Abstract
Surveys in south India revealed that Santalum album Linn. is commonly grown with forest trees and horticultural and agricultural crops. As a silvicultural practices in cultivation of S. album though pruning is not recommended many farmers follow the practice of regular pruning there by adversely affecting the health of trees. Severely pruned trees were found losing their erectness and bending indicating that pruning causes change, disorder and affect many physiological functions resulting in deterioration of overall tree health. The wounds caused by pruning sever tissue connections and enhances the infection of decay fungi. It attracts the infestation of insect pests particularly the stem and wood borers. The incidence of bark caterpillar Indarbela quardinotata Walker, red stems borer Zeuzera coffeae Nietn. and heart wood borer Aristobia octofasciculata Aurivillius was found significantly higher in pruned plantations compared un-pruned plantations. The heartwood loss ranging from 22.6 to 34.5% was observed during extraction and this loss might be attributed due to the adverse effect of pruning and other mechanical injuries inducing infection of decay fungi and infestation of stem borers in young plantations of S. album. Hence, to avoid not only the pruning but also any silvicultural practices that cause injury to sandalwood are recommended for its healthy growth and thereby to obtain desirable returns.
Highlights
Indian sandalwood (Santalum album Linn) which is acknowledged as “Royal Tree” in Indian subcontinent is one of the most economically important tree species occupying a pre-eminent position in Indian forestry
Due to the drastic reduction in the population of sandalwood in natural sandalwood growing states of south India viz, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and realizing that the existing rules are primarily responsible for its reduction the states have amended the Sandalwood rule which clearly states that “every occupant or Ramachandran Sundararaj et al.: Pruning Effects on the Health of Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album Linn.) in Agroforestry Conditions of South India
The most important characteristic of sandalwood tree is its hemiparasitic nature which makes it good species for agroforestry setup and it can parasitize over 300 species of plants [6]
Summary
Indian sandalwood (Santalum album Linn) which is acknowledged as “Royal Tree” in Indian subcontinent is one of the most economically important tree species occupying a pre-eminent position in Indian forestry. For more than 5000 years, India has been the traditional leader of sandalwood oil production for perfumery and pharmaceuticals [1]. The above facts encouraging community and private entrepreneurs to cultivate S. album in agro-forestry, farm forestry and varied agri-silvi-horticultural and mixed plantation systems as per their choice and many small to large scale plantations are coming up. In this context, many complaints have been received from sandalwood growers reporting death of sandalwood trees. Surveys were conducted to assess the farmer’s way of growing sandalwood in south India with their health status and the reason for the death of trees were analyzed and the findings are presented in this communication
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