Teak Plantation: Details on Seeds, Plantation per Acre and Management

Teak plantation is a very good plantation business in India. Teak wood plantation can be done as a sole crop or as an agro-forestry. Here is complete details about teak tree plantation, teak wood plantation per acre, soil, temperature, distance etc.

Teak (Tectona grandis)  is recognized as one of the premium class timbers in the world. In India it is known as Sag tree, Sangwan tree, Sagon tree, Sagun tree or Sagwan tree etc. It belongs to the botanical family of Lamiaceae. Teak is chiefly native to south-east Asian countries counting India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh. Due to its finest lumber quality with high durability, lightweight and aesthetic value, it has global demand and fetches high returns. Apart from being resistant to water exposure, mold, and termites, the species is hard to cracking, splitting or bending even in extreme weather conditions. These great features make them most wanted for industrial, commercial and home based applications.

Objective of Teak Plantation

The whole objective of teak plantation project is production of first-rate timber in plants with desired growth rate, which maximizes yield. To attain these objectives, the plantation procedure should be followed with diligence and site should be suitable in all terms as stated below.

Ideal Conditions for Teak Wood Plantation

Teak tree plantation gives optimum quality and yield in ideal conditions. Those are-

Soil

Teak grows ideally the best in well-drained alluvial moist soils having a Ph ranging from 6.5 to 7.5. On the contrary, it will boast poor performance when planted in arid sandy soil, acidic, laterite, or black soil. The soil should be rich with high calcium, phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and other organic matters.

Temperature

Teak plants prefer a tropical moist weather condition experiences preferably from 20-48° C temperature. Which is why, the central part of India including Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh produces the best quality of Teak, well-known in the market as CT. Nevertheless, comparatively the humid parts of South India and Western Coast including Maharashtra Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu with relative temperature Max and Min 44-13° C is also ideal for teak plantation.

Sunlight

Even though, teak demands high level of sunlight exposure from 75-100% for better nourishment, this should be noted that seedlings in their growing stage up to 8-10 months should be kept under low sunlight intensity i.e. around 25% .

Rainfall

Ideal site is places with 800-2500 mm rainfall, however also grows plentiful in relatively moist regimes experience 3,500 mm rainfall annually.

Teak Seeds – Germination and Nursery Technique

Alternating wetting and drying of the seeds for nearly a week and spreading them in sunlight will help in breaking the dormancy and speed up germination. Since, seedlings are chiefly preferred as planting materials; they need to be maintained in a nursery for nearly a year. Germinated seeds should be sown in nursery beds (10 x 1 x 0.3 m.) prepared in combination of soil and sand, and watered regularly.

Teak Wood Plantation Management

Teak Wood Plantation per Acre

Before preparing the pits for planting seedlings, land needs to be ploughed property for better soil aeration. Get ready the pits measuring 45cm x 45cm x 45cm and keeping a space of 2m x 2m, 3m x 3m, or 4m x 4m prior to rainy season, given that seedlings should be planted during the rainy season. While filling the pits, use of manure mixed soil is the best choice. So, teak wood plantation per acre would be around 2025 for 2m x 2m spacing and the no. will decrease if the spacing is increased to 3m x 3m or 4m x 4m.

Consider using 60 gram of urea and 30 gram of super-phosphate after 6 months and then 80 gram of urea and 65 gram of super phosphate after 2 years of planting to enhance plant growth rate. For relatively low rainfall areas, deep watering (irrigation) is most desired that nourishes plant roots, solidifying them, and also enhance productivity.

Weeding

Since, teak is amidst the sunlight demanding species, poor light exposure can impact intently on its growth and enlargement, make sure to undertake thorough wedding especially during the early stages (1-3 years) of plantation.

Thinning

With good location and close 2×2 m spacing, the first and second thinning programs are required to be conducted at 5 and 10 years of planting. Mechanical thinning is also essential. As estimated, subsequent to 2nd thinning, nearly 30% of trees should be left for healthy growth of teak plants.

Agro-forestry with Teak Plantation

With a view to maximize biodiversity benefits, reduce erosion and best utilization of the land, almost all farmers should go for agro-forestry agricultural process. As recommended by the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Tamil Nadu that teak planters can consider combination of crops like maize, turmeric, cotton, tomato, chilly or vegetables as intercrops in teak wood plantation with increased spacing of teaks.

Pest Control

Teak defoliator, Leaf skeletonizer, Hyblaea puera and Eutectona machaeralis are recognized of being the most harming pests for teak. Farmers should be more cautious especially during the early stages of seedlings in the nursery as well as after plantation in the cropping land. For effective pest control, consider spraying of chemicals such as endosulfan or monocrotophos in a controlled manner. Application of Neemazal 1% or H.Puera like biocides once in 15 days is also well resulting.

Yield

In general, it takes nearly 15-25 years to get high quality timber from teak plants that has reasonably high demand and can fetch good market rate nationally and internationally. Depending on the quality of the soil and other parameters, fertilizer application and management team starts giving outcome to planters from 15 years onward while each tree is likely to return 12-18 cu ft.

Uses

With a number of attributes like high oil content, solid grains, robustness, visual appeal, and weather resistance teak wood is extensively used for preparing outdoor and indoor furnishing items, window frames, indoor flooring for domestic and commercial places.

Agro-forestry with teak plantation is one of the most profitable and diversified farming model which utilize maximum resources. The short term crops generate a regular income and the teak trees give long term one time profit.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation_teak
2. http://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/forestry/tree-crops/teak
3. http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/forestry/forest_Timber%20teak.html