Tree growth on the farmlands of the Punjab
Hakim Shah and Malik Illahi Bakhsh
ABSTRACT
The farmlands of the Punjab have about 200 million trees
of which 95% are in irrigated areas. The number of tree
per ha is 16.9 for all areas; 18.7 in irrigated and 6.2
in un-irrigated areas. Shisham (42%), Phulai (20%),
Kiker (11%) Bakain (7%) and Mango (6%) are the main
species in irrigated areas. Ber (31%) Phuli (20%), Kiker
(19%) and Shisham (7%) are the predominant species in
un-irrigated areas. Tree stock mostly consists of young
trees. About 75% of all trees have diameter smaller then
24cm. The total estimated volume of growing stock is
46.6 million m3 of which 44.1 million m3 (95%) is in
irrigated areas. The per ha volume of growing stock is
3.9 m3 for un-irrigated areas. The farmers felled about
14.8 million trees (7.4% of the total tree stock) and
removed 9.4 million m3 of wood (20% of the total growing
stock) from their farmlands during 1990-91 for meeting
their own requirements and for the purpose of sale. The
stumpage value of annual wood removals from farmlands is
estimated at 5.7 billion rupees. The tree stock is
equivalent to 0.73 million ha of plantation forests.
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