1. NUTRITION IN PLANTATION
FORESTRY
- Changing Concepts
By,
PAUL, C. ROBY
2010-17-106 1

2. INTRODUCTION
 In forest ecosystem, there is a unique feature of
development of distinct forest floor, which is the outcome
of periodical return of litter fall and sometimes trees.
 ‘closed nutrient cycle’- Nutrient cycles in undisturbed
natural forests are in a state of dynamic equilibrium and
plant demand for nutrients is met by efficient recycling
systems.
 A large proportion of nutrients extracted from the
forest soil is present in litter fall and a smaller
proportion is retained in the trees.
2

3. INTRODUCTION (Contd…)
 In short-rotation plantations, changes in nutrient
storage and cycling processes occur.
 These changes are due to factors that alter patterns of
nutrient equilibrium and modified patterns of organic
matter turnover.
 Also, preparing the soil, to a fine tilth, accelerate erosion.
 These factors can impact on storage and supply of soil
nutrients for plant growth and consequently the
sustainability of plantation systems.
3

4. INTRODUCTION (Contd…)
 Very intensive mechanical site preparation is expensive and has
a number of negative environmental effects.
 Removal of nutrients (during harvesting or removing stumps and
existing ground vegetation and litter) can result in major nutrient
losses
4

5. INTRODUCTION (Contd…)
 Minimal site disturbance and retention of slash can reduce
nutrient depletion.
 Slash retention after harvesting may improve the status of
soil organic matter in second-rotation crops.
 but, if the slash is removed, nitrogen fertilisation may be
required (Xu et al. 2004).
 management practices should aim to enhance the chemical
and physical properties of soils to achieve sustained
productivity.
5

6. Present scenario…….
6

7.  India's achievements in rising forest plantation’s, in term of
area, has been impressive. (32.6 million ha)
 but performance in term of survival and growth, has been
poor.
 The MAI of these plantation’s is about 2 cu. m/yr for
valuable timber species.
 MAI is 5 to 8 cu. m/yr for Eucalyptus sp. and other fast
growing species.
 (for good quality industrial plantations in different countries;
over 10 cu.m/ha/yr and about 50 cu.m/ha/yr)
7

8.  Eucalyptus plantations in tropical and subtropical
environments are highly productive, but this potential
productivity is seldom achieved in India (average yield is 6-10 m3
ha-1 yr-1 )(Lal, 2003).
 The productivity of eucalypt plantations in Kerala is
estimated to be 5 - 10 m3 ha-1 yr-1. (Sankaran, K.V., 1998)
 Commercial teak plantation area in 2005- 2591 m Ha ( India )
of 5960 m Ha (10 main tropical countries)
 MAI of teak plantations in India - 4–9 m3 ha-1 yr-1 (9–15 in Brazil
and Nigeria 6–20) {FAO (2000) and ITTO (2005)}
8

9.  In Brazil,
 the application of 2 kg basaltic rock into the plant hole of
Eucalyptus sp. in lateritic soils resulted in higher height and
standard diameter (Leonardos et al. 1987).
 The application of 2 kg of limestone with NPK also showed
good responses.
 the Dongmen project in China (1984 - 1985), results indicated
that,
 with less intensive site preparation and the addition of
fertiliser,
 significant economies were possible in plantation
establishment costs,
 site productivity could be increased and erosion minimised
(Stevens 1986; McGuire et al. 1988; Wei 1996).
9

10. NUTRIENT
 Refers to the one that is required to complete the life
cycle of the plant and its relative deficiency produces
specific deficiency symptoms.
 For an element to be essential, it must fulfill Arnon’s criteria
of essentiality.
 Nutrient cycling – refers to the transfer of minerals in
and out among the various nutrient pools .
 It is a continuous process. Its is not 100% efficient,
there are always leaks or losses.
10

11. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
 17 in no.
 All are not required by all plants, but all are necessary to
some plants.
 They are C, H, O, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Cu,
Zn, B, Mo, Cl, Ni, Na, Co, Va, Se, Al and Si.
 Depending on quantities required by plants-
1. Macronutrients- C, H, O + 10 (N,P and K) + 20 (Ca,
Mg and S).
2. Micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu; B, Mo and Cl)
11

12. DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS IN TREES
 Diagnosis of nutrient deficiencies
 Specific deficiency symptoms in forest trees
 Correction of nutrient deficiencies.
 Matching the site and species properly.
 Application of right source and amount of
nutrients through manures and fertilizers.
12

13. • The nutrient deficiency’s
can be supplemented
by………………..
MANURE’S AND
FERTILIZER’S
13

14.  Active forest fertilisation started in many countries
in the 1960's and the activity has now become
integrated into the routine management of forests.
 Growing in and removing repeated crops of young
seedlings from a nursery can place a severe nutrient
drain on the soil.
 It is perhaps the one operation in forestry where nutrient
management should be similar to that practised by every
arable farmer. (Benzian ,1965)
14

15. MANURE
 is an organic matter used in agriculture.
 It contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding
organic matter and nutrients.
 Can be grouped –
 Bulky organic manures and
 Concentrated organic manures.
15

16. BULKY MANURES
 Farm Yard Manure
 traditional manure.
 decomposed mixture of Cattle dung and urine with straw
and litter.
 Green Manures
 ploughing or burying into soil undecomposed green plant
tissues.
 Also helps in improving structure and fertility of the soil.
 Sunhemp, dhaincha, guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba),
glyricidia, Pongamia pinnata etc. are used.
 Sheep and goat droppings
16

17. CONCENTRATED MANURES
 Oil cakes
 contains N, also some P and K along with large % of organic
matter.
 quick acting organic manure.
 Oil cakes are of two types.
• i. Edible oil cakes- (Mustard) and ii. Non-edible oil cakes-
(Neem and groundnut)
 Bone Meal (oldest phosphatic fertilizer )
 Bones and carcasses of all animals from slaughter houses
 contains some N.
17

18. CONCENTRATED MANURES (Contd..)
 Sewage and sludge
 liquid wastes
 contains large quantities nutrients.
 Use of raw sewage is a danger to health.
 Sewage is kept in a septic tank to undergo a fermentation
and is aerated in the setting tank, and is called as ‘activated
sludge’.
 Others
 Fish meal, blood meal etc.
18

19. FERTILIZERS
 Have definite chemical composition.
 Supply either one or two nutrients.
 May be organic and inorganic in nature.
 Types of fertilizers-
1. Simple or straight
2. Mixed
3. Complete
4. Complex
19

20. CLASSIFICATION OF FERTILIZERS
 Macronutrient fertilizers
 According to the manner in which the N2 is combined with
other elements
 They are divided into 4 groups; nitrate, ammonia, and
ammonium salts, chemical compounds containing nitrogen in
the amide form, and plant and animal by-products.
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21. Inorganic Nitrogenous Fertilizers
 Inorganic substances containing large amount of N.
 It is further divided into
a) Nitrate fertilizers (N03-)- eg- Sodium nitrate and Calcium
nitrate
b) Ammonium fertilizers (NH4+ )-eg- Ammonium sulphate,
Ammonium chloride and Ammonium phosphate
c) Nitrate and Ammonium fertilizers (N03- and NH4 +)- eg
Ammonium nitrate, Calcium Ammonium Nitra (CAN)
and Ammonium Sulphate Nitrate (ASN)
21

22. Organic Nitrogenous Fertilizers
 contain nitrogen in organic form.
 These include plant and animal by-products.
 These fertilizers are relatively slow acting
 supply nitrogen for a longer period.
 It is further divided into
a) Amide Fertilizers (Amine or amide) eg:Urea and Calcium
cyanamide.
b) Slow release nitrogenous fertilizers - Urea-form
(Urea+Formaldehyde) and Oxamide.
22

