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Poplar ( deltoides) in Jammu and Kashmir, : facts and fiction

Article in Current Science · September 2020

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Poplar (Populus deltoides) in Jammu and Kashmir, India: facts and fiction

Poplar (Populus deltoides) is popular is a misnomer. A plethora of scientist has have the potential to produce more than among people of North India for its wide also reported that, the female poplar tree 50 million seeds9. Since ‘pollen seeds’ of range of utility from plywood to pencil produces white cotton covered seeds most of the angiosperms are allergic to industries. This tree is commercially which shred dandruff-like substance humans, especially to the elderly popula- grown in India, and has witnessed its locally known as ‘russi’ and this term tion and children, the issue gained im- own rise and fall unlike other tree/crops. was misinterpreted as ‘Russian poplar or portance based on a PIL filed by a citizen It is widely accepted as a popular agrofo- russi fras’. of Srinagar, J&K. On 5 May 2015, the restry system practised in the form of Moreover, J&K is the leading state in High Court of J&K issued a judgment boundary plantation, block plantation apple production which constitutes 60% regarding felling of poplar trees and a and also intercropped majorly with wheat of the total production in India (http://nhb. ban on new plantations in the valley. The and sugarcane1. It is the only popular de- gov.in/report_files/apple/APPLE.htm). Ac- Court also directed the Tehsildars to take ciduous tree species belonging to family cording to estimates, fruit industry in the necessary action for felling of the trees (willow family) facing fre- valley requires roughly 30 million wooden keeping in view Article 21 of the Indian quent controversies. In India, there are boxes for fruit transportation purposes. Constitution, i.e., right to life can only nine species of poplar, of which four are Poplar wood is chosen for making such become meaningful, only if a person is endemic (Populus ciliata, P. gamblei, P. boxes due to its light weight. This justi- healthy. Problems due to cotton from jacquemontii and P. rotundifolia) and fied the reason for the flourishing poplar female poplar trees have been reported in five are exotic (P. deltoides, P. alba, P. plantations in the valley. Tariq and the literature7–9. These include: euphratica, P. nigra and P. laurifolia). Khanna8 reported that annually 80% of P. deltoides (which originated from poplar trees are being utilized in packag- • Nasal congestion, sneezing, throat America) is widely preferred by farmers ing industries and the remaining 20% for infection, fever, irritation in the eyes, due to its fast growth rate, better tree– veneer, plywood, cricket bat handles, headache, breathing trouble, loss of crop interactions, remunerative returns, scaffolding and roofing purposes. So the smell, etc. high yield, easy harvest and ease in mar- multiple utility of poplar trees makes it a • Pollen serves as natural trap to keting. The first systematic and scientific significant contributor for improving the spread other allergic pollens of chi- effort of introduction of poplar clones livelihood of the farmers, as a single tree nar and grasses which further causes was done by the Forest Department of provides an income of Rs 4000–5500 af- fungal and bacterial infection. Uttar Pradesh (now ) during ter eight years of rotation. Poplar holds • Clogging of window, gutters, air- 1950. WIMCO and NABARD had pio- second position in income generation in conditioners, air filters, water pumps, neered in expanding this tree for wide- J&K, after apple cultivation. Despite its etc. The falling cotton flakes on spread plantation in Punjab, Haryana and uses there are no accurate data on the to- water bodies reduces quality of water western Uttar Pradesh from 1976 onwards tal number of poplar trees in the valley and make it unfit for drinking. and currently, it has been planted in an (an approximate estimate is 10 to 20 mil- • There is misconception regarding area of 2.70 lakh ha in North India1–5. lion trees). Although the uses of poplar pollination of other important horti- In Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), tradi- are well known, this tree has also faced cultural crops, as pollen gets attached tional indigenous species of poplar are some controversies in the recent past. to crops due to sticky nature. But in planted in and around field boundaries P. deltoides being dioecious in nature contrast, the cotton balls are shed in (slow-growing) to fulfil the demand for (male and female flowers appear on sep- May–June, i.e. when majority of fuelwood, fodder and small timber. It arate trees), produces flowers (cluster of crops have already completed fruit attains economic rotation only after 30– catkin) when the trees are leafless in setting. 40 years. The boom in poplar cultivation spring season (April and May), wherein in the J&K valley started in 1981–82 the pollens from flowers of the male Recently, after the COVID-19 outbreak, under the Social Forestry scheme funded are transferred to the stigma of the it was claimed that ‘pollen grains of by the World Bank for meeting the basic female flowers. The female poplar pro- female poplar may be carriers of the requirements of the rural poor, in an area duces fruits, i.e. capsules which consist SARS-CoV-2 virus’. The Government of of 44,000 ha (ref. 6). This expansion has of hairy, cotton-like structures with small Kashmir issued an order for the felling boosted economic returns, improved lofty seeds; this has been wrongly consi- of about 42,000 female poplar trees, even scenic value of the valley and reduced dered as pollen by many, as evident from though many environmentalists and the pressure on natural forests7. Under media reports. The capsules split during scientists provided evidence that pollen this scheme, exotic P. deltoides trees po- mid-summer (May–June) and get dis- from poplar causes meagre effect on hu- pularly traded as North America cotton persed with the help of parachute-like man health when compared to other trees tree (NACT), were bought from USA hairy structures up to a few kilometres. and it has no relation with COVID-19. and planted along the roadsides, field The white, tufted, silky hairy cotton is boundaries, monoculture plantations, produced in enormous quantities every • A study from Spain during 1979–93 canal sides and degraded lands. NACT is year, and is carried by the wind miles indicated that the largest airborne locally known as ‘Russian poplar’, which away from its origin. Single mature trees presence was from Quercus species

