Performance of Cheura, Diploknema butyracea (Roxb) Lamb in nursery under lower-and mid-Himalayan conditions of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

The area below apple belt ie below 1800 m particularly between 600 and 1800 m in Himachal Pradesh is characterized by unique problems of low productivity, high male out migration, high reliance on women in agriculture, pressure to expand cultivated land at the cost of forest land, undulating terrains, small and scattered holdings, limited irrigation facilities, large number of animals both domestic and wild to compete with human beings for the same resources, severe erosion due to deforestation, erratic rainfall and more susceptibility to climate change. For increasing the overall productivity of the state the vast tracks of this region hold the key. To improve the productivity of these areas an integrated approach is required that includes diversification in traditional agricultural practices, judicious use of available irrigation water and large scale rain water harvesting for gradually shifting from rainfed to commercial production. Even some additional farm income should be ensured from marginal land or grassland by commercializing already existing resources or through introduction of new set of species etc. From forestry point of view tree-borne oilseed species namely Cheura, Diploknema butyracea (Roxb) Lamb has great potential to provide some additional income to hill farmers of the region falling in between 300 to 1500 m elevation in Himachal Himalayas. In Uttarakhand this species occurs abundantly in a wild state in the Pithoragarh district near Kali river between altitude of 300–1500 m in hot humid climate. It is right time now for the introduction of this species in lower and mid-Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh for testing the suitability of the species. Therefore in the present investigations nursery performance of Cheura was studied under lower-and mid-Himachal Himalayas to eventually popularize this species in the state. It was found that the Cheura planting stock could be easily grown in the nurseries in the foot-hills of Himachal Himalayas provided nursery stock during winter was kept in polyhouse for three months (15 December to 15 March) to avoid frost damage.