Agroforestry Systems 25: 243-262, 1994. 9 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Diversity, structure and standing stock of wood in the homegardens of Kerala in peninsular India
B. M O H A N K U M A R 1'2, S U M A N J A C O B G E O R G E 2 a n d S. C H I N N A M A N I 1All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Agroforestry; 2 College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur 680654, India; 3Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi 110001, lndia Key words: diameter distribution, standing wood stock, floristic diversity, homegardens, planting geometry, structure, Kerala, India Abstract. A survey was conducted in 17 selected thaluks (revenue sub-divisions) of Kerala state to elucidate the floristic structure, composition and the extent of similarities and diversities in the composition of homegardens of Kerala, with particular reference to small (below 0.4 ha), medium (0.4 to 2 ha) and large (> 2.0 ha) holding size categories. Besides attempts were also made to characterize the potential of homegardens to supply commercial timber and fuelwood. Two hundred and fifty two farmers were selected through a stratified random process. In addition to gathering general information on crop and livestock production enterprises, all scattered trees and shrubs (_> 15 cm girth at breast height) on the homestead and border trees except palms and rubber were enumerated. There was tremendous variability both in the number of trees and shrubs present and species diversity of the selected homesteads in different provinces. The small, medium and large sized holdings also exhibited profound variability in the number of woody taxa and individuals present. In total, 127 woody species (Girth at Breast Height (GBH) > 15 cm) were encountered. The mean number of woody taxa found in the homegardens ranged from 11 for Pathanapuram to 39 in Perinthalmanna. Floristic diversity was higher in the smaller homesteads. It decreased with increasing the size of holdings. Mean Simpson's diversity index for the homesteads ranged from 0.251 (Kochi) to 0.739 (Kottarakkara) suggesting that floristic diversity of homegardens was moderate to low compared to a value over 0.90 for the species-rich evergreen forests of the Western Ghats. The Sorensen's similarity indexes suggested a moderately high degree of similarity for the different tree species encountered in the homesteads of Kerala. No clear cut planting pattern was discernible in the homegardens of Kerala. The homegarden trees and shrubs were either scattered throughout the homestead or on farm boundaries. Farmers tend to prefer timber trees such as ailanthus (highest frequency) and teak besides fruit trees such as mango, jack, cashew and the like. Major homegarden species were represented in all diameter classes. The diameter structure, however, exhibited a slightly skewed (+) distribution pattern, having the highest frequency in the 20-30 cm classes ensuring adequate regeneration status and in that process making homegardens a sustainable as weIl as dynamic land use system. Standing stock of timber and firewood in the homestead of different thaluks are presented. Average commercial standing stock of homesteads ranged from 6.6 to 50.8 m 3 ha -a and fuel wood volume was of the order of 23 to 86 m 3 ha-~. Implicit in the high commercial timber volume and fuel wood volume is that a substantial proportion of the society's wood demands are met from the homesteads. Palms, however, constituted the dominant component of standing commercial timber and fuel wood volumes accounting as much as 63% and 72%, respectively, of the total wood in these categories. 1"3

