Effects of spacing treatments on production of Poplar and alfalfa in intercropping method

Document Type : Research article

Authors

Scientific Board Members, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Poplar species are usually cultivated for their wood production in most areas of Iran. They are traditionally planted with low spacing which does not render thick trees.
Moreover, for different reasons, increasing poplar spacing is not accepted by people and the farmers before accepting a new system, pay high importance for earning continuous income. Thus, addfitional income besides wood products is a vital factor to inrcease the public acceptance for poplar intercropping system. Therefore, intercropping poplar and fodder with increased spacing in order to increase under Randomized Compelete Block Design in 1998 with three replicates, using seedlings of P. nigra betulifolia, four spacing treatments (3×4, 3×6.66, 3×8 and 3×10m.), intercropped alfalfa and two monocultured control treatments of poplar and alfalfa.
The trial continued to 2003. Each plot area was 1200 m2. Ten different growth parameters the poplar and alfalfa species were measured. The data were analyzed, using the univariate and the multivariate statistical methods.
The results showed that the effect of treatments on poplar and alfalfa parameters were the greatest poplar height and volume amounts belonged to the spacing treatments of 3×4, 3×8 and 3×6.66m which were 1541, 141, 136 cm and 31.7, 20 and 19m3, respectively. The greatest production of alfalfa belonged to control, 3×10 and 3×8 m. spacing treatments which were 7507, 4788 and 4265 Kgha-1 biomass dry weight. The effects of the treatments on branch diameter and annual stem diameter growth rate were not significant, whereas the effects of time and interaction between time and treatments on some growth parameters were significant.

Keywords

References

 

1- اسدی، ف.، 1373. بررسی علل اقتصادی اجتماعی کاهش سطح صنوبرکاریها در منطقه زنجانرود. پایان‌نامه کارشناسی ارشد جنگلداری دانشکده منابع طبیعی، دانشگاه تهران، کرج. 109 صفحه.
2- شامخی، ت.، 1376. آگروفارستری پیشرفته، جزوه درسی مقطع دکتری دانشکده منابع طبیعی دانشگاه تربیت مدرس.
3- قاسمی، ر. و مدیر رحمتی، ع.، 1382. آزمایش سازگاری و بررسی میزان تولید چوب کلن‌های مختلف صنوبر (کلن‌های تاج بسته) در منطقه کرج. مؤسسه تحقیقات جنگلها و مراتع. تهران. فصلنامة پژوهشی تحقیقات جنگل و صنوبر ایران، جلد 11 (3): 390-359.
4- Dickman, D. I., and Stuart, K. W., 1983. The culture of Poplars. Dept. of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
5- Duhkia, R. S., Ram, S., and Bagarwa, K. S., 1989. Forage productivity of Faba Bean under various species of poplar (Populus deltoides) tree in an agroforestry system. FABIS Newsletter, 25: 31-32.
6- Kort, J., and Turnock, R., 1999. Carbon reservoir and biomass in Canadian prairie shelterbelts. Agroforestry Systems. 44: 175-186.
7- Mirzaie- Nadoushan, H., Rezaie, M. B and Jaimand, K., 2001. Path analysis of the essential oil-related characters in Mentha spp. Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 16: 340-343.
8- Misra, K. K., Rai, P. N., and Jaiswal, H. R., 1996. Effect of spacing and plant density on the growth of poplar (Populus deltoides Bartr. Ex Marsh). Indian Forester. January: 65-68.
9- Ranasingh, O. M. S. H. K., and Mayhead, G. J., 1990. The effect of Intercropping Populus ' RAP' With Beans. Forestry. Vol 63. No. 3: 271-277.
10- Rao, M. R., and Roger, J. H., 1990. Agroforestry field experiments: discovering the hard facts part two: agronomic considerations. Agroforestry Today. 2: 11-15.
11- Roger, M. K., and Johnson, R.l., 1984. Cottonwood plantation growth through 20 years. Res. Pap. SO-212. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station; 1984.11 p.
12- Shanmughave, P., 2004. Thechniques in Forestry. The Diamond printing press, Jaipur 302 004 (Raj) India. 182 P.
13- Singh, H. P., Kohli, R. K., and Batish, D. R., 2001. Allelopathic interference of Populus deltoides with some winter season crops. Agronomie 21:139-146.
14- Singh, K., Singh, V., Hussain, A., and Kotharia, S. K., 1990. Aromatic plants as efficient Intercrops under poplars (Populus deltoides Bartram Ex. Marshall). Indian Forester. 116 (3): 189-193.
15- Stamps, W. T., and Linit, M. J., 1999. The problem of experimental design in temperate agroforestry. Agroforestry Systems. 44: 187-196.
16- Thevathasan, N. V., and Gordon, A. M., 1997. Poplar leaf biomass 
Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research
Volume 12, Issue 4
January 2005
Pages 480-455

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics