Silviculture of Trees Artocarpus Lakoocha (Badahar)

Taxonomical Classification

•       Domain: Eukaryota

•       Kingdom: Plantae

•       Phylum: Spermatophyta

•       Subphylum: Angiospermae

•       Class: Dicotyledonae

•       Order: Urticales

•        Family: Moraceae

•        Genus: Artocarpus

•        Species: Artocarpus lakoocha

Morphology

• Tree form: Lakoocha is a deciduous tree, 10-15 m tall. Branchlets are 3-6 mm thick, densely covered with stiff pale brown to yellow velvety hairs.
• Leaf: Alternately arranged, Elliptical leaves,2-3 cm long stalks, Leaves are large, 25-30 cm long, 15-20 cm wide, base wedge-shaped, tip blunt. Leaf margin is entire.
• Flower: Flowers appear on the leafless branch, unisexual-male and female, Male flowers are yellow-orange while the female is reddish. Male flower is usually, fall to the ground soon after they appear.
• Fruit: Fruit is a syncarp (the entire female inflorescence forms a fruit), fleshy, irregularly rounded, green when young, turning yellow at the time of maturity, Diameter is typically 5-10 cm, weights 200-350 g, 10-30 seeds per fruit.
• Seed: More or less flattened and pointed at the embryo end, seeds are irregular and Contain sticky white latex within a thin and white seed coat. Most seeds are about one cm long at maturity.
• Bark: The bark is dark brown, exfoliating in small, round, woody peels, reddish inside.

Phenology

• Leaf Fall: Early February to the beginning of the March
• Flowering: April to May
• Fruit Ripen: End of June to early August
• Seed collection: July to August
• Seed sowing: all year round > only fresh seeds germinate reliably

Geographic Distribution

• Altitude: 150-1600 m from MSL
• Mean annual temperature: 17-24° C
• Mean annual rainfall: 700-2000 mm
• Soil type: It prefers deep permeable soils.
• Native countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam

Economic importance

•       Timber is used for house construction work, medium-weight furniture, boat building, cabinet works, and decorative purposes and local fuel.

•       Bark contains soluble tannin 8.5%  and can be used for  tanning purposes and also used to treat skin ailments.

•       The wood and roots yield a lavish color dye.

•       Fruit is highly nutritious and used as raw materials for pharmaceuticals.

•       Root is astringent and used as a purgative.

•       Wood is durable, hard, suitable for polishing and resistant to termites.

•       It produces highly valuable forage and have a production rate of about 60-200 kgs per year.

Regeneration

•       Both natural and artificial.

•       Natural regeneration  from seeds dispersed by birds and animals.

•       Artificial regeneration by direct sowing, cuttings, air layering, and root suckers.

•       Seed collection time: late June-early august

•       1900 to 5000 seeds per kg

•       Seed Extraction: Flesh should be removed from the seed before they are sown.

•       Recalcitrant seed

•       Seed lose their viability within few days (2 days). Fruits were collected just before maturity and stored at 4 ̊C.

•       Elevation < 1500m : germination begins about 2 weeks and is completed 1-2 weeks later, > 1500m: takes a longer period

•       Germination percentage: 80% from fresh seed

•       Nursery period: for seedling: 11 months after sowing, at the beginning of rains

•       Best planting size: seedling will be 25-35cm in height with 5 to 7mm root collar diameter.

•       Susceptible to damage by Alternaria tenuis

Silviculture characteristics

•       Light demander.

•       Frost hardy

•       Large deciduous tree with spreading crown and clear straight bole.

•       Grows best on deep permeable soils with a good supply of moisture often occurs on the bank of the river.

•       Coppices well

•       Mostly occurred in Sal forest.

•       Young plants are liable to damage by browsing animals.

References

•       Joshee, N., D.R. Bastola, V.P. Agarwal, and A.K. Yadav (2002). Lakoocha: A multipurpose tree of warm climate. P.405-406.

•       Thakur, R., Phulara, N. (2014). A compendium of tree species of Nepal, (1-375).

•       Hossain ,M., Islam, M.A. (2016). “ Nutritional value and medicinal uses of Monkey jack fruit (Artocarpus lakoocha)”. International Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 5(1), 60-63.