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Additional income and less maintenance cost make melia dubia plantation a must for all the farmers. Mr. Kumaravelu Gurumurthy, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation gives a walkthrough on cultivation of the forest tree, melia dubia. Excerpts:
Melia Dubia is the most sought after by all the paper mills for its pulp and furniture manufacturers for its wood. It shall have forever good demand. Farmers must grow it in their farmlands. Soil should not be clay, no water logging and pH should be 5-8 are the important factors to be considered by the farmers while cultivating melia dubia.
Saplings of the plant can be brought from the nursery at the cost of Rs. 12-25/piece. After indepth search and experience I recommend clone of GK10 variety for melia dubia. After the tree is cut, young shoots comes that nursery owner clone and sell it. I have asked Surabhi Nursery, Erode to multiply the saplings and sell them at reasonable cost. They are selling for Rs. 10/sapling. Some unique features of GK10 variety are more brightness, 38% pulp and bulk density equal to casuarinas.
If it is grown for pulp then 5 *5 ft distance is maintained that is plant-plant and row-row while if grown for plywood then the distance is 12* 15 feet that is plant-plant 12 feet and row-row 15 feet. In a commercial melia dubia plantation for pulp 1750 trees will be grown per acre and it can be intercropped with onions and pumpkin. The yield obtained shall be 30 thousand ton/year with good soil and water. While in case of plywood as the distance between the rows is wide any profitable crop can be grown. Further the trees need to grow above 18inches. So the distance between the plants is more. Farmers have to wait for 5years to the cut the trees for plywood.
The tree needs reasonable irrigation and manure. In order to increase the quality and augment the plant growth farmers are advised to add 10g of pseudomonas bacteria to the soil while planting. It puts down the fusarium fungi and trichoroderma viridi fungi. Also add asoserium phoso bacterium (phosphorus mobilization bacteria 10g) and neem cake 100g. First month, farmers should give only 5 litre of water to melia. GK10 will grow 3 feet every month. After it attains 10 feet growth, give more water like 20, 30, 40 litre.
To manage root rot disease in melia dubia cultivation on preventive measure apply pseudomonas and trichloroderma viridi. In case the plant is affected by the disease then add captam (10ml in 100ml water). No permission is needed to cut melia dubia trees precisely in Tamil Nadu. Once the tree is cut it grows again. 5-6 new shoots arise naturally.
The tree is gaining popularity with each passing day. Apart from melia dubia other forest trees good for farmers on a long term basis are Causuarina and Eucalyptus (Nilgris). Casuarina is the fastest growing tree that grows with very less water. It fetches Rs. 20, 000/acre as profit.
I had always been inclined to enhance the income of farmer in his own farmland therefore did research that concludes wood can give good revenue. It is ideal for the farmers to grow wood and food crops hand in hand in the same land. Melia dubia certainly has the potential to provide good profits to the farmers as close to Rs. 1lakh/acre/year. I want to say to the farmers, use our experience and earn good!
Mr. Kumaravelu Gurumurthy had worked for Indian Forest Service as Additional Principal Conservator of Forests. Also was Adviser (Technical) Tamil Nadu Newspaper and Prints and Member, State Planning Commission. Recently he has started a trust called ‘Nature our Future’ with objective to ensure and assure happy life to all life forms, exemplify trees as fulcrum for rural development and resurrect the productive potential of the depleted and desiccated soils of the farmers.
Contact details:
Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation
Mr. Kumaravelu Gurumurthy
6, Yamuna Street, Kalakshetra Colony,
Besant Nagar,
Chennai – 600 090,
Tamil Nadu
Phone: 9600073059
Email: drgkumaravel@gmail.com
Melia Dubia is the most sought after by all the paper mills for its pulp and furniture manufacturers for its wood. It shall have forever good demand. Farmers must grow it in their farmlands. Soil should not be clay, no water logging and pH should be 5-8 are the important factors to be considered by the farmers while cultivating melia dubia.
Saplings of the plant can be brought from the nursery at the cost of Rs. 12-25/piece. After indepth search and experience I recommend clone of GK10 variety for melia dubia. After the tree is cut, young shoots comes that nursery owner clone and sell it. I have asked Surabhi Nursery, Erode to multiply the saplings and sell them at reasonable cost. They are selling for Rs. 10/sapling. Some unique features of GK10 variety are more brightness, 38% pulp and bulk density equal to casuarinas.
If it is grown for pulp then 5 *5 ft distance is maintained that is plant-plant and row-row while if grown for plywood then the distance is 12* 15 feet that is plant-plant 12 feet and row-row 15 feet. In a commercial melia dubia plantation for pulp 1750 trees will be grown per acre and it can be intercropped with onions and pumpkin. The yield obtained shall be 30 thousand ton/year with good soil and water. While in case of plywood as the distance between the rows is wide any profitable crop can be grown. Further the trees need to grow above 18inches. So the distance between the plants is more. Farmers have to wait for 5years to the cut the trees for plywood.
The tree needs reasonable irrigation and manure. In order to increase the quality and augment the plant growth farmers are advised to add 10g of pseudomonas bacteria to the soil while planting. It puts down the fusarium fungi and trichoroderma viridi fungi. Also add asoserium phoso bacterium (phosphorus mobilization bacteria 10g) and neem cake 100g. First month, farmers should give only 5 litre of water to melia. GK10 will grow 3 feet every month. After it attains 10 feet growth, give more water like 20, 30, 40 litre.
To manage root rot disease in melia dubia cultivation on preventive measure apply pseudomonas and trichloroderma viridi. In case the plant is affected by the disease then add captam (10ml in 100ml water). No permission is needed to cut melia dubia trees precisely in Tamil Nadu. Once the tree is cut it grows again. 5-6 new shoots arise naturally.
The tree is gaining popularity with each passing day. Apart from melia dubia other forest trees good for farmers on a long term basis are Causuarina and Eucalyptus (Nilgris). Casuarina is the fastest growing tree that grows with very less water. It fetches Rs. 20, 000/acre as profit.
I had always been inclined to enhance the income of farmer in his own farmland therefore did research that concludes wood can give good revenue. It is ideal for the farmers to grow wood and food crops hand in hand in the same land. Melia dubia certainly has the potential to provide good profits to the farmers as close to Rs. 1lakh/acre/year. I want to say to the farmers, use our experience and earn good!
Mr. Kumaravelu Gurumurthy had worked for Indian Forest Service as Additional Principal Conservator of Forests. Also was Adviser (Technical) Tamil Nadu Newspaper and Prints and Member, State Planning Commission. Recently he has started a trust called ‘Nature our Future’ with objective to ensure and assure happy life to all life forms, exemplify trees as fulcrum for rural development and resurrect the productive potential of the depleted and desiccated soils of the farmers.
Contact details:
Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation
Mr. Kumaravelu Gurumurthy
6, Yamuna Street, Kalakshetra Colony,
Besant Nagar,
Chennai – 600 090,
Tamil Nadu
Phone: 9600073059
Email: drgkumaravel@gmail.com
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