Introduction: ahogany is a kind of wood with straight grained, reddish brown timber. The three species are Swietenia macrophylla, Swietenia mahagoni and Swietenia humilis. Swietenia species are classified officially as "genuine mahogany". Mahogany is a commercially important lumber prized for its beauty, durability and color and used for paneling and to make furniture, boats, musical instruments and other items.
The Mahogany tree ''SWEITENIA'' which grow as natural populations in tropical America, Asia and Africa is a high value timber tree known for its redwood color, strength, durability, water resistance and aesthetic appeal. The Mahogany tree can grow over 60 to 70 Ft. high and reaching around 4 to 5 Ft. diameter.
Mahogany is the most prized timber tree of India. It can be grown in almost every part of the country except the dry western zone, although the best Mahogany Plant develops in well drained deep alluvial soil.
Uses: Due to the durability of Mahogany in all the hardwoods it can be used for anything. It is used for making furniture, flooring, boats and many more. The continual increasing demand for hardwood timber, Mahogany can offer a tax effective investment in forestry make mahogany most demanding timber plant in this region.
Land Preparation::
Prior to planting Mahogany it must be ensured that the selected site is well thoroughly cleared of weeds. Dig pit of size 1.5x1.5x1.5ft. During digging of the pit, care should be thoroughly cleaned of weeds. The pit mixture should compose of well decomposed organic manure (FYM or compost), de-oiled neem cake and Top soil (kept aside during digging of the pit.) The pit mix-ture is prepared by thoroughly mixing equal parts of organic manure and topsoil, along with 200 grams of de-oiled neem-cake. The pit-mixture thus prepared, should be used for filling the pit.
Procedure Of Planting:
1) Dig the pit and keep it open for 1-2 weeks.
2) Then close the pit with the soil available with digging.
3) After 2 days, open the pit slightly 1/2 feet, put Organic Manure (Vermicompost ) of 0.5 kg for each pit and plant the seedling. If sapling height is more, can use support pole for each pit to avoid breaking of sapling.
4) And irrigate in same day.
Pit Filling & Spacing:
The pits must be filled as much as possible, only with the prepared pit-mixture. If the topsoil is insufficient, coarse river sand may be used as an inert substitute, which also increases porosity and aeration. A peg may be placed in the Centre of the pit for identification during planting. The pits must be filled at least 2 weeks before planting, to allow for the pit-mixture to settle. The recommended spacing for the plant is a square or triangular grid type with dimension of 6.0 X 6.5 ft. or 8 ft X 8 ft or 10X 10 ft
Irrigation:
Watering has to be done immediately after planting. During the first two week watering should be done alternate day. Subsequently irrigation can be done once in 3 to 4 days depend-ing upon the soil and weather conditions. In non-irrigated lands micro-irrigation systems are recommended.
Fertilizer Application & Doses:
First year N: P: K (17:17:17) & Micro Nutrients 200gms. / Plant / month, except dormancy (Dec - Jan) period. Every month this has to be split and applied through pocket manuring. Make a hole 1 ft. away from the plants and the depth of the pit should be 1 ft. Apply the fertilizer in the hole and fill it with the soil. Micro nutrient application 1 gm / lt. Of water, foliar application once in 15 days for 1 year.
Maintenance:
The site must be cleaned of weeds and the soil around the plant should be kept loose and well aerated. Mahogany can grow on a variety of soils. The quality of its growth, however, depends on the depth, structure, porosity, drainage and moisture-holding capacity of the soil. It develops best on deep, well-drained and fertile soils. Mahogany prefers moist, warm tropical climate. It can withstand extremes of temperature, but maximum & minimum shade temperatures of 25- 44. 0 c is the most favorable for its growth. It grows well in rainfall zone of 1200-2500 mm. It prefers a deep, fertile. The sandy soil is considered to be the best soil texture for this tree. It fails to grow in the soil with pH below 6.5.The calcium content of the soil is also an important factor; calcium deficiency in the soil results in stunted growth of Mahogany Planting.
Harvesting, Yield & Returns:
The highest growth is recorded under plantation condition in BIHAR and tarai belt of NEPAL. At 10 years of age the height growth was 23.1m and diameter was 28.7 cm. From the general yield table in the first quality Mahogany at 10 years of age, the average diameter is 27.2 cm and average height is 23.2m.
The number of trees per acre is 1200-1500. The total yield of stem timber is about 36000 Cft timbers on good sites. At the best we may expect a tree to produce a maximum of 20 Cft of timber in 10 years under best conditions of intensive management and there could be a maxi-mum of 1500 trees per acre.
Expenditure
Income
