Selection of the study area
There can be no precise delimitation of the arid zone because of the paucity
of meteorological data, the annual variablility of climatic factors, and the
range of methods for calculating climatic indices; many of these were referred
to in ICRISAT (1978), in chapters by Gupta and Prakash, Ramaswamy, and
Meher-Homji in Gupta and Prakash (1975), and in chapters by Krishnan and
Meher-Homji in ICAR (1977). For practical purposes India is zoned into eight
agro-ecological regions (Murty and Pandey 1978; Krishna Murty 1979) of which the
arid western plains (region 6) include Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Haryana. These
lie to the east of the core-in Pakistan-of the arid zone in the Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent. An outline of the geology, soils, hydrology, climate, and
vegetation of this south-west Asian arid zone was given by Kaui and Thalen
(1979). Detailed studies of some 20 different environmental and biological
features of the most arid portion in India, the Thar Desert, were described by
17 contributors and compiled by Gupta and Prakash (1975). See also CAZRI (1964,
1974, 1977), FRI (1963), and Indian Ministry of Education (1964).
TABLE 1. India: Physical Achievements in Establishing Forests
(thousands of hectares)
Plan
period (i) |
Economic
plantations
for industrial
and com-
mercial uses (ii) | Rehabili-
tation
of
degraded
forest (iii) | Farm
forestry-
cum-
fuelwood
plantations
(iv) | Planta
tions
of fast-
growing
species (v) | Total (vi) | iv as
percentage
of vi
(vii) |
First
to
post annual
(1951-69) | 594.5 | 477.6 | 72.8 | 255.6 | 1,400.5 | 5.2 |
Fourth
(1969-74) | 291.2 | 127.3 | 63.0 | 232.8 | 714.3 | 8.8 |
Fiftha
(1974-79) | 760.0 | 200.0 | 180.0 | 350.0 | 1,490.0b | 12.1 |
| Totala | 1,645.7 | 804.9 | 315.8 | 838.4 | 3,604.8b | 8.8 |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and IBRD 11978).
a. Estimates only: actual establishment will not be known until the end of
the Fifth Plan period.
b. Some 186,200 ha of plantations established by the State Forestry
Corporations must be added to these figures to arrive at total estimated
physical achievements by the end of the Fifth Plan (i.e.., some 3,791,000 ha).
TABLE 2. India: Estimated Financial Commitment to Social Forestry in
the Fifth Plan (in millions of rupees)
| Activity |
Suggested allocation
in NCA Report on Social
Forestry |
Actual allocation total | Percentage of suggested
Allocation |
| | Centre | State | Total | | |
| 1.
Farrn forestry | 20 | - | 20 | 155.8 | 780 |
| 2. Extension forestry |
| (a) Mixed forestry | 100 | - | 100 | 66.6 | 67 |
| (b) Shelterbelts | 75 | 75 | 1501 | | |
| (c) Road/rail
sides and canal banks | - | 100 | 100 | 100.0 | 40 |
| 3. Reforestation of degraded forest | 150 | 150 | 300 | 50.6 | 17 |
| 4.
Recreation forestry - | 100 | 100 | | | |
| Grand total | 345 | 425 | 700a | 373.0 | 48 |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and IBRO (1978)
a. Includes expenditure for setting up the extension organization but not the
funds required for research or the preliminary survey needed for selecting
suitable districts and areas within districts. If research and survey were
included total could amount to Rs 800 million.
For the purpose of this study attention was concentrated on the semi-desert
of Gujarat rather than the drier areas of Rajasthan, not because the slightly
better conditions of Guiarat are more conducive to tree growth but because an
active, successful programme of tree planting is in progress and has
demonstrated methods of overcoming constraints. However, contrasts with
Rajasthan are drawn where possible and, later in this report, with Kenya where
no comparable social forestry activities
exist.
