Abstract
Appropriate tree species and planting methods can help rehabilitation of arid areas — that are characterized by low rainfall, high evapotranspiration demands, highly saline ground waters and calcareous subsoils. The growth of Acacia nilotica and Dalbergia sissoo saplings planted in irrigation furrows in such an arid zone of northwest India was not affected adversely by irrigation with saline water of EC W 10.5 dS m−1. The growth of A. nilotica, measured in terms of sapling survival, plant height and biomass yields, was better than that of D. sissoo. Increasing the period of irrigation from the recommended practice of irrigating only in the first year dry season (October–June) to second and third dry seasons (years) improved the sapling survival, growth and biomass (two-to-three-fold) and water use efficiency (two-to-four fold). Most of the salts added with saline irrigation were accumulated below the irrigation channels and were pushed laterally during the monsoon season. The results indicate that the furrow planting technique could be adopted as an afforestation practice in view of the creation of favourable water and salt regimes and their impact on the establishment of trees saplings. Irrigation water supplies for a minimum of intitially two years after transplanting seemed necessary.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmad R and Ismail S (1992) Studies on selection of salt-tolerant plants for food, fodder and fuel from world flora. In: Lieth H and Al Masoom AA (eds) Towards the Rational Use of High Salinity Tolerant Plants, Vol 2. Agriculture Forestry under Marginal Soil Conditions, pp 295–304. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands
Armitage FB (1984) Irrigated Forestry in Arid and Semiarid Lands: A Synthesis. IDRC, Ottawa, Canada, 160 pp
Chaturvedi AN (1984) Firewood crops in areas of brackish water. Ind Forester 110: 364–366
Greenwood EAN (1986) Water use by trees and shrubs for lowering saline groundwater. Reclam Reveg Res 5: 423–434
Gupta RK, Tomar OS and Minhas PS (1994) Technologies for afforestation of salt affected soils. Indian Farming 44: 47–50
Hussain GH, Sadiq M, Nabulsi YA and Helweg OJ (1994) Effect of saline water on establishment of wind break trees. Agri Water Manage 25: 35–43
Jain BL, Goyal RS and Muthana KD (1983) Performance of some tree species in relation to irrigation with saline waters. Ann Arid Zone 22: 233–238
Minhas PS, Singh YP, Tomar OS, Gupta RK and Gupta Raj K (1997) Effect of saline irrigation and its schedules on growth, biomass production and water use by Acacia nilotica and Dalbergia sissoo in a highly calcareous soil. J Arid Environ 36 (in press)
Qureshi RH, Nawaz S and Mehmood T (1992) Performance of selected tree species under saline sodic conditions in Pakistan. In: Lieth H and Al Masoom AA (eds) Towards the Rational Use of High Salinity Tolerant Plants, Vol 2. Agriculture and Forestry under Marginal Soil Conditions, pp 259–270. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands
Schofield NJ (1992) Tree planting for dryland salinity control. Agrofor Syst 20: 1–23
Singh G, Singh NT and Tomar OS (1993) Agroforestry for Salt Affected Soils. Bull. No. 16. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, India, 68 pp
Singh NT (1992) Land degradation and remedial measures with reference to salinity, alkalinity, waterlogging and acidity. In: Deb DL (ed) Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Agriculture and Environment. Angkor Pub, New Delhi, 442 pp
Singh YP, Minhas PS, Tomar OS, Gupta RK and Gupta RAJK (1996) Salt tolerance and water use by Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. during the establishment stage. Arid Zone Soil Res & Rehab 10: 379–390
Tomar OS and Gupta RK (1985) Performance of some forest tree species in saline soils under shallow and saline water conditions. Plant and Soil 87: 328–335
Tomar OS, Minhas PS and Gupta RK (1994) Potentialities of afforestation of saline waterlogged soils. In: Singh P, Pathak PS and Roy MM (eds) Agroforestry Systems for Degraded Lands, pp 111–121. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi
Yadav JSP (1991) Problems and potentials of reforestation of salt affected soils of India. Regional Wood Energy Development Programme in Asia. GCP/RAS/111/NET Field Document No. 14. FAO, Bangkok, 54 pp
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Minhas, P.S., Singh, Y.P., Tomar, O.S. et al. Saline-water irrigation for the establishment of furrow-planted trees in northwestern India. Agroforest Syst 35, 177–186 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122778
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122778