CH-1 PLANTATION ESTABLISHMENT

 Plantation forests is
 type of managed forest in which the trees
are planted
 opposed to naturally regenerated),
 of the same age and generally of the same
species, and
 are intended to maximize the production of
wood fiber.
• forest plantation stands established by
planting and/or seedling in the process of
afforestation or reforestation
• They are either: of introduced species (all
planted stands), or intensively managed
stands of indigenous species
• although it is recognized that trees may be
planted under a wide range of circumstances -
as part of the agricultural landscape, for
aesthetic pleasure
 

Plantation is a stand composed primarily of trees established by planting or artificial

seeding

a) a plantation may have tree or understory

components that have resulted from natural
regeneration;
b) depending on management objectives, a
plantation may be pure or mixed species,
treated to have uniform or diverse structure
and age classes
c) plantation may be grown on short rotations
for biomass, energy, or timber production
 Classification of Plantation
industrial plantations and non-industrial
plantations.
 Plantation for the supply of round wood for
sawn timber, veneer and pulp have been
classified as industrial plantations
 All other plantations are donated as non-
industrial plantation and include those for
fuelwood, soil and water protection and
amenity purposes.
environmental, social and financial benefits to
be gained from managing a plantation
 Continuous annual income
 reduction in wood volume production
 Intensified land use and productivity
 Synergistic effects of agricultural and tree
crops
 Improved wildlife habitat
 Reduced risk of accidental or deliberate
burning through:
 Increased spacing
 Reduced occurrence of grass-burning hazard
 Increased responsibility of farmers with
intercrops
 Types of plantation

Native or natural & artificial plantation

a) Native
 is one in which the species are voluntarily
growing and are naturally present in the area.
 Native forests often have a variety of species
and provide wildlife habitat.
 An uncut forest is known as an old-growth
forest habitat.
b) Artificial Plantations
 are intensively managed stands of trees that
have been artificially planted with native or
exotic species.
 Plantation species are described as either
hardwood (mostly eucalypts) or softwood (e.g.
pines) depending on the density and hardness
of the wood
roles of plantation
a) Improve Social Benefits
 principal goods or services will primarily be
derived from the woody component.
 Enhance livelihood
 Reduce un employement
b) Environmental Benefits
 Perhaps the most obvious environmental
contribution that planted forests can make to
a landscape is
- when they closely replicate the structure and
floristic composition of the original forest
cover
 Ecological restoration
c) Economic benefit
 Increase daily income
 Determinants of planted forests
  positive negative
environmental degraded or biologically spread of, alien invasive
impoverished sites is
improved

  Carbon sequestration  
economic income generating distort local and national
activities for local markets.
communities
  enhanced productivity of  
other land-use systems

social Plants are guaranteed When traditional access

and protected under law. or use rights are
disrupted or denied.
  cultural or spiritual When planted forests are
significance assured. established on disputed
lands.
 silvicultural practices
 Silviculture is the care and cultivation of
woodlands
 silviculture is the production of wood crops to
secure the highest returns in quantitative and
economic terms
 In addition to production, protection of
watersheds and lands adjacent to the forest,
conservation of wild life and natural resources
 The objectives of silviculture may be one or
more of the following
1. To yield produce of a definite description
2. To produce greatest quantity of wood or
other produce per acre and per year
3. To produce the highest possible money
return on the invested capital.
4. To produce certain indirect effects
 CH2. Site selection
Site reconnaissance
Provide a chance for selecting the tree and shrub
species best suited to the area
Information most commonly included in site
reconnaissance are:
 Climate
 Soil
 Topography
 Vegetation
 biotic factors
 Water table levels
 Con…
 Distance from nursery
 The availability of labour.
 Motivation of the local population.
 Land ownership and tenure
Selection of the planting site
Selection of planting site is an important activity in
the establishment of plantation forest
Where to plant is generally a collective decision
made by foresters, & the planting crews based on
information obtained in the site reconnaissance.
The key is to select the site that, where planted,
will lead to the establishment of a successful forest
plantation.
 also choice of the planting site is limited to lands
which are not suited for agriculture or livestock
production
 once the area has been chosen the
boundaries of the planting site should be
marked with boundary posts.
When there is a danger of trespassing and
damage by grazing animals, a boundary fence
should be established.
Once a forest plantation is well established
and the trees are sufficiently tall, the fences
can be removed and reused at another
planting site.
Preparation of the planting site
 Preparation of planting area is initiated with
land clearing.
 Land clearing is absolutely necessary in land
preparation, because soil tillage can only be
done after the land has been cleared
the site should have been prepared to ensure
that planting can proceed without delay
Objectives of site preparation
Remove competing vegetation from the site.
Create conditions that will enable the soil to
catch and absorb as much rainfall
Provide good rooting conditions for the
planting
Create conditions where danger from fire and
pests is minimized.
rapid early growth
general, the methods used to achieve site
preparation will vary with
 the type of vegetation
 amount and distribution of rainfall
 presence or absence of impermeable layers in
the soil.
chann