23. PHOSPHATIC FERTILIZERS
 Phosphorus present is expressed in terms of phosphoric
anhydride or P2O5 (availability of P to the plants depends on the
supply of HP04- or H2P04 - ions. )
 Based on solubilities, these fertilizers are divided into :
a) Water soluble eg:(Single Superphosphate, Double superphosphate,
Triple superphosphate and Ammonium phosphate)
b) Citric acid soluble eg:(Dicalcium phosphate, Basic slag and Calcium
meta phosphate)
c) Water and citrate insoluble eg: Rock Phosphate and Bone meal
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d) Other phosphatic fertilizers eg: Thermophos and Pelophos

24. POTASSIC FERTILIZERS
 potassium content is usually expressed as (K2O) or potash.
 manufactured from minerals and ores.
 The commercial fertilizers are salts of chlorides and sulphates
 and are soluble and hence readily available to the plants.
 Examples are:
 muriate of potash (KCl),
 Potassium sulphate or sulphate of potash
 and Potassium magnesium sulphate.
24

25. SECONDARY NUTRIENT FERTILIZERS
1. Calcium fertilizers
 The primary sources of calcium are CaC03, CaMgC03,
CaS04.2H2O.
 Eg: Single super phosphate, Triple super phosphate, Rock phosphate
and Ca EDTA
2. Magnesium fertilizers
 Epsum salts are most widely used Mg fertilizer materials
in dry fertilizer formulations.
 Dolomite is the mostly used material in acid soils.
 Other sources of Mg are MgO (55%), Mg (N03)2 (16%) and
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Serpentine

26. 3. Sulphur fertilizers
 applied to the soil surface and moved into the profile
with rainfall or irrigation.
 They are immediately plant available unless immobilized
by microbes.
 Examples are: Elemental S, Ammonium bisulfite and Ammonium
phosphate - sulphate
26

27. MICRO NUTRIENT FERTILIZERS
 Micronutrient deficiencies are not very common in natural
forests.
 Boron (B) is the most commonly deficient micronutrient in
forest plantations.
 Application of 10-20 kg ha-1 of commercial borax can correct
the deficiencies.
 For correcting deficiencies of Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn, their
respective sulphates or chelates are used.
 For correcting molybdenum deficiency, sodium molybdate
is used. 27

28.  The common examples for micronutrient
fertilizers are listed below:
i. Copper sulphate
ii. Zinc sulphate
iii.Borax or Sodium borate
iv.Manganese sulphate
v. Ammonium molybdate
vi.Ferrous sulphate
28

29. BIOFERTILIZER’S
 “preparations containing living or latent cells of efficient
strains of nitrogen fixing, phosphorous solublising or
cellulolytic micro-organism.”
 (living fertilizer compound of microbial inoculants or groups of micro-
organisms)
 which are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen
 solubilize phosphorus
 decompose organic material
 oxidize sulphur in the soil.
 it enhances the growth of plants increase in yield
 also improves soil fertility and reduces pollution.
29

30.  There are varieties of nitrogen fixing micro-
organisms present in the nature.
 These are broadly divided into three categories
a) Symbiotic micro-organism e.g. Legume - Rhizobium symbiosis
b) Asymbiotic or free living e.g. Azotobacter, blue green algae.
c) Associative Symbiosis, e.g. Azospirillum
d) Azolla is a water fern associated to Anabaena (N fixing blue green
algae). It contains 2-3% nitrogen when wet and also
produces organic matter in the soil.
30

31. FERTILIZER APPLICATION SYSTEMS
 There are two general systems for fertilizer application in
forests.
 They are
(i) tractor powered ground traversing equipment and
(ii)air craft.
 Choosing the particular system depends on
 accessibility of the area to the ground equipment,
 need for selective placement of the fertilizer
 and availability and relative cost of each system.
31

32.  For older trees
 broadcasting is the only practical method of application.
 For young plants,
 selective placement may be desirable, so that young trees
can derive maximum benefit with minimum stimulation of
competing vegetation and requires the use of ground
equipment.
 Selective placement also reduces the quantity of fertilizer.
 combining ground application with other operations such
as bedding, planting and these reduce supervision and
application cost.
32

