Study on Bamboo Based Agroforestry Systems in Northern Transitional Zone Karnataka

Abstract

The study was conducted within the existing Bamboo plantation of the All India newlineCoordinated Research Project on Agroforestry at UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka. This newlineinvestigation spanned the kharif and rabi seasons of 2021-2022. In the year 2017, four distinct newlinespecies of thornless bamboo (Bambusa balcooa, Dendrocalamus stocksii, Dendrocalamus newlineasper and Bambusa vulgaris) were planted. The primary focus of this study was to assess the newlinegrowth variables of these four bamboo species, specifically clump diameter, clump height, newlinenumber of culms, internodal length, and culm diameter in conjunction with the cultivation of newlineagricultural crops ie., soybean and safflower during the respective kharif and rabi seasons. newlineFurthermore, the productivity of the bamboo species was evaluated with respect to the newlineemergence of new culms. This evaluation was based on predetermined felling intensities newlinecategorized as 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%. To gain deeper insights into the viability of this newlinesystem, an economic analysis of the bamboo-based agroforestry system was undertaken. newlineAmong the bamboo species studied, B. balcooa, D. stocksii, and D. asper consistently newlineexhibited superior performance across all the assessed growth variables when compared to B. newlinevulgaris. The soybean growth and yield parameters exhibited their peak values within the sole newlinecropping plot. In the context of agroforestry systems, the highest recorded yield occurred at a newlinedistance of 3 meters from the bamboo clump line. The average seed yield from the sole newlinecropping plot was 1029 kg/ha, significantly surpassing the yields under bamboo species. newlineAmong the various treatments, soybean seed yield was notably enhanced under D. stocksii newline(588.58 kg/ha) and B. balcooa (562.92 kg/ha). Conversely, safflower didn t come up under newlinedifferent bamboo species while the crop growth was predominantly marked in open condition. newlineCompared to sole crop, soil pH was reduced under all the agroforestry combinations newlineafter harvesting of the crop. Additionally, all analyzed macro and micro nutrients exhibited newlinesignificantl