Abstract

Taungya has been widely used as a low-cost means for establishing forest plantations in Kerala, India. The site shock, including accelerated erosion, generated during the establishment phase by land clearing and preplanting operations can be counteracted though protective and ameliorative measures provided by ground cover. Taungya provides an early soil cover with trees and annual crops badly needed under the highly erosive rains, thus minimizing nutrient loss. However, its effectiveness depends on the nature of crops and cultural practices. Among the common taungya annual crops of rice, tapioca, ginger, turmeric, and sesame, site disturbance is least for rice. A case study involving rice, tapioca, rice-rice, and rice-tapioca sequences reveals that changes in soil properties are minimum under the first crop of rice