33. GROUND EQUIPMENT
 Several fertilizer application systems that uses tractor
mounted spreaders involve both broadcast and band
application.
 Used mainly in young stands.
 This system is of two groups:
(i) fertilizer is applied before planting and incorporated into the
soil
(ii) those in which is surface applied at the time of planting or
soon thereafter.
 Ground equipment has the following advantages over other
systems: (i) flexible, (ii) accurate, and (iii) relatively rapid.
33

34. AERIAL APPLICATION SYSTEM
 is used for fertilization in older forest stands.
 Fixed wing types air craft most widely used.
 Distribution pattern depends on the pilot skill, climatic
condition and terrain.
 Irregular growth patterns will result due to poor
distribution.
34

35. FORMULATION OF
FERTILIZER MATERIALS
35

36. 1. Granulation
 Most solid fertilizer materials and mixtures are granulated
 dust free, non-caking fertilizers
 easy to handle and apply.
 also facilitates bulk blending formulation of fertilizers to meet
the specific requirements of particular soil-crop situations.
 Aerial grade pellets of urea and ammonium nitrate have
been recently developed for forestry use.
 improves the uniformity of application and reduces crown lodging.
 Coating fertilizers with S or other water resistant materials
should slow the dissolution rate.
36

37. 2. Liquid and suspension fertilizers
 A wide variety of fluid fertilizers can now be formulated for
forest trees.
 Some micronutrients and pesticides can be mixed with the
fertilizer.
 Foliar application of fluid fertilizers has several advantages
for forestry.
 It is a rapid method of correcting deficiencies
 reduce the possibility of leaching losses and water pollution.
 Sprinkler irrigation systems have been successful for the
application of liquid fertilizers to tree nurseries and seed
orchards.
 The use of irrigation systems for the dispersal of sewage
effluents in forests hold promise. 37

38. Integrated Plant Nutrition System
(IPNS)
 aims at the maintenance or adjustment of
soil fertility and of plant nutrient supply to
an optimum level
 for sustaining the desired crop productivity
 through optimization of benefit from all
possible sources of plant nutrients in an
integrated manner.
38

39. Scope of IPNS in forestry
 Nourishing the seedlings in the nursery could produce
healthy and vigorous seedlings.
 in the main field, integrating all the possible sources
 support the immediate requirement of nutrients through fertilizer sources;
 slow and steady release of nutrients from organic sources
 and supporting nutritional requirements through bio-fertilisers.
 the nursery period has been considerably reduced for many of
the species viz., Casuarina, Simaruba, Neem etc.
 IPNS advocate to encourage recycling of organic wastes and
their effective utilization.
 Tree litter itself could support the trees via their nutrient
return to the soil. 39

40. CONCLUSION
40

41.  plantation forestry should emphasis on enhancing production
qualitatively and quantitatively.
 Addition of inorganic fertilisers to replace nutrient losses, but
fertiliser efficiency to be increased.
 The high cost of fertilisers (estimated at 35–40% of establishment and
management cost) can be reduced by their application at optimal
levels.
 complement fertiliser use by appropriate management practices
(such as residue retention, to minimise losses of nutrients from the site.)
 considerable research to determine silvicultural practices that
will minimise any negative effects (due to Recognition of the fragility
of the soils and the potential for nutrient depletion.) 41

42. REFERENCE
1. Fundamentals of forest soil (2008)- Mani, A. K. et al.
2. Principles of forest fertilisation - illustrated by New
Zealand experience (1996)- I.R. Hunter & W. Smith
3. Encouraging industrial forest plantations in the
tropics- Report of a global study (2009)- ITTO.
4. Management of soil, nutrients and water in
Tropical Plantation Forests (1997) - E.K.
Sadanandan Nambiar and Alan, G. Brown
42

43. READING MATERIALS
1. Prediction of mineral nutrient status of trees by
foliar analysis - r. Van Den Driessche (Botanical
Review, 1974).
2. Site Management and Productivity in Tropical
Plantation Forests (2008) - E.K. Sadanandan
Nambiar ( Editor) Proceedings of Workshops in Piracicaba
(Brazil) 22-26 November 2004 and Bogor (Indonesia) 6-9
November 2006
43

44. THANK U……..
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