Chir pine scientifically
known as Pinus roxburghii (family Coniferae) is one of the six pines
of India and the most widely occurring. It is also known as Himalayan long
needle pine, long leaved Indian pine, Indian chir pine, chir or chil. The
vernacular names of the species are: Kulhdin, sarol, sirli (Garhwal and
Jaunsar); Chir (Hindi and Punjabi); Nyit (Lepcha) and Dhup (Nepali).
Chir pine is a native of
the inter-ranges and principal valleys of the Himalaya, beginning from
Afganistan in the west and ending in Bhutan in the east it extends through
Pakistan, India and Nepal. In India its forests are found in Jammu and
Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Sikkim, West
Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh. The total area under chir forests is estimated
to be 8,90,000 hectares and occurs between 450 m to 2300 m altitude. Chir
pine forms pure forests in its habitat but in its upper and lower limits
occurs mixed with other conifers and broad leaved species though rarely: In
its upper limits it is found in association with deodar, kail, ban oak,
burans (Rhododendron) etc. and in the lower limits with sal, sain, khair,
harad, bahera, amla, jamun etc. The occurrence of the species in different
states is given below:
Jammu and
Kashmir : There are a few areas of chir pine forests in the lower
parts of Jammu region. In this region its forests occur in abundance in the
outer hills from 600 m to 1800 m altitute. Trees below 900 m altitude are
generally stunted and crooked.
Himachal Pradesh
: In Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una districts chir forests
occur scattered between 450 m – 1050 m over the outer Siwalik hills and
lower Himalayas. In Chamba pure chir pine forests occur in the outer hills
between 900 m – 1350 m altitude and in the Dalhousie range it chiefly occurs
between 1200 m – 1500 m altitude. In Kullu chir forests are found in the
outer Saraj, outer Sainj and Tirthan Valley, on both banks of Parbatti river
up to Manikaran and to a limited extent in Hurla and lower Beas Valleys. In
Bushahar it occurs between 1200 m – 1950 m in Nogli, Taranda, Pandrabis and
Pabar ranges. Sometimes the scattered trees may be seen up to 1650 m on the
northern and upto 1800 m on southern aspects. In Shimla chir pine occurs in
many localities in the form of almost pure forests. In Jubal it forms very
open forests up to 1680 m. In Mandi also there is fair extent of chir pine
forests up to 1800 m. Sirmur and Solan districts too have extensive Chir
pine forests.
Uttaranchal :
In both Garhwal and Kumaun, chir pine is abundant. Chir forests
in Chakrata and Jaunsar-Bawar areas occur in the valleys of the river Tons
and its tributaries. The upper limit of gregarious chir forests is about
1950 m, though the species is found scattered on warm aspects up to 2300 m.
It also occurs over Dehra Dun, Saharanpur Siwaliks between 600-900 m,
Laduakot and Malkot hills between 1200-1800 m, other valleys of
Jaunsar-Bawar and Tehri Garhwal between 900-1950 m.
Other states :
Chir forests are found in the Morni hills of Haryana. In Sikkim
pure chir pine forests do not occur but at some places it occurs mixed with
sal and other trees. To some observers it appears to being driven out
slowly. Chir pine is found in Darjeeling in North Bengal and in Kamen
District in Arunachal Pradesh.
(b)
Growth Characteristics :
Chir pine is a large
evergreen tree. The tree crown is elongated and more or less pyramidal upto
middle age but later becomes spreading, rounded or umbrella-shaped with a
massive branch system. Under favourable conditions, it attains large
dimensions and forms a straight cylindrical bole. Trees up to 55 m in height
and 3.5 m in girth have been recorded in favourable localities. The oldest
chir tree of 406 years exists in Kulu Forest Division (Himachal Pradesh).
Age of another old tree located in Chakrata Forest Division (Uttar Pradesh)
has been estimated to be 335 years.
Bark of poles and
immature trees is dark-grey and deeply fissured, whereas that of older trees
is red, turning light grey on surface with exposure, thickness ranges from 1
cm in young saplings to an average of about 5 cm in mature trees. Needles
are in fascicles of 3 and are 20-30 cm long. They persist for 1-3 years but
normally for about one and a half years. The flowers are yellowish green
before ripening, turning light reddish brown after the pollens are shed.
