Suitability of Melia dubia Based Agroforestry in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

Agroforestry is being promoted commercially due to the growing need for wood and wood products. However, the progress made in structured agroforestry promotion is limited due to the lack of suitable fast-growing species with improved productivity. Melia dubia has been identified as a promising fast-growing tree species that can be incorporated into different agroforestry systems under appropriate circumstances. Given the wide demand for this species, a demonstration plot of Melia dubia with intercrops (paddy, wheat and maize) was established at a spacing of 5 m × 5 m, 4 m × 5 m and 4 m × 4 m in the Karchana block of Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh in the year 2023. The annual assessment of early growth performance of Melia dubia trees after one year depicted that height increment was in the range of 6.54–7.02 m and girth at breast height (GBH) increment was in between 13.06–13.86cm respectively for T1 (tree + agriculture), T2 (sole trees), T3 (tree + agriculture), T4 (sole trees), T5 (tree + agriculture), T6 (sole trees), T7 (sole agriculture). The growth performance of trees was inferior in control plots (without intercrop) as compared to intercropped plots. The agriculture crops yield for the paddy, wheat and maize crops were 37.8-38.3 qt/ha, 32.9-33.5 qt/ha and 18.7-19.6 qt/ha respectively. There was no substantial difference in agricultural crop yield after one year of tree planting. Melia dubia tree typically yields four quintals of wood after harvesting for five years. The present market value of a Melia dubia tree is Rs. 0.03-0.04 lakh. Thus, on average, from 400 trees at a spacing of 5 m x5 m, Rs. 14.0 lakh may be gained per hectare after 5-6 years. Thus, the agroforestry system based on Melia dubia is a good choice of species for farmers of eastern Uttar Pradesh.