underplanting rattan in rubber planttions - Kerala Forest Research ...

The fruits were soaked in water for about 48 hours and then de-pulped. Theseeds were cleaned through repeated washings with water. (Pandalai, 1995).Seeds were then sown on a fine layer of sawdust in a raised nursery bed. Seedsgerminated in about 30 to 90 days depending on the species. The seedlings werepricked out into polybags of 20 cm x 28 cm size filled with a potting mediumcontaining three parts sieved and cleaned forest soil, two parts sand and onepart dried and powdered farmyard manure.Wildlings of C. pseudorivalis were collected by gently pulling them out from theforest floor after profusely irrigating the area. The wildlings were packed in moistsawdust and placed in moist gunny bags. These were then transported to themainland and potted in polybags (20 cm x 28 cm) filled with the potting mixturealready mentioned. The wildlings were maintained in the nursery at the FieldResearch Centre of KFRI at Veluppadam.2.3. Field planting of rattan seedlingsTwelve to 15-month-old rattan seedlings of the six species (Table 1) wereunderplanted in a 18-year old rubber plantation where regular tapping wasbeing practised.Two patterns of planting methods were studied - quincuncial and alternate rowplanting. In the first case, while aligning the plots, stakes were fixed in such away that one stake occupied the central position in a group of four rubbertrees—following the quincuncial pattern of planting (Fig. 1). The space betweenthe stakes was, however, maintained at a minimum of 6 m.X X X X X X X X XO O O O O O O OX X X X X X X X XO O O O O O O OX X X X X X X X XX-Rubber; O- RattanFig. 1. Diagrammatic sketch showing quincuncial planting ofrattan in rubber plantation4