Fruit is a woody cone. Cones are solitary or 2-5 together, 10.5-20 x 7.5-13
cm ovoid, wide at the base, on short stout stalks. Young cones are erect,
scales arranged spirally and are hard, thick and woody. Seeds are 0.7-1 cm
long with 2.5 cm long thin membranous wing.
New needles appear in
February-March and old needles fall in May-June. Flowering takes place
during February-April. Cones take 25 months to mature. They begin to open in
April or May, sometimes as early as March or as late as June, depending on
weather conditions. The seeds are winged and lie in pairs at the base of
each cone scale. 10-12 seeds weigh one gram and each cone bears on an
average 58 to 42 seeds. Good seed years occur once every three to four years
depending on the locality. Winged seeds are released from the cones which
are carried to far off places by wind. The fallen seeds germinate with the
onset of the monsoon.
(c) As
a Plantation Tree:
Chir pine is the
fastest growing among the conifers found in the Himalayas. The species is
hardy, frugal in its soil requirements and adapted to degraded sites which
are deficient in nutrients. It grows with ease both on deep soils which
should be well drained as well as on skeletal soils. Being a light
demanding species, it easily rehabilitates exposed sites where most of broad
leaved species rarely succeed. Chir pine being highly resistant to fire, is
better suited for tracts where complete fire protection is difficult to
ensure. In plantations Chir trees grow faster resulting in higher volume
production compared to natural forests. It is thus the only suitable species
for afforestation of degraded barren slopes of Siwaliks and lower Himalayas.
Chir wood finds varied uses, including fabrication of panel products and for
constructional. Chir pine trees also yield a commercially important
oleo-resin which forms the raw material for rosin and turpentine oil
industry. Chir needles are suitable for producing needle board and yield an
essential oil. Its seeds are rich in fatty oil and tannin obtained from its
bark is suitable for curing leather.
Uses
of Chir Pine :
Chir
pine provides a variety of wide ranged goods and services to the people. In
fact, all parts of the tree are valuable and are used in one form or the
other. It is a popular timber of North India, especially in hills and is
used for various purposes including house building, as rafters, poles and
posts, doors and windows, shingles, flooring blocks, packing boxes, boards,
railway sleepers and in the manufacture of pulp and paper. It is suitable
for boat building, tea chests, sports articles, bodies of violins,
matchsticks, oars etc. Various uses of the species are given hereunder :
Construction
Chir has been classified
under ordinary group for structural use and has been included in IS:
883-1970: Code of practice for design of structural timber in building. It
is suitable for nailed and bolted timber constructions.
Railway sleepers
Chir is a recommended for
railway sleepers and included in IS: 10394-1982 specification of wooden
sleepers for railway tracks. Treated sleepers have a life of about 17 years.
Wooden poles
Chir is classified as
Group C species for use as single solid and jointed wood poles for over head
power and telecommunication lines. It has been included in IS : 876-1970
specification for use as jointed wooden poles in overhead power and
telecommunication lines.
Door, windows and ventilators
Chir is classified as Group II species for the manufacture of
door/window/ventilator frames and shutters and
included in IS:12896-1990. Indian Timber for door and
window shutters and frames classification.
Furniture and cabinet making
Chir has been classified
as Group III species with strength coefficient more than 50 with respect to
teak
as 100.
Packing cases
and crates
Among coniferous species
Chir is preferred for manufacture of packing cases and crates because of its
moderate weight, light colour and nail/screw holding power
(included in IS:6662-1980 Specification for
timber species suitable for wooden packaging). Boxes of chir
wood are as good as that of other
conventional woods used for packing apples and other horticultural
produce. Chir pine is also suitable for
manufacture of plywood tea-chest battens (IS:10(Pt.3), 1974).
Chir wood is
aromatic, antiseptic, deodorant, stimulant and diaphoretic. Its wood paste
is soothing and is
used for treating body ulcers (Duster). Roots and knotty stem
and branche wood is used as torch wood by
local people.
Miscellaneous
uses
The species is also
suitable for manufacture of dunnage pallets, wooden piles (Group II
species), ballies
(IS:3337-1978), fence posts (IS:3386-1989), cross-arms
(IS:2203-1976), cooling towers (IS:2372-1963)
and cable drums (IS:1178-1980).
