return Rs. Half to 1
lakh/ acre/ year in 10 to 5 years respectively. Jackfruit timber quality is good quality & fruits
profitable. Ripe jackfruit is not known or eaten in Chhattisgahr unlike southern India so can be
promoted and novel products here like shake or jack-roti. Besides, its fruit pulp power is now
widely marketed as anti-diabetic (www.jackfruit365.com) starting from Kerala, to mix 1-2
spoons daily in Roti ata, and has much future scope.

Drumstick & Jujube are not selected in forestry channel being mainly fruit trees.

Pongam is hyped for Biodisel like Jatropha & has higher promise than the later. However, biodiesel is
not viable unless Disel prices (fossil source) hike to Rs. 100/- litre, a remote possibility.

Bamboo-
Common (Dendrocalamus strictus),
Spiny (Bambusa arundinacea synomym bambos),
Reed (Arundo donax).
The bamboo has huge scope and profit potential and policy incentives such as 50% subsidy, 40% loan
facility. It is ignored but and few takers, even among the tree growers of Subabul & Ecucalypt
who have lost interest in the tree farming. So promotion by the Govt. is weak.
Common Bamboo is preferred while spiny Bamboo is not liked by the craft-persons and paper mills
alike. Paper mills prefer bamboo with longer internodes.

Bakain & Kadamba are emerging as high potential planting trees that as Desi (indigeneous), eco-
friendly as free from controversies around Eucalyptus viz. over-extraction of water/ allelopathic
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(negative) effect on local biota. Their plantations are common in southern Indian states, used for
Kadamba- matchsticks, Agarbatti & Bakain- plywood/ small timber. Bakain neem grows faster
than Eucaluptus even!

Box A- Kadamba- a miracle tree

Arvind Bijalwan, Manmohan J. R. Dobriyal, Bhartiya J. K.. A Potential Fast Growing Tree for Agroforestry and Carbon
Sequestration in India: Anthocephalus cadamba (Roxb.) Miq.. American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry. Vol. 2, No. 6,
2014, pp. 296-301. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaf.20140206.21

8. Economics
As per the estimates done by Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore (India), 2012 in
Tree Growers fare in an 8 years old A. cadamba tree with a height of 10m and a girth of 100cm will give 11 Cu Ft
of wood. The average price of one Cubic Fit is about Rs. 250/- comprises to Rs. 2750 per tree. Considering the 400
trees/hectare gives a total of Rs. 11 lakh/hectare at 8 year of age which provides a net benefit of Rs. 9000/month
besides additional income from the intercropping as well as ample sufficient amount of Carbon. (This amounts to
Rs. 1.25 lakh/ ha/ year i.e. Rs. 0.5 lakh/ acre/ year) besides the intercrop’s income.

(Kadamba fruit are rich ion polyphenols that are healthy & a juice is made from it abroad & can be a novelty or
innovation in India, improving the farmer’s income.

Comparison of various tree/ bamboo plantation species is provided below for farmer’s choice.

Table A- YIELD & INCOME IN 5 YEARS (400 trees/ acre at 10*10 ft)

SPECIES Height Girth Wood Cuft/ Income Income Income

m cm Tree Rs./Tre Rs./acre Rs./acre/ yr
e
Kadamba 8 50 4 1,000 400,000 80,000
Bakain 12 60 375 2,500 10,00,000 200,000
Drumstick 10 60 Leaf- 200 kg 5,000 8,00,000 160,000
dry
Khamer 10 40 200 1,600 720,000 140,000
Teak- 8 50 400 poles 800 20,00,000 400,000
clonal
Bamboo 10 10 4,000 nos. 100 400,000 80,000
Jackfruit 8 30 3 2,500 250,000 50,000
Ber 5 40 - 5,000 500,000 100,000
Ref.- SFRI, 2010 (price & income improved based on current data from consultations).

NOTE_ Jackfruit tipe fruit/ pulp is not commonly consumer in Chhattisgarh unlike in southern India. Its
only consumed as unripe fruit cooked as vegetables. Milk shake or other products such as dried roti
(bread), toffee etc., popular in sothern states are missing here. When its promoted & started here in a few
yers, the price, business size & profitability of jackfruit will rise here like in the southern India.
Table B- USES & PROFIT ESTIMATE- 5 years

SPECIES Uses Income Rs./ Cost Rs./ Profit Profit % Profit

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acre acre- 5 Rs./Acre Rs./acre/

yrs yr
1. Kadamba Matchstick, plywood, 400,000 100,000 300,000 75 60,000
packing, Agarbatti
2. Bakain Small timber, plywood 10,00,000 250,000 750,000 75 150,000
3. Drumstick Fruits, leaves 16,00,000 400,000 12,00,000 75 225,000
4. Khamer Timber, Plywood, 720,000 250,000 470,000 70 90,000
Paper
5. Teak- Timber 20,00,000 500,000 15,00,000 75 300,000
clonal
6. Bamboo Construction, Paper, 600,000 200,000 400,000 70 80,000
Crafts
7. Jackfruit Timber, fruits 10,00,000 100,000 900,000 90 180,000
8. Jujube Small timber, fruits 5,00,000 50,000 450,000 90 90,000
Note- in food crops farming profit is about 50% of gross income due to the high labour & replanting cost
but in tree farming, the profit ratio is higher- about 70% due to multi-year crop & coppicing.

