KHEJRI (PROSOPIS CINERARIA L. DRUCE) BASED AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS IN ARID AND SEMI-ARID PARTS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA

B.S. MANDAL¹, A. KUMAR², S. BIBYAN³, N. MANDAL⁴, N. KAUSHIK⁵*
¹Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ambala, 133104, Haryana, India
²Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Damla, Yamunanagar, 135001, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, 125004, Haryana, India
³Department of Forestry, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, 125004, Haryana, India
⁴Government Post Graduate College, Panchkula, 134109, Haryana, India
⁵Principal, College of Agriculture, Bawal, 123501, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, 125004, Haryana, India
* Corresponding Author : nk20025@rediffmail.com

Received : 24-04-2020     Accepted : 27-05-2020     Published : 30-05-2020
Volume : 12     Issue : 10       Pages : 9849 - 9852
Int J Agr Sci 12.10 (2020):9849-9852

Keywords : Prosopis cineraria, Khejri, Agroforestry, Arid and Semi-Arid Region
Academic Editor : Dr Mahendra Singh, Dheeraj Singh, Seema Bhardwaj, Simona Rainis, Qayoom Sameera
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to the farmers Shri Ram Singh of village Jhumpa, Pokar Mal of Fatehpur Sekhawati and Shri Bhanwar Lal of Laxmangarh for providing their fields, their valuable information and kind cooperation during this whole research work at their field. The authors are also thankful to College of Agriculture, Bawal, 123501, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, 125004, Haryana, India.
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

Prosopis cineraria commonly known as Khejri, a tree legume plays an important role in the socio-economic development of rural community. The traditional Khejri based agroforestry systems were assessed for phyto-sociology and crop production. Phyto-sociology of Khejri based agroforstry systems in terms the frequency, density, basal area and importance value index (IVI) of tree species of woody vegetation and production of wheat (Triticum aestivum), Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) and chick pea (Cicer arietinum) was studied in arid (Rajasthan) and semi-arid (Haryana) regions of northwest India. The frequency of Khejri was the highest (100%) and its IVI ranged between 183 to 223 showing that Khejri was highly dominant tree species in agricultural fields in this region. The other woody species were Dalbergia sissoo, Tecomella undulata, Acacia tortilis, Capparis aphylla and Prosopis juliflora. The growth and yield of all crop’s underneath Khejri were significantly (P<0.05) higher as compared to fields devoid of trees.

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