Pulp and
Paper making
Chir pine has long fibres
with an average length of 3.6 mm and 0.052 mm diameter. It gives 40-43.5 per
cent yield of bleached grade pulp with satisfactory strength
properties – having the highest tear and burst
factor amongst the species used for paper manufacture. The printing
paper made from 100 per cent chir
pine pulp has good formation and satisfactory strength properties. The
species is also suitable for making
electrical insulation paper. In the present context of supply and demand
the residual wood after conversion
from saw mills and factories is well suited for manufacture of white
writing and printing paper. As chir is long
fibred, its pulp is admixed with short fibre pulp in paper manufacture.
Twisted chir, which hardly finds any
other use, provides a yield of about 53 per cent unbleached pulp which
is used for manufacture of wrapping
paper with satisfactory strength.
Resin
Chir pine yields a good
quality oleo resin, which on stem distillation generates two industrially
important
products viz., turpentine oil (about 70% ) and rosin (about
17%). Rosin is extensively used in many
industries viz., soap, paper, paints and varnishes, Pinoleum,
sealing waxes, oil cloth, inks and disinfectants.
Turpentine is chiefly used in preparation of paints and
varnishes, polishes, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It
is also used for dissolving fats, resin and for domestic
purposes.
The oleo resin also has
medicinal value. It is a stimulant, and is considered to be efficacious in
gleet,
gonorrhoea and disorders of the genitourinary organs.
Externally resin is used in dressing for fowl ulcers,
buboes and abscesses to promote suppuration. It is also a
common ingredient of plasters, ointments and
pastilles for fumigation.
Needles
Chir pine needles
are used as packing wool in vegetable and fruit boxes and as bedding
material in
cowsheds. In Himachal Pradesh a plant has been established to
manufacture needle boards. In India more
than one million ton chir pine needles are available annually
as litter in chir forests.
Fuelwood
Lops and tops of trees,
parts of stem and branches of the species are used as fuelwood. Calorific
value of
its sapwood is 4967 cal. and that of heartwood 5063 cal.
Charcoal made from chir pine wood is used
particularly by blacksmiths for heating iron and goldsmiths
for heating precious metals for making ornaments.
Seed
Kernels of the species are rich in fats and proteins and are eaten as food.
Bark
Bark contains tannin
upto14 per cent and is used in leather industry. Raw bark is also used as
shel wood in making terra-cota articles.
Chir pine seeds are
dispersed from April to July and germinate as soon as sufficient rain is
received. Seeds germinate under a moderately dense canopy and mortality of
young seedlings is high in canpony open too. Factors affecting natural
regeneration of the species are : (1) nature of seed bearers, (2) light, (3)
drought, (4) aspect, (5) topography, (6) soil covering and undergrowth (7)
fire, (8) grazing and grass cutting.
Silvicultural System
Earlier chir pine forests
were worked under selection system. With added information on the
silviculture requirements of pine, the system was modified to
uniform/shelter wood system with slight modification to suit local
conditions. Owing to the simplicity of management and ease of regeneration
under the uniform system it is now considered the best system of management
for this species and is the standard method adopted throughout the country
for chir forests.
One of the modifications
of shelter wood system, is “Punjab shelter wood system” under which chir
pine forests of northern India are worked. This system allows selective
fellings along steep slopes and the retention of advance growth up to 35/40
cm dbh if occurring in compact patches of 0.2 ha or more as part of the
future crop, specially along stream banks and steep slopes as a safeguard
against soil erosion. Malformed trees or suppressed trees even below 20 cm
dbh are not retained.
Method of obtaining regeneration
The regeneration operations comprises of reduction in the canopy density of
a part of mature stands
fillings namely, seeding, secondary and final fellings.
These fellings are advanced as the regeneration
establishes and completed over a prescribed period
known as regeneration period. The area set aside for
regeneration during the regeneration period is termed
as Periodic block.
Regeneration period
Chir pine regeneration is
considered established when plants attain a height of about 4 metre and the
area is at least twice control burnt. The crop at this stage is reasonably
safe against grazing and fire. This stage is achieved in about 20 years
time. However keeping in view the accidental fires and biotic damages,
regeneration period sometimes extends to about 30 years.
Rotation
Rotation adopted in chir
pine forests is 90 to 120 years at which a diameter of 50-55 cm dbh is
obtained.
The present practice of
raising chir pine plantations concentrates on use of polythene bag raised
seedlings. The transportation of seedlings in polythene bags from nursery to
the plantation site is an important factor in deciding the site of the
nursery. To reduce the transportation cost, chir pine seedlings are mostly
raised in temporary nurseries located near the plantation sites. Other
factors to be considered in deciding the nursery site are:
Availability of
sufficient water for seedling irrigation particularly during dry months of
May and June
Site should be open and
sunny.