244
Introduction

A homegarden (syn. homestead farm) represents an operational farm unit which integrates trees with field crops, livestock, poultry and/or fish [RicoGray et al., 1991; Singh, 1987], having the basic objective of ensuring sustained availability of multiple products such as food, vegetables, fruits fodder, fuel, timber, medicines and/or ornamentals [Michon et al., 1983], besides generating employment and cash income [Padoch and de Jong, 1991; Soemarwoto and Conway, 1991]. Homestead agroforestry forms a dominant and promising land use system in many parts of the tropics [Michon et al., 1983; Padoch and de Jong, 1991; Singh, 1987; Soemarwoto, 1987] and maintains high levels of productivity, stability, sustainability and equitability [Michon et al., 1983; Soemarwoto and Conway, 1991; Thaman, 1988]. Incidentally homegardens represent a symbol of social status in West Java [Soemarwoto, 1987] and are believed to have evolved from tropical forests [Michon et al., 1983]. In the peninsular Indian state of Kerala also, despite the 'coconut and rubber boom' that the state has recently experienced, homestead agroforestry forms a predominant land use pattern [Jose, 1992; Nair and Sreedharan, 1986]. Although homegardens constitute an important land use activity in Kerala (4180900 operational holdings with an average size: of 0.43 ha [Kerala Agricultural University, 1989], no precise estimates are available on the extent of land area under homegardens. Species diversity of the tropical homegardens is generally believed to be very high [Babu et al., 1992; Michon et al., 1983; Soemarwoto and Conway, 1991]. Homegardens reached high levels of development in terms of plant diversity, labour input and per cent income derived from garden in regions where population densities are high [Padoch and de Jong, 1991; Soemarwoto, 1987]. Furthermore, they create a forest-like multi-storey canopy structure [Singh, 1987]. Perhaps the forest like structure is derived from either the lack of a discernible planting pattern, or alternatively, the result of deliberate planning to mimic the forest [Soemarwoto, 1987]. Moreover, species diversity, size, shape and plant density also vary from place to place depending on cultural [Rico-Gray et al., 1990, Soemarwoto, 1987], ecological and socioeconomic factors [Soemarwoto, 1987]. According to Nair and Dagar [1991] although the farmers and land owners integrate a variety of woody perennials in their crop and livestock enterpris~es, most of these practices are highly location-specific and information on these in India are also mostly anecdotal. Studies of Kerala homegardens have traditionally emphasized species inventories [Babu et al., 1992; Nair and Sreedharan, 1986] with little quantitative data. Jose [ 1992], however, calculated Simpson's diversity indexes for different homegarden size-class categories and components. After analyzing 80 households in a village of Thiruvananthapuram district, she concluded that the introduction of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) into the homegardens resulted in a reduction of species diversity. Krishnankutty [1990] who

245 performed a stratified three-stage sample survey of 30 villages in Kerala observed that just 10 species accounted for 74% of the total homestead growing stock and 85% of the total wood volume. Nevertheless no comprehensive reports characterizing species composition and structure of Kerala homegardens are available. Hence an attempt was made (a) to quantify the extent of similarities and diversities in the composition of woody perennials (trees and shrubs) in the homegardens of Kerala with particular reference to the holding size categories; (b) to compare species composition and structure of the homegardens within and between provinces in the state, and (c) to characterize the availability of commercial timber and fuelwood from the homesteads.

General description of the study area

The state of Kerala is divided into 14 districts with 61 thaluks (revenue sub-divisions) for administrative purposes. We have randomly selected 17 thaluks from nine districts throughout Kerala (Fig. 1). The climatic, physiographic and demographic characteristics of Kerala state were described by Nair and Sreedharan [1986] among others.

Methodology
The field work involved conducting detailed house-hold surveys of individual farmers belonging to the small (below 0.4 ha), medium (0.4 to 2 ha) and large (> 2.0 ha) holding size categories (based on the total land area owned by the farmer) in the 17 selected thaluks. Farmers were identified through a stratified random process in which one or two farmers belonging to all the holding size categories were randomly selected from among all the farmers of each 'Panchayat' (lowest form of local self-government) constituting a thaluk. A total of 252 farmers were thus surveyed, five in each category from any given thaluk (see Table 1), during 1991 and 1992. The survey included besides gathering general information on crop and livestock production enterprises, enumeration (by measuring the height and girth at breast height (GBH) of trees using a clinometer and tape respectively) of all scattered trees and shrubs (_> 15 cm girth at breast height) on the homestead and border trees except palms and rubber. For palms and rubber only their mean height, girth (corresponding to 10 trees) and frequency were recorded. Standing commercial and fuel wood volume of trees on area-basis were worked out following Nair's volume table [Nair, 1971], despite the fact that volume tables of forest trees, by and large, do not provide the best approximations of volume production of homegarden trees, which are subject to pruning, lopping and pollarding and may also consist of species mixtures. But largely due to the absence of any other reliable methods we have adopted this technique, which

246
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REFERENCES

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Fig. 1. Map of Kerala showing the study areas (shaded regions indicate the selected thaluks).

