Assessment of Cinnamomum tamala (Tejpat) Plantation in Community Forests: A Case Study from Tanahun District

Abstract

Cinnamomum tamala is the major NTFPS cultivated commercially in major parts of Nepal. A research was conducted on the plantation of C. tamala in three research sites, Malayang community forest (CF), Saldada CF, and Banaskhadi CF, of Tanahun district for calculating the survival rate, mortality rate, and overall plant growth performance. Simple stratified random sampling methods were used; height and mean breast diameter (DBH) were measured, and a prestructured questionnaire was used for collecting the data and information from the research sites; also, secondary data from AFO, Tanahun, were used for the analysis of data. The first-year survival rate was the highest (62%) at Saldada CF and lowest at Banaskhadi CF (35%); however, the second-year survival rate was the highest at Saldada CF at 50%. Mean height : DBH (cm) of the plant was the highest at Saldada CF (126 cm) and lowest at Banaskhadi (25 cm). The Pearson correlation analysis at α = 0.05 was conducted to test the association between mean height and DBH (cm) of C. tamala which was r = 0.93, df = 12, p<0.001, r = 0.30, df = 11, p<0.001, and r = 0.88, df = 11, p<0.001, respectively, of Saldada CF, Banaskhadi CF, and Malayang CF. The mean height and mean breast diameter (DBH) (cm) of C. tamala were highly correlated in Saldada CF with the highest second-year survival rate. As C. tamala grows well in acidic soil, pH of all the three research sites was basic, more than 7.5; however, Saldada CF had the highest growth rate than others because the organic matter content was the highest (3.4).