Note- This is just a part and not the complete notes for this topic,

trimmed only for demo purposes.

Join India’s premier agriculture coaching Indian IQ to ensure your selection in exams. Visit
www.indianiq.com

128
 Forestry (Silviculture)

Extent of Forest in India

Out of the total geographical area of 328.8 million hectare in India, approximately 75.18-million-hectare
land is classified as forests.

About 95 per cent of the forests of the country are owned by the Government. The remaining 4.0 per
cent are owned by corporate bodies and 1 per cent by private individuals. Government forests are
classified into reserved, protected and un-classed forests.

Forestry – Definition and Types of Forestry

Forestry is defined as the theory and practice of all that constitutes the creation, conservation and
scientific management of forests and the utilization of their resources (Anon, 1966). It includes all
thinking and all actions pertaining to creation and management of forests, including harvesting,
marketing and utilization of all forest products and services. It includes not only management of existing
forests but also the creation of new forests.

National Forest Policy of 1952, recommended that on the basis of Functions, all forest lands may be
classified into:

A. Protection Forests
B. National Forests
C. Village Forests
C. Tree Lands

National Commission of Agriculture (1976) proposed that forests can be classified into:

A. Protection Forests:

The practices of managing the forests for their protection function are called Protection forestry. In
protection forestry, the object is to protect the site due to instability of terrain, nature of soil, geological
formations, etc.

B. Production Forests:

The practice of forestry with object of producing maximum quantity of timber, fuel wood and other
forest produce is called Production Forestry. The production forestry can be further classified into:

(i) Commercial Forestry: Commercial forestry aims to get maximum production of timber, fuel wood
and other forest products as a business enterprise.

(ii) Industrial Forestry: Industrial forestry aims at producing raw material required for industry. In
Production forestry, there is a greater concern for the production and economic returns.

(iii) Mixed Quality Forests

(iv) Valuable Forests
(v) Inaccessible Forests

Join India’s premier agriculture coaching Indian IQ to ensure your selection in exams. Visit
www.indianiq.com

129
C. Social Forests: Social Forestry is the practice of forestry which aims at meeting the requirement of
rural and urban population.

a) Community Forestry: The practice of forestry on lands outside the conventional forest area for the
benefit of local population has been called Community forestry.

b) Farm Forestry: Farm Forestry is defined as the practice of forestry in all its aspect on farms of village
lands generally integrated with other farm operations.

c)Extension Forestry: Extension forestry which includes the activity of raising trees on farm lands,
villages wastelands and community forest areas and on lands along the sides of roads, canal banks and
railway lines

d) Agro-Forestry: Agro-forestry has been defined as a sustainable land management system which
increases the yield of the land, combines the production of crops and forest plants and/or animals
simultaneously or sequentially on the same unit of land and applies management practices that are
compatible with the cultural practices of the local population.

e) Recreational Forestry: More recently, there has been considerable demand for Recreational forestry,
which is defined as the practice of forestry with the object of developing and maintaining forests of high
scenic value.

Mainly, the forestry has been grouped as follows:

1. Basic Forestry
2. Applied Forestry

1. Basic Forestry: Basic Forestry deals with the theory and practice of constitution and management of
forests and utilization of their products.

Basic Forestry has the following Branches:

A) Silviculture: This refers to certain aspects to theory and practise of raising forest, crops, methods of
raising tree, their growth and after-cares up to the time of final harvesting. However, in simple words, it
is the cultivation of forest trees.

B) Forest Mensuration: In simple language, it is the measurement of forest produce. However, it is

defined as the determination of dimensions (e.g. height, diameter, volume, etc.) from, volume, age and
increment of single trees, stands or whole woods, either standing or after felling.

C) Silvicultural Systems: A Silvicultural system can be defined as a method of Silvicultural procedure

worked out in accordance with accepted sets of Silvicultural principles by which crops constituting
forests are tended, harvested and replaced by new crops of distinctive forms.

D) Forest Management: It is the practical application of science, technique, and the economics to a
forest estate for the production of some wanted results. In actual sense, it is the application of business
methods to the operation of a forest estate.