Table 1. Number of operational holdings, homegarden area sampled, density of trees and number of tree species in different holding size categories.

Farm size category Arecanut Mean 165 147 108 0 0 0 290 1465 317 38 45 15 13 3 1 452 173 179 Min Max Mean Min Max Mean 116 46 32 Other woody taxa

Tree density/ha

No. of arboreal taxa/ homestead

Coconut

(in ha)

No. of Total gardens homegarden area (ha)

Min

Max

Min 3 3 4

Max 17 24 25

Mean 8 10 10

< 0.40 0.40-2.00 > 2.00

87 123 42

18.892 83.429 68.885

0 0 0

742 569 641

Total

252

171.206

Note: Rubber trees were excluded as they are mostly grown in monocultural stands and are yet to gain acceptance as a component of the homegardens.

4~ .-.O

248 may still provide a good comparative account for volume estimates of homegarden trees. Volume of branch wood of 10 to 30 cm girth class (over bark) was estimated as 22% of the firewood volume over bark following Krishnankutty [1990]. Volume of trees in the DBH (diameter at breast height) classes below 10 and 10 to 20 cm were taken as 0.004 m 3 and 0.176 m 3 per tree, respectively, and growing stock of coconut palms in terms of commercial and firewood volumes were estimated by multiplying the number of palms with 0.072 and 0.288 m 3, respectively [Krishnankutty, 1990]. Trees of different species were classified into three groups, trees with only wood value (T), trees with multiple uses (M) and others (X). They were further subdivided by suffixing 1, 2, 3 and 4 ranks according to durability and wood value. Simpson's diversity index (Simpson's Floristic Diversity Index, D = s 1 - [ ~ (n/N) z] where, D = Simpson's Index; S = total number of species,
i=1

ni = number of individuals of ith species, N = total number of individuals in the plot [Simpson, 1949]), Shannon-Wiener's Diversity Index (H' = 3.3219(log10 N
-

S N'i ~=1

where n i = number of individuals of the

species 'i', N = total number of individuals in the plot), Equitability (E = H'/Hmax, where/-/max, the maximum dispersion taking into account the number of species present in the plot), and/-/max = 3.3219 lOgl0S, where S is the total number of species [Shannon and Wiener, 1963] and Sorenson's similarity 2a index (S.I. x 100 where a = number of species in common for 2a+b+c any two given thaluks, b and c are the number of dissimilar species in the two thaluks [Sorenson, 1948]), were worked out. The diversity parameters were statistically analyzed following the analysis of variance technique. Although several quantitative descriptions are available for characterizing species diversity, we used the Simpson's diversity index and Shannon-Wiener diversity functions. Simpson's index may easily be interpreted in terms of probability and indicates the number of pairs of two different species per 100 pairs of trees taken at random. Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H') indicates the real distribution of observations among categories. As the magnitude of H' is affected both by the distribution of the data as well as the number of categories, the theoretical maximum possible diversity Hmax was calculated. Equitability or evenness represents a measure of homogeneity or relative diversity and it gives the real distribution as compared to the maximum dispersion taking into account the number of species present in the plot.

Results

and discussion

Floristic composition, structure and diversity

There was a tremendous degree of variability both in the number of arboreal taxa present and their density in the selected homesteads of Kerala (Table 1).

