Introduction of eucalyptus and its benefits

Eucalyptus, which is commonly known in India as safeda or nilgiri. In India eucalyptus production, primarily high due to the high demand for wood products and the potential economic benefits associated with eucalyptus plantations. Meeting the demand for wood and wood products, including pulpwood for the paper and pulp industry, fuelwood, and timber for construction and furniture.

The National Agriculture Commission (1976) estimated that by the turn of the century there would be about 17 million m³ of pulpwood requirement in the country and a deficit of 13 million m³ and there was a great need to improve the productivity of Indian forest. Eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree species that can provide a sustainable source of wood to meet this demand, reducing the pressure on natural forests.

Afforestation and reforestation efforts the Eucalyptus plantations can play a crucial role in India’s afforestation and reforestation programs. These plantations can help in increasing forest cover, which is essential for environmental conservation, soil protection, and mitigating the effects of climate change. It can provide economic opportunities for farmers and rural communities.

The cultivation of eucalyptus can generate income through the sale of wood products, creating employment opportunities in the forestry sector and related industries. Eucalyptus biomass can be used as a renewable energy source for generating electricity or producing biofuels. This can help India meet its growing energy demands while promoting the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sources

. Properly managed eucalyptus plantations can contribute to soil conservation by reducing erosion and promoting water infiltration. However, it is crucial to balance water consumption and maintain sustainable water management practices.

Carbon sequestration: Eucalyptus plantations can act as carbon sinks, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change by absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

Why eucalyptus is harmful for environment ?

While eucalyptus production offers several benefits, it is essential to address the potential environmental concerns associated with large-scale eucalyptus plantations, such as water consumption, soil degradation, and impacts on biodiversity.

How do eucalyptus affect ground water level?

As far as the issue of water use is concerned, the paddy crop requires 5000 Liters of water to produce 1kg rice grain but Eucalyptus species averagely use 785 Liters of water to produce 1 kg of biomass which is less than potato, soya bean, sorghum and maize. In addition, Chaturvedi et al. (1988) found that, when compared to other trees and crops, eucalyptus plantings have the lowest water use per unit biomass. They discovered that Eucalyptus hybrid produces 10418 g of biomass annually and uses 5324 liters of water. Eucalyptus grows quickly and has high water-consumption ability when adequate water is present. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) explicitly stated in paragraph 31 of its order dated July 20, 2015, in original application No. 9 of 2014, that eucalyptus cultivation, has no negative effects and is not disastrous for the water table because it uses less water per kilogram of biomass generated than many other trees and agricultural crops, based on studies done in various countries.

How do eucalyptus affect soil ?

Eucalyptus plays important role in improving the nutrient pool in the soil by continuously adding leaf litters or organic matter to the soil thus improve physical and chemical properties of the soil, decreases rate of erosion, crop yield improvement, improving waterlogged and wet lands.

Eucalyptus plays important role in soil remediation (Maiti and Rana, 2016) conducted study on mined soil in Jharkhand. They found that higher concentrations of Pb in barks (3 times), Zn in leaves (4.5 times), Mn in leaves (19 times), and Cu in roots (1.4 times) were found in reclaimed mined soil in comparison with eucalyptus hybrid growing on Clean soil. These heavy metals can influence environment by contaminating the food chain by crop fields, water from polluted area, etc. remediation has been found to be beneficial by reducing metal contamination and acting as sinks to heavy metal pollution which reduces the metal load on natural drainage streams. Soil in Haryana and Punjab is heavily degraded due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers due to which water table is polluted through heavy metals like Arsenic, lead, etc. by which health problems such as cancer is severely common in those areas planting eucalyptus may reduce the heavy metal level.

Is Eucalyptus causes ill effects on crops ?

                 Eucalyptus also been suspected for its allelopathic effects i.e. the ability of a plant to release chemicals which can influence growth and development in a nearby plants. In agroforestry system several studies showed that there is negative impact on seed germination, and seedling growth of maize, wheat, amaranthus etc. due to the allelochemical present in the leaves of eucalyptus.

Way to reduce ill effects of eucalyptus in crops

 It is recommended that all crops should not be planted very close to or in association with Eucalyptus trees due to the likely adverse effect and practise adopted in Kenya known as “trenching” done to prevent the impact of allelochemical on nearby crops in this trenches were build between the crops and trees to avoid the leaching of allelochemicals from leaves. Sustainable management practices, including proper site selection, species selection, and responsible water and soil management, are crucial to maximize the benefits while minimizing the negative impacts of eucalyptus production in India.