 the need for protection from desiccating

winds and
 scale of the planting operations.
Methods of site preparation
In general, preparation of the site by hand is
possible and economical only for relatively
small-scale projects
o where the labour of clearing the competing
vegetation and working the soil is not too
time-consuming.
animal-drawn ploughs can also be economical
for small-scale operations.
Mechanical soil preparation, used increasingly
in large-scale planting programmes, has
become a common practice in many areas;
often, this is because the supply of labour and
the time available for ground preparation are
too limited to permit large-scale projects to be
undertaken by hand.
Whatever method of site preparation is used,
a planting pit (of an appropriate size) should
be prepared.
The objective of creating planting pits is to
aerate and loosen the soil in which the plants
will grow.
When these planting pits are prepared, they
should not be left empty
Figure 4.1 Planting holes 0.4 m x 0.4 m x 0.4 m
at a 3 m x 3 m.
Soil preparation can be carried out in patches,
strips, or by complete cultivation.
Sometimes, spot preparation may be
sufficient, but the spots should be large (1 to
1.5 meters in diameter).
methods of soil preparation by hand are the.
a) The ash-bed technique
 consists of piling the debris from harvesting or
clearing the land into long lines or stacks.
 After drying, the debris is burned and vegetation is
planted in the ash patches.
Sometimes, the lines or stacks of debris are covered
with "clods" to obtain a more intense heat when
burning.
Advantages of this method are that the burning kills
the competing vegetation, the area remains free of
this vegetation for an appreciable period, and the ash
provides a useful fertilizer for the planted trees or
shrubs.
fig. ash-bed technique
b)The tie-ridging technique
 involves the cultivation of the entire area and the
establishment of ridges at specified intervals.
The main ridges, aligned along the contours, are
joined by smaller ridges at right-angles to create a
series of more-or-less square basins which retain
rainwater and prevent erosion.
The ridges are generally 3 meters apart. The trees and
shrubs are planted on the ridges.
This method is suitable for flat or gently sloping
ground and can be combined with an agricultural crop
during the initial years of plantation establishment
Fig. tie ridge
c) Trenching techniques
are used in site preparation in hilly country
along the contours.
The trenches can be continuous divided by
cross banks, or consist of short discontinuous
lengths & the gaps between the trenches in
one row are opposite those in the next row;
in this latter instance, runoff from rainfall is
caught.
Fig. soil preparation on trench
d)Terraces
which are wider and flatter than trenches, can be
either manually or mechanically formed on the
side of a hill by digging soil from the uphill side and
depositing it on the downhill side.
The purpose of terracing is to retard and collect
water runoff between the terraces.
 Because of the improved soil moisture conditions,
the terrace provides improved conditions for plant
growth.
Terraces are used widely on moderate to severe
slopes. Terraces can be 2 to 3 meters or several
hundred meters in length.
Fig. terrace
 CHAPTER THREE
3. CHOICE OF SPECIES & PLANTING METHOD
3.1. Species selection
When the best possible information has been
collected on the characteristics of the site to be
planted,
the next step is the selection of the species to
plant.
The aim is to choose species which are suited to
the site, will remain healthy throughout the
anticipated rotation, will produce acceptable
growth and yield, and will meet the objectives of
the plantation
 Con…
When reliable information shows a close
similarity between the site to be planted and
that on which the species is already
successful, it is generally possible to proceed
to large-scale planting with confidence.
The selection of species through the use of
analogous climates is important as a first step
 PLANTING METHOD
PLANTING
 The use of mounding and bare-rooted
transplants requires that plants are manually
planted.
 Mechanized planting of containerized stock is
possible using a special head on the mounding
machine
 but, as containerized plants only account for a
small proportion of the annual planting
programme, it is not widely practiced
There are three basic methods commonly
used to manually plant forest trees:
 Slit planting – most common method where
the slit is made with the spade or mattock and
the transplant is inserted into the ground and
the slit closed with the heel of the foot and
the plant firmed.
Angle-notch or T-notch planting – similar to slit
planting except that two slits are made, either in
the shape of a right angle or a T, and the soil is
then levered up. The plants are inserted into the
hole created and again the plant is firmed.
 Pit planting – a common method used on flat
or uncultivated ground where a small pit is
dug and the plant inserted into the hole and
the loose soil back filled and firmed.
Research has shown that poor planting can
affect the survival, growth and wind stability of
trees.
Careful planting is required to ensure that the
roots are placed in the planting hole in a way
that will allow the tree to develop a radial root
system
Therefore, attention to planting quality is an
important aspect of forest establishment as it
can have both serious short and long term
effects on the success of a plantation.
Time of planting
 The planting season generally coincides with the rainy
season; usually, planting is started as soon as a specified
quantity of rain has fallen.
 This amount of precipitation must be judged on the basis of
local knowledge.
 Planting can also be initiated when the soil is wet to a
specified depth (approximately 20 centimeters).
 A common mistake is to start planting too soon. On the other
hand, if planting is started too late, it may be difficult to
complete a large planting programme in the scheduled time,
 and the plants will lose the maximum benefit of rains after
planting; this can be a serious matter where the rainfall is low
and erratic.
Planting season
 Bare-rooted stock is planted when the transplants
are dormant
 Bare-rooted material is normally planted at rain
season.
 Containerized plants, because they come complete
attached the soil to the roots, can be planted at any
time of the year, but best results tend to be during
spring to mid summer.
 Correct timing of planting can have a critical impact
on successful establishment.
 Planting during very cold (particularly frosty periods)
or dry conditions is generally avoided.
Dispatching of planting stocks
 Faulty technique in the dispatching and packaging of planting stocks can kill or
damage the planting stocks.