249 In total 127 woody species (GBH _> 15 cm) were encountered. This includes the 124 tree species listed in Appendix I, besides, coconut, arecanut and para rubber. The number of woody species per homestead ranged from 3 to 17 in the small, 3 to 24 in the medium and 4 to 25 in the large holdings (Table 1). Coconut and arecanut, by far, constituted the most dominant components of the homegardens of the entire state, regardless of the holding size categories. The coconut based farming system incidentally represents a cropping system capable of providing the primary needs of the farmer, besides helping to conserve soil fertility [Singh, 1987]. Other important arboreal components of the homegardens included: Ailanthus triphysa, Mangifera indica, Artocarpus

heterophyIlus, Tectona grandis, Anacardium occidentale, Artocarpus hirsutus, Tamarindus indicus, Erythrina indica, Macaranga peltata, Thespesia populnea, Bombax ceiba, Gliricidia sepium and Psidium guajava (having a
relative frequency of 1.5% or more; see: Appendix I). As regards to the number of arboreal species, in an earlier attempt, Nair and Sreedharan [ 1986] have reported 30 arboreal taxa from the homegardens of Kerala. Babu et al. [1992], however, observed a total of 36 species of woody perennials from the homesteads of the southern districts of the state. Although our list of 127 woody species is substantially greater than the earlier inventories, it is perhaps much smaller than the inventories of arboreal species available from other parts of the world. For instance, 301 trees and shrubs were reported from the Mayan homegardens of Yucatan, Mexico [Rico-Gray et al., 1991], 168 species from Santa Rosa in the Peruvian Amazon [Padoch and de Jong, 1991] and 179 species in the West Javan homegardens [Soemarwoto, 1987]. Floristic accounts of homegardens in other regions of the Far East are presented by Soemarwoto [1987]. Nevertheless, we believe that the present list of woody perennials in the homegardens of Kerala makes a near-total inventory. While most of the 127 tree and shrub species encountered are native to the different forest types of peninsular India, thirty two of them including cash crops such as cashew, rubber, cacao, tamarind and the like are exotics. Furthermore, if the herbaceous components [see Jose, 1992] are also included, the species richness would be even greater. In this connection, Karyono [c.f. Michon et al., 1983] reported 250 crop species from the Javanese agroforests. Implicit in the high floristic richness is perhaps the potential of homegardens to serve as repositories of genetic diversity, besides acting as insurance against pests and disease outbreaks, which may be very severe in monocultural stands [Michon et al., 1983]. In general, smaller holdings had a higher density of trees per unit area. Mean density of multi-purpose trees in the small farms equaled to 116 trees per hectare, while that of medium and large gardens were 46 and 32 respectively (Table 1). Another prominent structural attribute is species diversity of the homegardens. Tree species diversity of the small gardens were significantly greater than medium and large holdings (average Simpson's diversity indexes being equal to 0.606, 0.441 and 0.459, respectively, for the small, medium and large homegardens; Table 2). It decreased generally with increasing size of holdings. Increased tree and plant density as well as

tO

Table 2. Homegarden area sampled, mean number of tree species and mean number of individuals encountered per thaluk and holding size category (>_ 15 cm GBH) and mean diversity indexes of tree species in the homesteads of 17 thaluks of Kerala state.

Thaluk/holding

Shannon-Wiener function n' nma

E = H'/Hm~ x

size classes

Homestead area sampled (ha)

No. of species encountered (S)

No. of individuals (N)

Simpson's diversity Index (O)

1. Thaluks

Chirayankil Ernad Hosdurg Karthikappally Kochi Kollam Kothamangalam Kottarakkara Kunnathunadu Muvattupuzha Nedumangad Neyyattinkara Parur Pathanapuram Perinthalmanna Thalappilly Vaikam ns 79.2 < 0.01 11.151 36.38 0.01 0.186 26.45 < 0.01 0.725 27.98 < 0.01 0.781 13.17

4.537 4.000 6.347 6.367 2.983 1.870 2.594 3.372 3.500 2.715 2.940 2.696 3.945 4.203 4.391 2.543 2.962

