Study Area: Dhaneshwor Baikiwa Community Forest, Kavrepalanchok District, Nepal. Latitude: 27° 37' 00"- 27° 37'. 30" N, Longitude: 85° 31' 22"- 85° 32' 00" E.
Restoration of Degraded Land through Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) Plantation in the Mid-hills of Nepal Nationality: Nepal
Raja Ram Aryal
Introduction Land degradation: It is a decrease in land quality and its productivity which initiates long-term loss of ecosystem function caused by direct and indirect human induces disturbances from which the land cannot recover unaided (Bai et al., 2008). It is a major environmental problem in Nepal. Degraded Land Restoration: Mechanical and Biological approaches. Biological approaches, such as plantation of tress, are adaptive as a better remedial process for improving land degradation. Bamboo has ecological functions on soil erosion control, water conservation, land rehabilitation, and carbon sequestration due to its biological characteristics and growth habit (Ben-zhi et al. 2005). Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens): It help for rapid colonized in degraded land due to their adaptability as fast growing nature and nutrient conservation ability maintaining microclimate through thick layer of bamboo litter (Fu et al. 2000). Its silviculture characterstics are highly suitable for mid-hill regions of Nepal.
Methods Study Area: Dhaneshwor Baikiwa Community Forest, Kavrepalanchok District, Nepal. Latitude: 27° 37' 00"- 27° 37' 30" N, Longitude: 85° 31' 22"- 85° 32' 00" E. Locality factors of plantation site: Altitude: 1520 m, Average Annual Rainfall: 1300 mm, Maximum Temperature: 33° C, Minimum Temperature: 4° C, Slope: 20°, Aspect: Northeast, Soil: Brown Clayey and Sandy Loam, Soil pH: 4.5 to 5.05, Soil Organic Matter: 1.75 to 4.37% Soil Nitrogen: 0.13 to 0.18%. Nursery Research: Seeds and rhizomes acquired from China in 2006. However, rhizomes didn’t survive in nursery. Seedlings raised in Chalnakhel nursery of Department of Forest Reasearch and Survey. Germinated seed recorded. Plantation Research (Growth and Survival): Established date = August 2007, Plot size = 0.5 ha, Number of seedlings planted = 500, Spacing = 3 m x 3 m, Pits with size = 45 cm x 45 cm x 45 cm, Fertilizer = cow dung manure (2 kg per pit in 2007, 3 kg per pit in 2008 and 2009), Insecticide = Phorate (5—7 gram by making small 3—4 holes around the plant), Replacement in September, 2007 (42 plants). Number of survived seedlings measured. Silviculture Practice: Dead, dying and drying culms removed every year. New shoots counted; diameter at breast height (dbh) and height measured in different years and recorded. Thinning carried out after fiver years of plantation. However, usable products harvested after 2014.
Graphic ? Will other degarded land reclaim with Moso Bambo ?
Moso bamboo plantation to rhizome production in nursery
Results Nursery Research • Best propagation result obtained from seed. • 62% seed germinated within a 20 to 50 days. • Seedlings gained 15 – 20 cm height in 80 days. Survival and Growth • Survival rate 96 % after 4.5 months with mean height 21 cm. • Survival rate 92 % after 1.75 years with mean height 1.2 m. • Average no of total culms and new culms are 9 and 4, respectively at 1.75 years. • After five years of plantation, 6383 individual culms recorded. • Intermittent yield extracted in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 from thinning of 1980, 2142, 2438 and 2786 individual culms, respectively. • After ten years, 7327 numbers of culms retained after subsequent thinning. • Size of the culm also increased up to 8.6 cm dbh with 15.7 m height in 2017.
Conclusions The recorded stand density reflects that the degraded land of Dhaneshwor Baikiwa Community Forest converted to productive bamboo forest land through restoration from Moso bamboo plantation. • Moso bamboo show vigorous growth in terms of stand density.
Intermittent yield extraction from thinning
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Thick layer of litter maintains a microclimate in the understory for soil moisture retention.
References
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It has high soil binding capacity through its rhizome network through which degraded sites rehabilitated through number of monopodial stand which cover the whole area within a period of ten years.
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The side effect of exotic species should be examined before introducing it to the new site. More intensive research, investment and up scaling is recommended in other parts of Nepal for the ecological restoration and reclamation of degraded land in the Mid-hills of Nepal.
Bai, ZG. Dent, DL, Olsson, L and Schaepman, ME 2008. Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Improvement. 1. Identification by remote sensing.Report 2008/01, ISRIC - World Soil Information, Wageningen. Ben-zhi, Z. et al., 2005. Ecological functions of bamboo forest : Research and Application. , 16(2), pp.143–147. Fu Maoyi., Xiao Jianghua., Lou Yiping. 2000. Cultivation and utilization on bamboo [M]. Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House.
