HORTICULTURE AND TASAR FLORA: STATUS, SCOPE AND POTENTIAL UTILIZATION

Tasar culture practiced largely by tribal depended hitherto on a host of tasar host plants naturally available in the forest. Changing social fabric on one hand and the need for conservation of tasar flora on the other call for insight and devising focused strategies sustenance of tasar culture is required. In this backdrop, block plantation of Arjun/Asan are taken up at different spacing, of these plantation with 10′ × 5′ has given more profit. It is need of the hour that tasar food plants combined with land husbandry and horticultural plants viz. Terminalia catappa, Anacardium occidentale, Carissa carandus, Zizyphus jujuba, Eugenia cuminii, etc are effective means of development as tasar food plants for expansion of tasar flora. It will provide gainful employment opportunities in rural areas which will check migration of rural folk to urban areas.