 Therefore, care is needed to reduce the mortality level, during transportation

or loading and unloading of planting stocks.

 Before being transported, planting stocks are packaged in boxes measuring

each 40 x 30 x 40 cm3 .

 The boxes are stacked with maximum of 3 – 5 boxes. During transportation,

planting stocks are covered to avoid excessive evaporation, and damage due to
wind blow.

 After arriving at the planting site, planting stocks are moved to each planting
hole by lifting them through human shoulders.
This manual moving is adopted because some
planting sites (planting holes) are far from high
way or in difficult to access terrain.
Plantings are attempted to be done at the
same day with the planting stock’s arrival.
Care should be considered in planting stock’s
transportation, as well as efficiency of cost.
Usually, planting stocks in the form of stump
are preferred more due to easier and cheaper
transportation.
 Planting of containerized stock
 Planting of containerized stock is usually done
in holes that are large enough to take the
containers or the root-balls.
 It is essential that the surrounding soil is
firmed down around the plant immediately
after planting to avoid the formation of air
gaps which can lead to root desiccation.
  Planting distance (spacing)

 There are several things which should be considered

in determining spacing, namely tree species to be
planted, soil fertility, silvicultural techniques to be
adopted and economical consideration.
 On fertile soil, planting distance tend to be wider
because plant growth is expected to be more rapid.
 Generally, the initial spacing is related also with the
type of wood product to be planted.
 Narrow spacing is more suitable for obtaining fire
wood and pulp, because for this purpose, more
abundant log volume is emphasized, so that thinning
intensity is not so severe.
 On the other hand for obtaining construction
wood and veneer raw materials, spacing
should be determined so as to support the
formation of straight boles.
 Spacing which is usually used varies between
2 x 2 m2 & 4.5 x 4.5 m2
 Wider spacing (5 x 5 m2 or more) is usually
related with enrichment planting.
To quantify the total number of plants required per
hectare use the following formula:
10,000
 No. trees / Ha = --------------------------------------
Spacing b/n rows (m) x spacing b/n plants (m)
 For example, with a spacing between lines of 3
meters and a spacing of plants within a line of 3
meters, a planting density of 1,111 trees per
hectare will be required.
 Recommended tree spacing is between 2 and 3m
when planting in blocks. Spacing can be increased
for random planting.
 it is often found that plants grow widely apart in
low rainfall areas.
 on dry sites, it is necessary to plant widely apart
and to remove all competing ground vegetation;
 this increases infiltration of rainwater and
decreases water losses through transpiration by
plants and evaporation from the soil
 The distance that trees grow apart can have a
significant impact on their growth and
development.
 Widely spaced trees tend to produce large
heavy branches.
 Closely spaced trees on the other hand tend
to have very fine branches, but with little
room to develop, tend to have tall thin stems
with little individual tree volume.
 Tree spacing is therefore important in a
commercial forest situation where quality
timber production is a priority.
 Spacing for conifer species is normally 2×2
meters or 2,500 plants per hectare.
 Broadleaves, however, are planted at closer
spacing because of the tendency of some
species to produce crooked stems.
 The closer spacing creates more competition
resulting in straighter and finer branched
trees.
 Actual spacing varies with species, site, and
the purpose of the forest plantation.
 In fuel wood plantations, for example, one
might prefer closer spacing than employed in
other kinds of plantations.
 Planting techniques
 planting of vegetation is the best and most
permanent method & both direct and indirect
benefits can be realized
- Wood production (fuel, lumber, etc.);
- Protection (of roads, canals, agricultural lands,
and industrial areas)
- Protection of watershed areas and water supplies;
- Livestock grazing benefits;
- Wildlife benefits, recreation, and other amenities;
 The selection of a system for planting depends
on the conditions and topography of the
location, plant species to be planted and
management practices.
 The systems of planting are also called
systems of layout
 commonly used systems of planting are:
1. Square system: This is a common system of
planting adopted in plains.
The distance from plant to plant and row to row
is kept equal. The planting is done at each
corner of the squares.

