Research points to employment and eco-friendly potential of Eucalyptus

Every year around 1.5 lakh hectares of clonal eucalyptus plantation is raised in agroforestry in India, creating employment of around 70 million man-days in rural areas, states a new research study undertaken by OUTREACH, a Bengaluru based social NGO involved in rural development.

According to the study, the eucalyptus plantation in India with modern clonal technology causes no adverse impact on either the environment or on the water table.

The study was released in the form of a book titled 'Farmer and Planet Friendly - NewGen Eucalyptus' by Jigmet Takpa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) at a CII Conference on Pulp and Paper supported by Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA).

"This was one of the most comprehensive pieces of research done on eucalyptus plantation in the country and has busted several myths related to eucalyptus", said Sanjay Singh, Chairman of the Conference and Past President IPMA.

"The book could act as guiding light in forestry policy formulation by the Government", said Sudhir Pande, Former Director General Forests MoEFCC.

Eucalyptus has often been criticised for its ecological impact and allegations have been made without any scientific basis and have not taken into consideration years of extensive research and development that has been carried out on this tree species. It is extremely important to understand and assess the attributes of Eucalyptus before conclusions are drawn.

This book by OUTREACH has documented extensively not only the ecological aspects but also the economics of mass propagation and plantation of clonal eucalyptus (termed as NewGen eucalyptus), which are highly productive, disease-resistant and site-specific. These eucalyptus clones have demonstrated superior performance in farm forestry and agro forestry systems that help farmers to grow conventional agricultural crops in conjunction with highly productive tree systems.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.