Project Title: Reforestation of severely degraded landmass in Khammam District of Andhra Pradesh, India under ITC Social Forestry Project
| Sr. No | Introductory Information (Pre-Project info) | |
| 1 | Exact Location | Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh, The project activity is located in the tribal belt of the catchment area of river Godavari. The site is located at the intersection of longitude 80°52’05” E and latitude 17°41’19” N |
| 2 | Area | 3070.19 hectares |
| 3 | Implementation body | The Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division (PSPD), Unit: Bhadrachalam of ITC Limited is the primary developer of this project and initiated the project activity through the local Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs). |
| 4 | Land Ownership | Degraded lands owned by the rural tribals/ individual beneficiaries. Such an ownership is transferable only between tribes and not to non-tribals. The area is covered by 1/70 tribal act of Government of India allowing land transactions only between tribes. Described in ‘Institutional arrangement’ section of this post |
| 5 | Land Split | 14 Parcel (14 Villages) |
| 6 | Land status at the time of plantation | The area is about 60 m above mean sea level. Degraded land and degraded agricultural land which is represented by poor tree growth. The soils found at the project site are red sandy and black cotton, moderately acidic in soil reaction and very poor in fertility. |
| 7 | Climate | Tropical rainy climate, December- February constitute winter season, pre-monsoon season exist between March-May followed by the monsoon season that brings rains to the region from June-September. The two months of October-November are marked as post monsoon season. A minimum temperature of 13 degrees and maximum temperature of 44.8 degrees has been recorded in this region. Relative humidity recorded in the project area is moderate and ranges from 30.7% to 79.2%. The area receives rainfall mainly through southwest monsoon winds. |
| 8 | Naturally occurring tree species | Small trees with a canopy cover of less than 10%. Borassus flabellifer L., Madhuca indica L., Strychnos nuxvomica L. , Madhuca indica L., Cassia tora, Capparis aphylla, Achyranthes aspera Linn, Croton bonplandianus |
| 9 | Vicinity of forest area (Type) | Tropical moist deciduous, tropical dry deciduous and tropical thorn. |
Plantation Technology
Technology used is environmentally safe, includes clonal propagation, which are developed over a period of time by continuous breeding and selection experiments.
| Sr. No | Plantation Technology (Project info) | |
| 1 | Land preparation | The land is prepared for planting by removing rootstocks, bushes etc. and ploughed with mould board plough. This is done manually or mechanically. For sloppy areas terracing is done to avoid soil loss during ploughing. |
| 2 | Nursery technique | The Clones of Eucalyptus were produced following macro-propagation (mist propagation) technique – The method consists of collecting coppice sprouts that are just beginning to harden and keeping them constantly moist while 2-leaf-pair cuttings are prepared and end-dipped in rooting hormone. The cuttings are placed under intermittent mist in individual containers. For successful clonal propagation ITC has an R & D centre with 120 mist chambers covering an area of 1200 m2, hardening area of 5000 m2 and 100,000 m2 for open nursery. |
| 3 | Seeds imported from | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia |
| 4 | Selection criteria of plant species | Plant species were chosen by the beneficiaries mainly because its productivity is less dependent on pattern of rainfall and other climatic conditions as compared to those of other local agricultural crops. These plant species are not grazed and browsed by the animals. |
| 5 | Plantation technology | Vegetative Propagation method has been used |
| 6 | Plantation method | The planting is done by digging pits of 30 x 30 x 30 cm on the ground by using a crow bar. Alignment is done with 3 x 2 m spacing. In case of mortality (if any) is replaced within a month’s time. Fertilizer – Single Super Phosphate was provided during the initial stages of plantation. |
| 7 | Forest Management Practices | The plantations are kept weed free by hand picking and ploughing. The major disease to Eucalyptus plantation is foliar blight caused by Cylindrocladium fungus. This disease is controlled in the initial stages by spraying 2% bavistin fungicide. The termite damage occurs in the initial stages of plantations, say in 2 to 4 months time. The plants are treated with Kodesa, a botanical pesticide derived from Cleistanthus collinus tree. The plantation maturity for Eucalyptus pulpwood is at 4 years. The plantations will be felled, debarked and loaded on to the truck manually. |
Planted species
Selected species are an exotic one, introduced from Australia but it has been growing in India for the past 200 years.
| Sr.No | Species | Area (Ha) |
| Short rotation (4 yrs) | ||
| 1 | Eucalyptus tereticornis | 3070.19 Ha (150 trees within each of 3 x 2 m spacing) |
| 2 | Eucalyptus camaldulensis | |
| Major gains in productivity of Eucalyptus plantations | 24 to 58 m3/ha/yr | |
CDM Technical information
| Sr. No | CDM Info | |
| 1 | Scale | Large |
| 2 | Selected CDM methodology | AR-AM0001/Version 02 |
| 3 | Selected mode of CER (carbon credits ) | tCERs |
| 4 | Start Date of the A/R CDM project activity | 14/09/2000 |
| 5 | Crediting period | 30 years (Fixed) |
| 6 | Crediting period started on | 02/07/2001 |
| 7 | Operational life time | 32 years. |
| 8 | Selected Carbon pools | Above ground and Below Ground |
| 9 | Annual average GHG removals by sinks | 57792 tones of CO2e |
| 10 | Forest produce and CER Ownerships | CDM benefits would be transferred to tribal farmers through Sanghas (Community or group of people)) after deduction of expenses incurred for CDM project towards processes, documentations, transaction costs etc. |
Institutional arrangement (Special feature): Under the ITC’s social development, this concept was developed by incorporating tribal farmers (represented by the Sanghas) , village Sanghas, NGO’s and various government organisations. All have entered into partnership with ITC to implement this project activity.
| Sr. No | Project Developers/ Participants/Members | Sharing of Responsibilities |
| 1 | Farmers | Have undertaken the plantation and its maintenance in their own lands |
| 2 | Sanghas (MS)- Association or community of people | Oversee the project activity implementation in their region, which includes awareness / training / resource provision and distribution. |
| 3 | ITC | 1) Have provided sapling / farm practices and provides resources, 2) Also manages the CDM project cycle and assists in accrual of CDM benefits. |
| CDM benefits would be transferred to tribal farmers through Sanghas (MS) after deduction of expenses incurred for CDM project towards processes, documentations, transaction costs etc. Government of Andhra Pradesh where project activity is situated, established an organisation Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP). Mandal Samyakhya (MS) is constituted by SERP and tribal farmers further entered into an agreement regarding the project activity and share of benefit. This 1/70 tribal act safeguards and preserves the tribal’ entitlement over their land holdings. The land prior to project activity comes under degraded land. The rights of access to sequestered carbon are with the land owners, which is restricted by the common agreements arrived at ‘Mandal Samyakhya (MS). | ||
Reference: Registered PDD of ITC Social Forestry Project, Khammam
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