General Information :

• Agathi is a short-lived, fast growing loosely-branching tree with open crown.
• Bark light brown in color.
• Leave dark green in color turn yellow before shedding.
• Flowers are pinkish white in color.
• Fruit is a long pot with 10-15 pale color seeds.

Distribution :

• It is native to Malaysia and naturalized to all parts of India.

Habitat : Tropical and deciduous forest

Soil : Grows in wide varieties of soil.

Soil pH : 6.5 and 7.5

Altitude :Up to 800 m (MSL)

Rainfall :Up to 1000 mm

Temperature : 40 - 47.5 deg C

Terrain : It prefers flat and hot terrain

Tree Characteristics :

• Light demanding, drought resistant and a frost resistant species.
• It coppices well.

Habit : Deciduous Tree

Natural Regeneration :

• It is propagated by seed.

Artificial Regeneration :

• Propagated by direct sowing and nursery raised seedlings.

Seed collection and Storage :

• Seeds are collected during April to May.
• It is well dried in sun before storage.
• Seed rate 15000-16000/Kg.
• It is viable for one year under ordinary storage condition.
• Germination capacity is 80 -  90 %

Seed Treatment :

• No Pre-sowing treatment is required.

Nursery Technique :

• The seed is directly sown in the polybags in April - May
• Polythene bag with filled with sandy loam soil and FYM
• Germination takes place within 3-5 days.
• Watering should be on alternate day after germination.
• Seedlings grow very rapidly and fit for planting out in three month.

Plantation technique :

Nursery Raised Seedlings:  

• Three month old nursery raised seedlings are selected for planting in pit size of 30 m3.
• Optimum Spacing adopted is 1.2 m x 1.2 m
• The seedlings should be planted out during the onset monsoon in well drained pits or contour trenches.    

  Direst Sowing:   

• The species is best raised by direct sowing in lines 30 cm wide and 1.8 cm apart.
• Seeds may be sown in the patches at an espacement of 1.8 x 1.8 x 1.8 m with about 3 seeds in each patch.
• Sowing done after the onset of monsoon.

 

Care & Disease Control :

• Regular weeding and soil working is essential.

Irrigation :

• Tolerates waterlogging.

Recommended Harvest :

• First harvest after 8 months and subsequent harvest at an interval of 60 -80 days.

Yield :

• Forage production 4 to 9 kg / tree/year.

Agro Forestory :

• Suitable for intercropping with agricultural crops and black pepper.

Major uses :

• It is valued for food, fodder, green manure and pulp.
• It is used for reforesting eroded and grassy wastelands.
• Leaves and pods are valued fro highly palatable fodder.
• It is used for making good semi-chemical process pulp which can be blended with long fiber pulp to make cheaper paper.
• The trees is grown for ornamental

Other uses :

Bark exudate and seed endosperm gums are produced. The clear bark gum is used in adhesives as a substitute for gum arabic.The bark yields tannins.The white wood is soft and rather light. The density of the wood increases with age. however, the timber from 5 to 8 year-old trees can be used in house construction or as craft wood.

Market details :

• Approximately Rs.2300 – Rs.2600/ton of fuel wood.