A Glimpse in to Forest Research in Tamil Nadu Forest Department over a Century

S. Balaji

doi:10.36808/if/2019/v145i11/149913

A Glimpse in to Forest Research in Tamil Nadu Forest Department over a Century

Authors

S. Balaji Care Earth Trust, Chennai 600061, Tamil Nadu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2019/v145i11/149913

Keywords:

Forest Research, Evolution of Organization, Research Priorities, Future Portends.

Abstract

Tamil Nadu Forest Research wing celebrates its centenary this year. On this occasion, this paper briefly reviews the evolution of the State Forest Research Institute over the years in terms of its organization and research priorities. The focus of research evolved from developing nursery technology for forestry species and developing volume tables to evaluating different fast-growing exotics like Eucalyptus and wattle to promote industrial forestry in sixties and seventies. Subsequently, raising of Acacias under Social forestry and multiple use species under Joint Forest Management project in eighties and nineties had built in research component to support them. The current priorities for biodiversity conservation and bio-productivity enhancement are discussed. The future challenges and organizational reforms required for improving the quality of research and sustaining the continuity of personnel to achieve better delivery are discussed towards the end.

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