Preferably be located in
the natural chir zone.
Nurseries for
25000-35000 seedlings requiring an area of about 0.05 ha are more economical
than smaller ones. To produce 1000 seedlings an effective nursery area of
ten square metres is needed.
Seed Collection
Mature
cones are collected from healthy, well grown, twist free and self prunned
trees during February/March. Smaller ripe cones may even be collected as
early as December provided not less than 10 cm in length as smaller cones
usually contain immature seeds if collected in this month. Each cone of 10
cm and above length contains approximately 45 seeds. One kg seed may be
collected from about 150-200 cones (50 kg by weight) or roughly 5 trees.
Seeds should be collected during good seed years. Seeds collected during
bumper seed years excel in most cone/seed characteristics especially in
number of seeds and germination per cent, in contrast to seed from lean and
medium seed years. Cone and seed production is not affected by tapping for
resin and cones may be collected from such trees. The cones are spread in a
single layer either on tarpaulins or on cemented floor and are allowed to
open. Cones are sometimes covered by a polythene sheet to permit fast drying
and prevent them from absorbing moisture. The polythene sheet is removed
once during the day to permit evaporation of the trapped condensed moisture.
By this method during the month of March the cones take about 3-4 weeks to
open. The seeds are separated and cleaned and to a kilogram about 8800 to
12300 seeds are found. The seed size influences germination and subsequent
growth. It is, therefore, recommended that seeds be sown grade-wise to
obtain a uniform planting stock. Germination of freshly collected seeds on
an average is 80-90 per cent and decreases with storage.
Filling of Polythene
Bags
Perforated polythene
bags of 23 cm x 13 cm size and of 150 gauge (about 300 to 350 bags per kg)
are used for raising seedlings. The soil is dug and sieved to remove stones,
clods etc. The sieved soil is mixed with well decomposed farm yard manure
(2:1 ratio). About one quintal of compost is required for filling 300 bags.
In case the soil is clayey, sand is added to improve texture. One kg CAN
(Calcium Ammonium Nitrate), 1.50 kg single superphosphate and 0.850 kg
muriate of potash are added to one cubic meter of prepared soil and the
mixture is sufficient to fill 1000 polythene bags. The soil is compacted
regularly while filling the bags.
Pre-sowing Treatment and Sowing of Seeds
The cleaned seeds are
placed in a container with water. Unsound seeds (about 10%) which float to
the surface are rejected whereas the remaining seeds that settle down the
container bottom are allowed to remain in water for 24 hours. Thereafter the
seeds are mixed with fresh dung and wrapped in gunny bags to keep them
moist. Seeds start sprouting after 8-10 days when they are sown in prepared
polythene bags. The seeds, which do not sprout within a week from the start
of germination are rejected. This practice advances the growth period by
about two weeks.
Seeds are normally
sown before March as seedlings obtained from late sowing are not fit for
planting in July. In some areas sowing is also done in September/October to
obtain plantable size seedlings for planting during the following monsoon.
In areas where winter planting of the species is preferred, seeds are sown
during March/April. Two seeds per bag are sown at a depth of about 15 mm.
After Care
Polythene bags are
covered with a thin layer of grasses/shrubs or with hail covers erected on
bamboo/wooden posts to protect seedlings from direct insolation, birds and
hail storms. Light watering is done with a rose can twice a day except on
rainy days. Plants in polythene bags are shifted twice within the nursery to
prevent their roots from striking the earth. The first shifting is done in
May and second combined with grading is just before planting i.e. in the
last week of June or beginning of July. Similarly, for plants raised for
winter planting, shifting is done in August/September and later on shifting
is combined with grading in December/January.
Mycorrhizal Inoculation
Mycorrhiza is a
compound structure consisting of fungus and the plant roots. It increases
the absorptive surface of the root and thereby enhances plant growth by
making available more N, P, K, Ca, and Mg to the seedlings, particularly P
which is important for their health and growth. Besides, it increases the
plant’s resistance to stress conditions such as drought, frost, extremes of
soil acidity and heavy metal toxicity. It also reduces transplantation shock
to permit establishment and subsequent growth of out-planted seedlings.
