The north-western region of India comprises of plains of agrarian economy with fertile deep soils and mountains of the Himalayan ranges. The range of soft and hardwood tree species of commercial and economic value is very large. The planting techniques and the stand establishment criteria are site specific. In the plains Dalbergia sissoo, Populus sps., Acacia nilotica and Shorea robusta are treated in various forest operations. In the hills Pinus roxburghii, P. wallichiana, P. geradiana, Picea smithiana, Abies pindrow and Cedrus deodara are among some of the softwoods whereas Quercus and willows are commercially exploited hardwoods.
The paper highlights the stand establishment prescriptions and their field level implication. The actual cultural and tending operations followed for raising these forest crops have been presented.
Key words: stand establishment, techniques.
Correspondence: Parvinder Kaushal, University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan HP, India-173 230