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(17%), followed by Platanus species of winter could reduce flowering in 6. India – Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana (15%), Poaceae species (15%), whe- poplar to a significant extent. Social Forestry Project (English), World reas only 4% presence was due to • Advanced mechanization in plywood Bank, Washington, DC, USA, 1982; Populus species10. and saw machine will help to peel http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/ 531741468041672484/India-Jammu-and- • More than infestation from poplar out veneers from small diameter- Kashmir-and-Haryana-Social-Forestry- pollen, their co-sensitivities to other sized poplar trees, which will ulti- Project tree pollens such as oak, maple and mately discourage farmer’s practice 7. Dar, M. A., Sci. Rep., 2013, 4, 19–25. olive, which pollinate between March of retaining the trees for long. 8. Tariq, S. and Khanna, D., In 24th Ses- and April, could be responsible for • The Forestry Department of J&K sion of the International Poplar Commis- the symptoms during this period11. should come up with a road map for sion, Dehradun, 30 October–2 November • Hu et al.11 reported that seed cotton poplar management in the valley, in 2012. or hair of poplar acts as a pollen trap consultation with experts from the 9. Bhat, G. H. et al., Indian For., 2013, net of allergen tree species. university, research institutions, med- 139, 995–998. ical professionals, NGOs, farmers 10. Garcia-Mozo, et al., Aerobiologia, 2006, 22, 55–66. Experts also suggest that the silky cotton and the administration. 11. Hu, Y. et al., Grana, 2008, 47, 241– seed of poplar may not cause much harm, • Selective felling of large-sized poplar 245. but it has been misinterpreted due to car- trees in ecologically fragile areas rier nature of other pollen grains. On the may be taken up, with planting of other hand, unscientific harvesting of suitable tree species over the felled millions of poplar trees could result in area. Received 25 April 2020; accepted 5 August desert-like conditions in the future and • Research avenues like development 2020 also affect the livelihood opportunity of of sterile poplar male trees, reduction farmers and local people in J&K. This in flowering of poplar through chem- 1, controversy has put the scientific icals, sustainable poplar farming S. B. CHAVAN * 2 community, public, stakeholders and practices, should be taken up to safe- A. KEERTHIKA 3 government organizations in a hassle. guard human health and protect the SHEERAZ SALEEM BHAT 1 Therefore, there is an urgent need to species. A. K. HANDA 1 conduct widespread scientific studies to K. RAJARAJAN 3 test the allergy potential of female poplar SUHEEL AHMAD 1. Chavan, S. B. and Dhillon, R. S., Curr. in the J&K valley. There is also a need to Sci., 2019, 117, 219–225. 1 devise management plans to reduce the 2. Kumar, D. and Singh, N. B., For. Bull., ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research menace as indicated below: 2012, 12, 9–14. Institute, 3. Dhiman, R. C., For. Bull., 2012, 12, 15– Jhansi 284 003, India 2 • The economic rotation of poplar is 8– 32. ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research 10 years and it achieves 3ft at breast 4. ICFRE, Country report on poplars and Institute, height on an average. The reproduc- willows period: 2008 to 2011. National Regional Research Station, tive phase likely starts after 8–10 Poplar Commission of India, Indian Pali-Marwar 306 401, India 3 years depending on the genotype and Council of Forestry Research and Educa- ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder tion, Dehradun, 2012. site conditions. It is pertinent to men- Research Institute, 5. Chaturvedi, O. P., Promising Agrofore- Regional Research Station, tion that, poplar can be felled once it stry Tree Species in India, Jhansi, Cen- attains the rotation age, i.e. before tral Agroforestry Research Institute; Rangreth, flowering. Jhansi and New Delhi, South Asia Re- Srinagar 191 132, India • Timely pruning of canopy up to two- gional Programme, World Agroforestry *For correspondence. third of tree height before the onset Centre, 2017. e-mail: [email protected]

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