Mycorrhizal
introduction is best done in nurseries as here a large number of seedlings
may be conveniently inoculated at one place. Soil from the top 15 cm layer
in chir forest excluding litter is rich in mycorrhiza and is used as
inoculum. The inoculum is affected, if the soil is too dry, too wet or
stored under high temperatures. The soil inoculum should be collected during
and after rains when the percentage of viable mycorrhizae is high. The soil
inoculum is thoroughly mixed with the potting mixtures before filling
polythene bags.
Vegetative Propagation
Plantations of chir
pine are traditionally raised using seed grown nursery stock. Vegetatively
propagated clonal material assumes importance for improving plantation
yields and for establishing clonal seed orchards. Compared to grafting air
layering is more successful in the vegetative propagation of chir pine.
Particulars
Month
Monsoon planting Winter
planting
Cone
collection
Jan-April -
Seed extraction
Feb-May -
Polythene bag filling
Jan/Feb March/April
Seed sowing
Feb/March May/June
Shifting and grading of seedlings
(i) May Sept./Oct.
Chir pine plantations are generally raised either on blank mountain slopes
or in areas with scrup growth or scattered trees of miscellaneous species.
The amount of work involved in site clearance depends upon type of area to
be planted. Site preparation involves shrub clearance and burning of cut
material. This work is normally done during winters to reduce fire hazard
and ensure timely digging of pits in March. Planting spacing of 3 m x 3 m or
2.5 m x 2.5 m is adopted in chir plantations. Pits are aligned along
contours and spaced at 2.5 m or 3 m from each other. Pits of 30 cm x 30 cm x
30 cm size are dug from March to May. The seedlings are transported and
delivered at each pit in the plantation area. The polythene bag is slit by
giving a vertical cut with a sharp blade and the soil ball with the seedling
placed in the pit. The pit is gradually and carefully filled with soil and
rammed properly. The filling is kept slightly higher at the centre than the
surrounding level so that the soil in the pit after settling down is not
lower than ground level as otherwise rain water may stagnate around the
seedlings.
Under favourable conditions the plants grow rapidly and by the time they are
10 years old, the spreading lateral branches are sufficiently wide and
developed at time posing a fire hazard. It is, therefore, advisable at this
stage to prune the branches from the lower one third part of the stem.
The following tending
operations are required by chir forests/plantations.
Weeding
Weeding in chir
plantations is usually done when the crop is very young. Of recent, chir
areas have been invaded by Lantana camara, which if not removed,
suppresses chir seedlings and also creates severe root competition for
nutrients and moisture. Chir plantations must be regularly weeded till the
crop is 3-4 years of age and at intervals thereafter till seedlings are
fully established. In natural regeneration areas weeding is rarely done.
Cleaning
Cleaning is done to free
chir seedlings from competition by other vegetation of inferior species,
climbers, etc. In naturally regenerated areas where chir comes up profusely,
leading stems with good form are freed from competition of inferior
stems/species. The operation is conducted in the sapling crop during
December/ January once or twice. The material obtained from this operation
is collected, dumped in the nallah and burnt during winters when fire hazard
is minimum.
Pruning
In natural stands chir
seedlings get self pruned due to intense competition for light due to chose
spacing. In plantations, the chir plants are widely spaced and develop a
spreading crown at an early age. Such plants if not pruned, become
susceptible to fire damage and develop knots in the timber. The young chir
plants are therefore pruned when they are 2 to 4 m in height and the lower
1/3 of the crown is pruned during December/January.
Thinning
Thinnings are carried out
both in naturally regenerated stands and plantations after the crop attains
the young pole stage. Inferior and suppressed stems are removed to free the
good stems from competition and permit them better opportunity for growth.
Table below indicates the ideal number of stems per ha for different average
crop diameters in respect of quality III site.
Chir pine is widely tapped for resin in India. Resin tapping begins at the
age of 60 years in (in natural
forests) when the average crop diameter is about 30 cms. Light continuous tapping
is done from 60th
year to 85th year. Heavy tapping is carried out for 5 years before felling. Two
methods of resin tapping
are employed in the country. In the old method known as cup and lip method, a blaze of 15x10
cm is
cut near the base of tree and is freshened weekly through out the tapping season. The resin is
collected in a cup fixed as the base of the blaze. This method is being replaced by a new method,
known as Rill
method (standardized at FRI Dehradun). Unrestricted blaze depth made under the former
led to severe
damages to tapped trees. Rill method ensures safety of trees as the depth of blaze is
controlled and
superficial. In this method blaze size is marked with the help of blaze frame and marking
gauge. A central groove
is cut with groove cutter. One inclined rill is made on either side of the central
groove through which
resin flows into a cup fixed at the base of the blaze.
