Eucalyptus inventory in India

Abstract

Eucalyptus is the most common tree in agroforestry models, with a small percentage also planted on forest lands in India to produce wood for commercial utilization. The tree has come a long way since the 1980s when it was first planted in farmers' fields. Currently, it is the mainstay of wood production in the country. Eucalyptus is an extremely important industrial and commercial tree that needs a detailed assessment of its inventories. The only existing system capturing forest and TOF (Trees Outside Forests) inventories on a regular basis is the FSI biennial reports. Eucalyptus-based agroforestry plantations are often very small in size and fragmented. Eucalyptus is among the prominent trees in many states, for which its inventories related to tree count, growing stock, occurrence in mixed and pure forests, and in agroforestry and non-agroforestry areas are given. This paper reviews Eucalyptus inventories from past FSI biennial reports released to date and supplements FSI data with additional information reported by various states and other reputed institutes, for which some suggestions are made.