Earticle

Micropropagation is an alternative mean of propagation that can be employed in mass multiplication of plants in relatively shorter time. Recent modern techniques of propagation have been developed which could facilitate large scale production of true-to-type plants and for the improvement of the species using genetic engineering techniques in the next century. An overview on the in vitro propagation via meristem culture, regeneration via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis is presented. The usefulness of the plants in commercial industry as well as propagation techniques, screening for various useful characteristics and the influence of different cultural conditions in the multiplication, rooting and acclimatization phases on the growth of tissue cultured plant discussed.

The Barind tract is threatened by desertification and undergoing rapid change. In view of this fact it is very much essential to manage this barind tract under proper land-use plan. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of high-resolution satellite data and computer aided GIS techniques in assessing land-use change detection for the period 1990 to 2007 within the study area, which is very much essential to manage this barind tract under proper land-use plan, and for proper land-use plan it is necessary to get reliable information. The present study found five major land-use such as current fallow, current agriculture, settlement, irrigation water and water bodies. From the result, it is found that current fallow and water bodies decrease while settlement and current agriculture increase. Study concludes that as Barind tract is threatened by desertification, decrease of water bodies is not a good sign for the study area.

An exploratory study was conducted in Gopalganj, a southern district of Bangladesh to explore the role of wild date palm (Phoenix sylvestris Roxb.) husbandry in the rural economy. A total of 36 households in the study area were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. A multistage sampling method with 10% intensity and a semi-structured questionnaire were used for the study. Based on the land holding capacity of the households, the farmers were categorized into five groups as landless, marginal, small, medium, and large. The date palm was distributed over seven different habitats of which roadside support the highest value (31%) followed by agricultural field and orchard (25% each). Though the large category farmers own most of the palms (43%), a considerable portion (562 individuals out of 1980) of it is managed by the landless farmers, who earn a substantial livelihood from the palms. The farmers manage the palm mainly for juice production; juice is either used fresh as drink or after some sort of processing as molasses and/or alcoholic beverage. Date palm husbandry contributes 32,601 Tk., 21,107 Tk., 20,626 Tk., 29,574 Tk. and 35,335 Tk. respectively to the five group seasonally and 50,980 Tk., 77,556 Tk., 90,208 Tk., 112,560 Tk., 140,675 Tk. respectively annually (1 US$ = 70 Tk.). Date palm trees contribute 65.48% of mean annual income to landless farmers followed by 27.21% to marginal farmers. However the poor marketing system result in decreasing the annual return from palm trees. Palm husbandry could be a promising source of rural incomes in Bangladesh if the farmers’ traditional management knowledge was linked to more scientific management practices.

In this study, a total of 350 households contained 700 individuals in Iganzo village were surveyed to study their literate and poverty levels and their impacts to conservation of the Mbeya Range Forest Reserve. The study included 350 women and 350 men. The majority of respondents were between the ages of 31-40 years old (53%), while the rest were between 41-50 years old (25%) and 21-30 years old (22%). The total income per day per household was calculated and averaged to 4,570 Tanzanian shillings that is equal to about 3 U.S. dollars. The average number of members per household was seven. It was reported that, there is a tremendous decrease in biodiversity composition of the reserve mainly due to poverty (80%) and ignorance (76%) of the people on the importance of the reserve. Other causes for this decrease were reported to be grazing of livestock in the reserve (23%), poor farming systems (68%), which resulted in soil erosion, encroachment (64%) through expansion of farms towards the reserve boundary and charcoal burning (34%). Respondents from Mbeya Urban Water Supply Authority and District Forest Office mentioned lack of funds (49%) and lack of experts (56%) as challenges that face the conservation of the reserve. It was revealed that 25% of respondents had never gone to school, 53% had primary level of education as their highest level of education, 20% had secondary education and 2% had first degree. The null hypothesis that poverty and illiteracy have a positive correlation to forest degradation was accepted based on these findings at a probability of p >0.85. Thus, it was concluded that poverty and illiteracy among Iganzo village residents are the main causes for the degradation of biodiversity in Mbeya Range Forest Reserve.

The Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project in China is similar to the ‘The 10-year National Greening Project’ of Korea, and is one of the great strategic policies that started in order to develop the people, resources and the environment by the central government of China. Using the ecosystem recovery as the slogan, The Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project of China has a long history of 70 years, but the accomplishments has been insignificant when compared to the long history. The Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project was not a trend due to the societal and economical issues of China, but with the increasing interest on the environmental protection in the late 1990s the extent of the ecosystem is gradually increasing. The most difficult, yet most important matter of the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project, is that it must consider the ecosystem with the economy. The farmers want financial gains in a short term, and the government aims is gaining cost-benefit over a long period which is why a rational the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project of the central government in China is most important. In order for the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project of China to develop further in the future, the standardization and distinction of the economic compensation policy is most urgent. Other than this, a new policy and the government interest on the livelihood of the farmers after the completion of the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project are needed, and there must be a clear and fair policy enactment environment so that the opinions of the farmers can influence the policy in the policy enactments.

This study was carried out to analyze annual diameter growth characteristics for major 11 tree species using the data for Gangwon province of the National Forest Resources Inventory in 2007. The annual diameter growth of coniferous species was 5.02 mm, 4.70 mm, and 3.90 mm in Korean white pine, Japanese larch, and Korean red pine, respectively. In growths of the deciduous trees, dogwood, basswood, and cork oak had 3.55 mm, 3.48 mm and 3.01 mm, respectively. Average of the annual diameter growths for all species was 3.38 mm. The relationship between diameter growth and age class showed that the growth rate decreased for all species as age increased. The age class II had the highest annual diameter rate. In relation of the stand density(trees per hectare) and diameter growth, the diameter growth tended to decrease as the stand density increased for most species, especially Korean white pine, cork oak, and basswood. Finally age had the highest value in the correlation coefficients between measurement factor and growth rate regardless of species.

Heating value is the one of most important factor in energy use of the woods. This study was investigated for determining the heating value according to the moisture content level(%) of major broad- leaved tree in Korea. Heating value was decreased rapidly regardless the kinds of species (Liriodendron tulipifera, Alnus japonica, and Quercus mongolica) and parts of woods (wood part, and bark) as the moisture content (MC) was increased. In addition, bark had higher heating value than wood part. Liriodendron tulipifera showed the highest heating value among the other two species.