22 20 29 16 38 14 13 30 24 31 20 13 19 11 39 13 24

805 433 608 545 1116 402 758 529 730 404 263 594 933 456 1820 258 704

0.275 0.500 0.357 0.518 0.251 0.463 0.329 0.739 0.639 0.603 0.568 0.414 0.620 0.497 0.517 0.704 0.543

1.129 2.019 1.500 1.890 1.201 1.630 1.094 3.016 2.359 2.368 2.089 1.501 1.899 1.651 1.971 2.599 1.837

4.316 4.341 4.733 4.000 5.165 3.767 3.558 4.832 4.424 4.918 3.962 3.720 4.066 3.355 5.287 3.674 4.501

0.282 0.462 0.321 0.461 0.236 0.436 0.298 0.623 0.540 0.485 0.543 0.403 0.494 0.499 0.375 0.705 0.421 < 0.01 0.164 26.57

F test (P) CD (0.05) CV (%)

ns 81.24

Table 2. (Continued).
S h a n n o n - W i e n e r function H' //max

Thaluk/holding
No. of species encountered No. o f individuals

size classes

Homestead area s a m p l e d (ha)

(s)
21 26 20 269 1173 561 < 0.01 308.3 < 0.01 0.078 0.606 0.441 0.459 < 0.05 4.683 2.298 1.663 1.643 < 0.01 0.305

(N)

Simpson' s diversity Index (D)

E = H'IHm~

2. HoMing size categories

4.238 4.580 3.997 < 0.05 0.328 0.542 0.368 0.428 < 0.01 0.069

Small Medium Large

1.111 1.908 4.916

F test (P) CD (0.05)

< 0.01 1.726

t~

252 diversity may be strategies particularly of the smaller farmers to ensure higher availability of multiple products on the farm itself. Overall high tree density and species diversity observed in the present study may thus indicate the tendency of homegarden owners to grow a wide spectrum of trees, which in turn may form complementary associations and also ensure more efficient utilization of the vertical and horizontal space. Physiognomically also homegardens exhibit a multi-tiered canopy structure some what similar to the tropical evergreen forests [but see; Soemarwoto, 1987; p. 159]. Michon et al. [1983] who employed the concepts of architectural anlaysis of tropical forests to characterize the structure of homegardens also suggested that the village agroforest is structurally similar to tropical forests. From the ground layer comprising of herbaceous food crops, forage, medicinal and other crops to the upper canopy of fast growing multi-purpose trees, the gradient of light and relative humidity creates different niches enabling various species groups to exploit them [Michon et al., 1983]. Surprisingly, medium sized holdings registered the least value for Simpson's index. Perhaps the medium holders might be concentrating more on cash crops like coconut, rubber, cacao and spices. As in the case of small holdings, the owners of large gardens also tend to grow trees capable of meeting fuel and timber requirements, besides generating cash income. In this context, Soemarwoto [1987] observed that poor people, perhaps having smaller holdings, grew more staple crops, vegetables and fruit crops, while the rich farmers preferred ornamentals and high value cash crops. Commercialization may thus reduce species diversity and hence the 'teak boom' which Kerala experiences now may perhaps reduce species diversity of its homegardens eventually. Regarding floristic diversity, although previous workers have reported that species diversity in the homegardens of Kerala is very high [Babu et al., 1992; Jose, 1992], our analysis indicates that mean Simpson's diversity index (Table 2) for the homesteads ranged from 0.251 (Kochi) to 0.739 (Kotttarakkara) suggesting that floristic diversity of these homegardens was relatively low compared to a value over 0.90 for the species-rich evergreen forests of the Western Ghats [Pascal, 1988]. Jose [1992] estimated an overall Simpson's diversity value of 0.834 for various components of the homegardens (including field crops) across different holdings size categories in a village of Thiruvananthapuram district (Kerala). The density based Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H') ranged from 1.129 (Chirayankil) to 3.016 (Kottarakkara), again suggesting low to moderate levels of floristic diversity. Rico-Gray et al. [1990] also reported H' values of 1.67 and 1.66 for two study sites in Mexico indicating a similar dispersion pattern of individuals among species. Hmax and evenness (E) were significantly influenced by both thaluks as well as holding size categories. In this context, the moist deciduous forests of Trichur exhibited almost similar values of Hmax (4.39) for trees above 30 cm GBH [George et al., 1993] suggesting a more or less similar maximum dispersion of individuals among species. The low

