Agroforestry is one among the few options that can successfully address food security, poverty reduction, and environmental protection. It is a key path to the prosperity of the farmers and a means to address the changing climate issue.
Poplar is one of the world’s fastest-growing industrial softwoods, which can be harvested within a reasonably short period of 4-6 yrs. Poplar intercropping is a highly profitable venture as much as poplar growing is a highly lucrative business since the market for its products is readily available because of established processing industries in the region (approximately 1,200 units of all categories in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, etc).
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The deciduous nature of the tree with slender crown and straight clean stem permits the culture of a variety of seasonal and annual agricultural crops, depending on their age, geometry of planting, season, etc. Poplars being sensitive to waterlogged conditions can check the vicious cycle of wheat-paddy rotation, which is responsible for the lowering of water table and becoming unsustainable for crop production in this region.
Intercropping in Poplar based Agroforestry in India
The number of agricultural crops (wheat, mustard, turmeric, ginger, colocasia, cabbage, potato, spinach, garlic, etc.) including fruit crops (citrus, guava, mango, etc.) can be profitably raised with poplar. While few crops like sugarcane, sorghum, soybean, mentha, etc., can be grown only during the initial two years of growing Poplar.
For intercropping, the spacing for poplar plantation is generally kept at 5 m x 4 m, which allows mechanical ploughing and other operations without any difficulty. It is planted either on field bunds/along irrigation channels in single rows (boundary planting) or in the field as pure block planting. Kharif crops do not remain profitable during older age (3rd year onwards) of plantations, nevertheless, rabi crops can be grown till the harvesting, as they get sufficient sunlight due to complete leaflessness of poplar.
Watch video: Credit to Ankit Sharma poplar Nursery ,contact:+91-9050141481
– By Rohit Kansay
other links – intercroping , poplar farming
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