E) Forest Utilization: It is a branch of forestry concerned with the harvesting, conversion, disposal and
use of forest.

Join India’s premier agriculture coaching Indian IQ to ensure your selection in exams. Visit
www.indianiq.com

130
F) Forest Law: Law includes any rule of action. The rules and law imposed by the state up on the actions
of its citizens for the breach of which they are punishable. Forest law is classified as:
a) Constitutional laws
b) Public laws
c) Private laws; Very essential for protection of forest; Some terms – Forest offence / Forest right /
Forest settlement
d) Forest wild life Act WL (protection) Act 1972 Animals / bird.

G) Forest Policy: Branch of forestry concerned essentially, with social and economic aims underlying
forest management and forestry development.

2. Applied Forestry: This includes those subjects which how the references to other subject but make
the essence of, forestry.

Silviculture: Silviculture pertains to the raising, development, care, reproduction and overall
management of forest crops.

Classification of Nursery for Forestry

Nurseries are classified either on the basis of irrigation facilitates or the duration of their use. On the
basis of irrigation facilities nurseries are classified into:

a) Dry Nursery: It is a nursery that is maintained without any irrigation or other artificial watering.

b) Wet Nursery: It is nursery that is maintained by irrigation or other artificial watering during the dry
period.

Tending Operations in Silviculture

For establishment of the regeneration and subsequent development of the forest crop up to harvesting,
several operations are carried out. These operations are carried out in the forest crop at different stages
of growth in order to provide a healthy environment for their development. These operations are called
tending operations includes:
i) Weeding
ii) Cleaning
iii) Thinning,
iv) Improvement Felling,
v) Pruning
vi) Climber Cutting

i) Weeding:

Weeds may be controlled by following methods:

a) Mechanical Methods
b) Biological Methods
c) Chemical Methods

ii) Cleaning:

Join India’s premier agriculture coaching Indian IQ to ensure your selection in exams. Visit
www.indianiq.com

131
Cleaning is carried out in a crop which has not crossed the sapling stage and is defined as the cutting
made in order to face the best individuals from undesirable one of the same age which interfere or are
likely to interfere with the growth of the desired individuals. The greatest advantage offered by cleaning
is the-proper regulation of the composition of the crop, particularly in mixed crops.

Methods of cleaning may be mechanical, biological and chemical as described under weeding.

iii) Thinning:

Thinning is defined as a felling made in an immature stand for the purpose of improving the growth and
form of the trees that remain, without permanently breaking the canopy. Thinning is a tending
operation carried out in a crop beyond the sapling stage and up to the beginning of regeneration period.
Thinning principles are so formulated that these are applicable only to pure even aged or relatively
even, aged crop or even aged groups of the trees in a crop.

Thinning principles have been developed on the basis of natural development of the stand. Thus,
thinning, takes place naturally in a density stocked forest under the law of Survival of the fittest.

(iv) Improvements in Felling: As the method of treatment involving essentially the removal of inferior
growing stock in the interest of better growth and the more valuable individuals. It is usually applied to
mixed uneven aged forests.

Felling of dead, dying and diseased trees, Un-saleable unsound over mature trees removal, badly shapes
or unsound tree felling, Felling and congested groups of fallen trees, Removal of undesirable
undergrowth/inferior trees, Climber cuttings.

(v) Pruning: is defined as the elimination of branches in order to obtain trees with clean bole. The
elimination of branches by physical and biotic agencies of the environment is called Natural

pruning. Removal of branches from the selected portions of the tree by mechanical means is referred as
artificial pruning. The process of natural pruning:

a) Killing of branches,

b) Shedding of dead branches

(vi) Climber Cutting: Climber cutting should be done along with the tending operations as well as while
carrying out markings for felling in the forest. Climbers are particularly harmful when the trees are
young. In older trees, they constrict the stem and deteriorate the value of wood.

Function of forests:

Sr.No. Particulars Functions

1 Productive They provide timer, fuel, charcoal, beedi , leaves, was and resins, fruits,
tanning, materials, manure leaves, grass, bamboo, gums, lac etc.

Join India’s premier agriculture coaching Indian IQ to ensure your selection in exams. Visit
www.indianiq.com

132