Department of Forestry

The Department of Forestry has come into existence in the year 1989 to popularize forestry education amongst the younger generation agricultural graduates and imply them the need of forest conservation practices. The teaching faculty comprised of qualified professionals specialized in frontier subjects, viz. silviculture, agroforestry, forest management, forest ecology, soil conservation, wood science and technology, forest protection, biodiversity conservation, etc.  Apart from teaching, the faculty members are actively involved in conducting research work towards meeting future challenges in the field of forestry and allied subjects. Various forestry related courses taught, trainings and field demonstrations led by the Department of Forestry attempts to conform to the National Forest Policy, 1988 which emphasized forestry education in India.

The economy of Bihar, the twelfth largest state of India, is solely dependent on agriculture as it is devoid of big industries for source of revenue. The state’s topography is practically plain traversed by a number of fairly large rivers, viz., Ganga, Ghagra, Kosi, Bagmati, Burhi Gandak, etc. which cause intermittent floods during monsoon and engulf several districts of Bihar each year. Only 7.76 % of its total geographical area is under forest cover which is much lesser than the minimum 33 % required (national target) for ecological balance. The pressure on existing forest to meet the demand of timber, fuelwood, fodder, NTFPs, etc. in adequate quantity is increasingly high. The state of Bihar also accounts for about 6.59 lakh ha as wasteland categorized under barren and uncultivable land (4.37 lakh ha), cultivable waste land (0.51 lakh ha), fallow lands other than current fallows (1.52 lakh ha), and grassland/permanent pastures (0.19 lakh ha). Moreover, persistent flood and drought related problems have many times caused crop failures. About 2.24 lakh ha of land in Bihar is salt affected which are either saline-alkali or alkali soils. High water expenditure, faults in soil and water management, excessive seepage from canals, high monsoon rainfall, undulating topography and recurring floods have also resulted in a large area of Bihar under water logging conditions. 

Such environment degradations have brought human population under socio-economic crisis and ecological imbalance. Un.der such situations, it is imperative to minimize the farmers’ risk through better utilization of natural resources. Forerstry interventions especially agroforestry in farmland have far reaching environmental and ecological impacts. Its role in soil conservation, bio-amelioration and climate moderation is most widely acclaimed and one of the compelling reasons for including trees on farm lands. It is now a proven fact that the global climate is changing and measures for its mitigation and adaptation are essential to face the new challenges. Forest consetrvation measures to have the potential to mitigate the climate change through microclimate moderation and natural resources conservation in short run and through carbon sequestration in long run. Suitable forestry practices developed in various agro-climatic zones will play important role in meeting the challenges of food, nutrition, energy and environment security. Forestry in recent times has exhibited great potential to provide employment to rural and urban population through industrial application and value addition.

Vision:

To increase the forest cover of the region substantially by adopting suitable tree based systems and commensurate its potential role and functions both in terms of environment conservation and socio-economic benefits with substantial contribution to state’s economy, employment and sustainable livelihood of the farming dependent rural population through scientific, transparent and responsible education. 

Mandate:

• Inventory of existing tree based system of North Bihar Plains and its evaluation in terms of productivity and sustainability over time.
• Collection and evaluation of multi-purpose tree species for their growth and ameliorative effects on soils.
• Establish and develop suitable combination of tree and arable crops
• Evaluate the ecological and economic feasibility of tree based system over existing monocultural system.
• Establish nursery and tree management practices for development of agroforestry.
• Integrated pest and disease management studies.
• Dissemination of technology through field demonstration, training and talks through mass media such as newspaper, radio, T.V., etc.

Objectives/Goals:

• To impart education in forestry
• To undertake basic, strategic and applied research for developing new forestry based technology.
• To enhance productivity and quality of produce on farms, marginal lands, degraded and waste land from tree based systems under different agro-climatic zones of Bihar.
• To dissemination the scientific information to the farmers, entrepreneurs/ NGOs through suitable technologies and demonstration and other extension activities.

1.Departmental Nursery:

Teak	Neem	Moringa	Karanj	Gliricidia
Gamhar	Mahagony	Chah	Broom grass	Peepal
Jamun	Arjun	Gulmohar	Kadam	Bamboo

The Departmental nursery raised a number of seedlings of economic importance in the region for research and sale to farmers. Some of the tree seedlings available in the nursery includes the following speicies: Switenia macrophylla, Tectona grandis, Terminalia arjuna, Acacia lenticularis, Terminalia arjuna, Pongamia pinnata, Anthocephalus kadamba, Melia dubia, Azadirachta indica, Ceiba pentendra, Bombax ceiba, Toona ciliata, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Sesbania grandiflora, Albizia procera, Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia sissoo, Dalbergia lanceolaria, Acacia auriculiformis, Gliricidia sepium, Syzizium cumini, Delonix regia, Bauhinia variegata, Cassia fistula, Cassia siamea, Leucaena leucocephala, Acacia nilotica, Simarouba glauca, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Bixa oreleana, Moringa oleifera, Prosopis cineria, Terminalia bellirica, Artocarpus lakoocha, Ficus religiosa, Gmelina arborea, Pterocarpus marsupium, Populus deltoides, Bamboo Species (Bambusa lcooa,Bambusa vulgaris, Dendrocalamus strictus, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Bambusa tulda, Bambusa nutans, Bambusa bambos, Thyrsostachys oliveri), etc.

2.Laboratory

Laboratory Equipments	Laboratory Workstation

The Department’s laboratory have equipments Leaf Area Meter, Flame photometer, pH meter, Electrical conductivity meter, UV-VIS Spectro photometer, Digital Plant Canopy Imager, Auto N Analyzer, Water distillation unit, Digital light meter, Digital weighing balance,  Digital Hypsometer, Clinometer, Digital Vernier Calipers,  etc.