Prior consultations and preferably contracts with the industry users are needed for the
project success. This will enable market access and value addition, benefitting the growers and sustain
their profit and interest and in it.
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2. Identification of most appropriate available technologies for value addition of most potential
timber, bamboo and NTFP species and economic profitability of identified products.

Storage, de-barking tools, axing, chipping, powdering, packing and informatics- way bill,
block officer’s (Tehsildar/ SDO- sub-divisional officer- generally ACF- Asst. Conservator of
Forests) permit of private source of harvest etc. needs to be availed here.

A value addition table is prepared and explained to the community as below-

a- Raw material,
b- Processing technology & skills,
c- Products and by products, their uses,
d- Final products weight (%) and price, wastage disposal and value,
e- End users, markets and transport, strategies to inform/ attract buyers.
This can include prior sales contracts with the industry, e-portal, media strategy etc.

Table C- Value addition scope of various tree species/ bamboo

SPECIES Raw material Value Added Mark-up Technology required

price product price
Rs/kg
Bakain Rs. 5/- kg Rs. 10/- kg *2 De-barking, splicing
Bamboo Rs. 50/- pole Rs. 100/- pole *2 -
Drumstick (leaf) Rs. 50/- kg Rs. 150/- kg *3 Powdering
Kadamba Rs. 5/- kg Rs. 10/- kg *2 De-barking, splicing
Khamer Rs. 400/- kg. Rs. 8,000/ cu. *2 -“-
Ft.
Note- making ready to process planks is simple but profitable processing technology as it
increases the wood value by 50% at little cost- just10-15%.

BARRIERS TO GROWTH
Ignorance of the farmers in tree growing benefits and relaxed regulations is the main
barrier of agroforestry in Chhattisgarh state.
Farmer’s awareness building, providing them with quality planting material, facilitating
buyback arrangement with industry and handholding for agri-inputs and convergence with Govt.
Schemes are essential interventions to develop agro-forestry landscapes in the state.
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3. Assessment of replicability and scalability potential of project interventions (short term).

A farmer would expect minimum Rs. 50,000/- acre/ year income as available today from pady
farming, at 16 quintal/ acre average productivity & Rs. 2,500/- (two & half thousand) price / quintal. The
gross income is Rs. 80,000/- (eighty thousand) in the 2 seasons/ year, about 60% of it is net income i.e.
Rs. 50,000/- acre/ year.
Table 20- TREE FARM VIABILITY- 5 years

Acre area sq m 4000

Spacing m 2
Area/ tree 4
No of trees/ acre 1000

REQUIRED INCOME Rs./ acre- minimum

Need Rs./ acre (5 yrs) 250000

Income/ tree Rs. (5 yrs) 250

EXPECTED INCOME Rs./ acre

Volume/ tree cu ft 1
Weight kg 6
Price Rs./cu ft 250
Value Rs./tree 1,500
Income expected Rs./acre 15,00,000
Income Rs./acre/year 300,000
The farmers may earn Rs. 3 lakh/ acre/ year.
Note- In agroforestry, tree nos., income can be less than the above due to intercrops
But in essence, the tree farming income can exceed the food grains farm income.
There are examples of rapid rise & fall of tree farming in states such as Haryana- Yamunanagar
district, known as “plywood hub”. Poplar (Populus sp.) is the main tree species planted- it’s a fast
growing softwood. However, the price has dropped hugely in the past 5 years after many farmers grew it.
So its farming is loss-making today. To avoid repeating the story here, industry contract & area target
planning here is necessary. Khamar, a local softwood akin to Poplar has similar trend here but. Wood
pulp replacement by waste paper recycling is another driver to the demand decline.
1) Following steps are needed to make the project a success- Awareness of farmers
regarding tree planting benefits,
2) Industry tie up for regular purchase,
3) Quality plan ting material & farmers’ training, input supplies, monitoring,
4) Collective harvest, semi-processing & bulk sales to industry,
5) Benefit sharing & investment, preferably in the cooperative mode.
(Farmer Producer Company is the new age cooperative and can be promoted, as NABARD targets).