Chir pine is
prone to insect damage at all stages of its growth; seed/cones, seedlings,
standing trees and timber. The important insects on chir pine trees and
timber and their control methods are appended in the table below
Insect Pests of Chir Pine
Insect species
Particulars
Control
Insecticides
Application
Cone &
Seed pests
Dioryctria abietella,
Chlorophorus
strobilicola
Feed
on cones and seeds of standing trees
Thimet 10G @ 100g/5cm DBH
or
Dimethoate 30 EC @ 100 ml/
5
cm DBH
Application to soil
around
trees after soil working -do-
Larvae feed on Cambium and sap-wood particularly of young trees
Billet heap traps placed on
the floor.Traps on infestation
Hylobius angustus
(taller weevil) Ips longifolia
Pityogenes
scitus
Attack plants at the collar region Larvae feed on the bark, cork
cambium and sometimes on the outer sapwood
Larva feed on the cambium and sapwood and make galleries
Polygraphus longifolia
-do-
-do-
-do-
Melanophila ignicola
-do-
-do-
-do-
Sphanopters aterrima
-do-
-do-
-do-
Tlatypus biformis
(Pin hole borer)
Sapsuckers
Ripresia resinophila
Feed on lateral and leading current year shoots and needles. Heavy
infestation results in drying of attacked parts
Phosphomidon 0.02%
OR
Dimethoate
0.02%
Spray
Spray
Diseases
Like insect pests,
fungi also attack chir pine at all stages of growth. At the nursery stage
the main diseases are damping off, wilt and needle blight, whereas rust and
blight are common diseases of old trees. The main diseases of the species
and their cures are described hereunder.
Damping off
Damping off is highly
destructive and takes a heavy toll of seedlings. It is caused by Pythium,
Fusarium and Rhizoctonia which are soil inhabitants. The
seedlings are prone to attack at different stages of growth and accordingly
the disease is termed as pre-emergence and post emergence damping off and
root rot. High temperature, high soil moisture, high soil pH, high nitrogen
content and soil with poor drainage are conductive to disease development.
The disease has been successfully managed through cultural practices and use
of chemicals such as formalin and fungicides (blitox 19.3 g, thiram 22.5 g,
brassicol 22.5 g, captan 22.5 g).
Fusarium wilt
: Fusarium oxysporum causes root rot and crown rot of
seedlings after transplanting.
The needles of the affected seedlings become pale and finally
dry up. The drying process progresses
downwards resulting in the death of seedlings. The disease
can be effectively controlled by drenching
soil with 0.2 per cent captan or thiram.
Psuedocercospora
needle blight : Pseudocercospora pini-densiflorae has emerged as a
major disease
in pine nurseries. The pathogen infects needles producing
pale green lesions which later turn brown to
grayish brown. The disease manifests in the lower needles and
later progresses upwards. It appears
during July, spreads rapidly from August to September and
later declines. Sanitation and application of
Dithane M 45 (1%) as foliar spray at triweekly intervals
minimizes the incidence of disease. Strict
internal quarantine in warranted to prevent entry of the
pathogen into disease free areas.
In plantations and
natural forests of chir pine – Swertia felt rust, Trimmatostroma
needle blight and Coleosporium needle rust are potentially important.
Chir
Pine – Swertia Felt Rust
Cronartium himalayense – the stem blister rust, is a highly destructive pathogen
in young plantations in Garhwal and Kumaon hills. The rust is heteroecious
and macrocyclic and completes its life cycle on chir pine and Swertia
sp. On chir pine, the disease manifests with yellow spots on needles. On
stems, the symptoms include exudation of resin and bark splitting followed
by appearance of orange yellow aecial cups. The affected stem and branches
are girdled resulting in death of the plants. Uredinia and telia spores of
the fungus are developed on both leaves and stem of Swertia – the
disease incidence can be minimized by eradicating the alternate host
Swertia, by use of weedicides.
Trimmatostroma
Needle Blight
The disease occurs widely
in Uttar Pradesh. Trees of all ages are affected. The needles appear pale
brown from tip downwards presenting a blighted appearance.