Square System
 The square system of the layout is easy to
draw and provides equal space to each fruit
plant.
 The space at the center of square remains
unutilized which is the main demerit of the
system.
 The accommodation of total number of plants
in a given area is calculated as follows:
Total number of plants=(area of the land)/(plant
to plant distance × row to row distance )
2. Rectangular system:
 In this system of planting row to row distance
is kept more than the plant to plant distance.
 The planting is done at each corner of the
rectangles.

Rectangular System
 The main disadvantage of the system is a
greater loss of income in case of no practice of
intercropping.
 The accommodation of plants can be
calculated as follows:
Total number of plants=(area of the land)/(plant
to plant distance × row to row distance )
3. Diagonal or Quincunx system:
 The quincunx system has been developed to
utilize the space between four trees that
remains unutilized in the square system.
 The planting is done similar to the square
system except an additional plant is planted at
the center of the square.
Diagonal or Quincunx system
 The income is increased and the growth of the
weeds is suppressed.
 The acute competition between of plants for
water, nutrients, sunlight and air along with
overlapping of branches and overcrowding of
trees are the disadvantages of the quincunx
system of planting.
 The number of plants requires to plant the
available land can be calculated by following
formulae:
Total number of plants=[(area of the land)/(plant
to plant distance × row to row distance )]×2
4. Triangular system:
 The triangular system is similar to the square system; the
only difference is that the trees in the alternate rows are
planted in the middle of the two corners of the squares
whereas in the alternate rows also planting is done at the
corners of the squares in the square system of planting
 Thus trees are planted at the corners of triangles whose
base and altitude are kept equal in length the one corner
of such six isosceles triangles meeting at the same point
to form a hexagon whose all six sides and angles are not
equal in length and degree, respectively.
 The six trees are planted at the six corners and seventh
tree at the midpoint of the hexagon.
 Triangular System
The distance between rows and trees remains same. The
accommodation of the plants is slightly lesser than the square system.
5. Equilateral Triangular or Hexagonal system:
 In this system of planting plants are planted at
the corners of triangles have all sides equal in
length and are called equilateral triangles.
 The one corner of six equilateral triangles
meets at a point and forms hexagon whose all
six sides and angles are equal in length and
degree, respectively.
 The six plants are planted at the six corners
and seventh at the midpoint of the hexagon
 Hexagonal System
 Total number of plants=(area of the land)/(area
occupied by single plant )
Area occupies by single plant=3⁄4×A×A ×2
Where, A= length of a side of triangle or spacing
between plants
6. Contour system:
 The contour is an imaginary line connecting the
points of equal height on a slope.
 This system has been evolved for the planting of
trees on hilly and slopes topography with the
objective to minimize the soil erosion.
 The trees are planted on the bench terrace
prepared on the contour.
 The one row of shrubs and grasses may be planted
between two rows of trees to reduce water flow
and thereby soil erosion more effectively.
The number of plants accommodates in contour
system can be calculated by following formulae:
Where, N=Number of hedges, D= distance
between plants, H= distance between hedges,
V= vertical distance between rows