Survival and growth of exotic grasses under plantations of Eucalyptus tereticornis in north-west Himalaya

Abstract

The present study was conducted in established plantations of Eucalyptus tereticornis in Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni (Solan), Himachal Pradesh. Three plantations with 1200 (D1), 2800 (D2) and 5200 (D3) tree density/ha having LAI 1.08, 1.54 and 1.79 respectively were selected. In these plantations improved grasses Setaria sphacelata vars. Narok (S1) and Kanjungula (S2) and Panicum maximum(S3) were planted with plant to plant and row to row spacing of 30cm through grass-tufts in the beginning of rainy season. Likewise, these grasses were also planted in adjacent grassland (control). Survival percent of these grasses was 73.33 to 82.22 in grassland and it ranged from 63.33 to 83.34 under E. tereticornis. Mean density of the three grasses under trees S1, S2 and S3 was statistically at par with values of 33.58, 32.66 and 29.24 tillers/m2, respectively. The basal area (cm2/m2) of exotic grasses revealed that S. sphacelata var. Kanjungula had significantly higher (28.83) basal area whereas S3 had the least basal area (6.99). However the density and basal area of grasses was higher in grassland as compared to their values under trees. It was observed that growth of grasses S2 and S3 was favoured by D1 density of trees as the density and basal area of these grasses increased under trees as compared to grassland (control).