Coleosporium Needle Rust
Colesporium campanulae
commonly occurs on chir pine throughout the range of its distribution. It is
a heteroecious and macrocyclic rust alternating between chir pine and
Companula colorota, a weed. The aecia appear on chir needles in November
and later during February-March. Whereas Uredinia and telia are developed on
leaves and stem of C. colorota from March to September and in autumn
respectively.
Chir pine is relatively fast grown among the conifers of India. It attains a
harvestable diameter of about 50 cm at 90 to 120 years depending upon site
quality. There are three site qualities identified for its forests. Growth
and yield statistics for the three site qualities are given in tables below.
Volume Table on Standard Definitions
Locality quality I Locality quality II
Locality quality III
(Top height
34.75- (Top height 27.74- (Top height
21.95-
42.06 m 34.75 m
27.74 m
Diam.Class
_______________________________________________________________________
Stem Stem Stem
Stem Stem Stem
Timber Small Wood Timber
Small Wood Timber Small Wood
Cm m3
m3 m3
m3 m3
m3
0-10.2
0 0.014 0 0.014
0 0.014
10.2-20.3 0
0.098 0 0.098
0 0.098
20.3-30.5 0.196 0.224
0.196 0.196 0.182
0.154
30.5-40.6 0.776 0.266
0.734 0.154 0.692
0.112
40.6-50.8 1.797 0.154
1.626 0.112 1.500
0.098
50.8-61.0 3.157 0.098
2.888 0.098 2.660
0.070
61.0-71.1
5.125 0.094 4.573
0.056 - -
Height and diameter
growth data for various site qualities extracted from the revised yield
tables and applicable to even aged crops in the natural chir zone from
Kumaon westward, is given in table below.
Pinux roxburghii - Height and
Diameter Growth
Crop Age
I
Quality
II
Quality
III
Quality
(years)
Height
Diameter
Height
Diameter
Height
Diameter
15
6.7
12.2
3.7
8.1
1.8
4.6
20
10.7
14.7
7.3
10.7
5.2
7.1
30
16.7
19.3
13.1
15.7
9.8
12.2
40
22.3
24.1
17.7
20.8
13.1
17.3
50
26.2
28.7
21.6
25.9
16.5
22.4
60
29.9
33.5
25.0
30.1
19.5
27.4
70
33.5
38.1
27.4
35.6
21.6
32.0
80
36.0
42.7
29.9
39.9
23.8
36.1
90
38.8
46.7
31.8
43.7
25.0
39.6
100
39.3
50.0
32.9
46.7
26.2
42.7
110
40.2
53.7
33.5
49.8
27.1
45.5
120
40.8
56.6
34.1
52.6
28.0
48.0
130
41.5
59.2
34.7
55.1
28.7
50.0
140
42.1
61.5
35.7
57.2
29.0
52.1
150
42.7
63.0
36.3
58.4
29.6
53.1
160
43.3
64.3
36.9
59.7
30.2
54.1
Volumes of commercial timber in round for different diameter and height
classes are given in table below
Diameter
Height class (m)
Class
12.5-18.3 18.6-24.4 21.7-30.5
30.8-36.6 35.9-42.7 43.0-48.8
Harvesting in chir pine forests is usually avoided during summer months. The
forests of the species are highly susceptible to fires particularly in
summers. Lops and tops of felled trees are highly inflammatory and easily
catch fire. Felling, conversion and transportation of timber is usually
completed by end of winters and restarted in monsoons.
In addition to the
tangible gains in the form of timber, resin, fuel and needles for cattle
bedding, chir forests/plantations also contribute towards control of
erosion, lowering of run off rates, increasing water infiltration, shelter
for wildlife and recreation. It is not easy to translate such indirect
benefits in terms of monitory gains. The species generates employment in the
tapping and collection of resin for the poor masses living in the rural
areas where lack of development activity restricts employment opportunities.
Processing of resin and its by-products in the primary, secondary and
tertiary industries provides employment to millions of people throughout the
country.
Resin is a major
source of revenue for a few states where chir pine forests occur
extensively. Resin yield is estimated to be 30 quintals per one thousand
blazes for continuous light tapping. In India resin production is about
45000 tons/year.
Jammu and
Kashmir : There are a few areas of chir pine forests in the lower
parts of Jammu region. In this region its forests occur in abundance in the
outer hills from 600 m to 1800 m altitute. Trees below 900 m altitude are
generally stunted and crooked.