253 equitability or evenness index (0.542, 0.368 and 0.428, respectively, for small, medium and large holdings), however, indicates distribution of individuals among fewer number of species (0.80 for Trichur forest division [George et al., 1993] and dominance of a certain set of species in the homesteads (see: Fig. 2). Nevertheless, any increase in the variety of species along with reduced dominance of a small group of trees may indicate maturity of the homegardens, besides their structural stability.
Inter and intra-thaluk variations

The mean number of woody taxa (> 15 cm GBH) found in the homegardens (for all the selected farmers in a thaluk) ranged from 11 for Pathanapuram to 39 in Perinthalmanna (Table 2). The mean number of individuals, however, did not exhibit any marked variation among the thaluks albeit differences among the small, medium and large sized holdings were significant with respect to both the number of woody species as well as population density. For instance there were only six species in the large holdings of Kothamangalam and as much as 46 in the medium-sized holdings of Perinthalmanna (data not shown). Perinthalmanna also recorded the largest number of species for any single homestead (25) while Chirayankil had the

3~Frequency (%)
25
20 15 10 5 0 <10 10-20
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

V-

.................................................................. ]

20-30

80-40

DBH Classes (cm)

MI AR ~ ] AH I AT ~ ~ TG TI ~ ~ AO OT

Fig. 2. D B H ( D i a m e t e r at b r e a s t h e i g h t ) f r e q u e n c y d i s t r i b u t i o n o f i m p o r t a n t t r e e s p e c i e s in t h e h o m e g a r d e n s o f 17 s e l e c t e d t h a l u k s in K e r a l a o t h e r t h a n p a l m s a n d r u b b e r ( M I - Mangifera indica, A H - Artocarpus heterophyllus, T G - Tectona grandis, A O - Anacardium occidentale, A R - Artocarpus hirsutus T I - Tamarindus indicus, A T - Ailanthus triphysa, O T - o t h e r s ) .

254 least number (3). In general coastal areas were characterized by relatively lower values of Simpson's diversity index, H' and equitability (e.g. Kochi, Chirayankil, Hosdurg, etc.; Table 2; Kothamangalam may be an exception to this general rule), while midlands (e.g. Kottarakkara, Thalappilly, Kunnathunadu, Perinthalmanna etc. exhibited higher diversity functions (perhaps Parur may be an exception here).

Diameter distribution pattern of important woody species

The diameter frequency distribution of important woody species other than palms and rubber are presented in Fig. 2. Major species were represented in all size-classes suggesting that homegardens are dynamic as well as sustainable land use systems. The diameter structure, however, represents a slightly skewed (+) distribution, having the highest frequency in the 20-30 cm classes (29%). Implicit in the skewed distribution is perhaps the intensive management practices adopted by the farmers such as controlled regeneration and/or spaced planting along with harvesting of trees as soon as they attain certain dimensions. The natural forests of the adjoining areas in the Western Ghats, however, depict an inverse 'J' shaped diameter distribution pattern [Pascal, 1988].

Species preferences of the homegarden owners

The frequency distribution of homestead trees indicate that in general farmers tend to prefer timber trees such as ailanthus (highest frequency; 13.2% of all trees and shrubs other than palms and rubber) and teak (6%) besides multipurpose trees like mango (12.3%), jack (11.7%), cashew (5.5%) and the like (Fig. 2). The main use of the homestead tree species are listed along with their relative frequencies in Appendix I. A new species may be included in the homegardens on account of its timber, fodder, fuelwood, medicinal and/or ornamental values. Planting of trees may also depend on the space available and/or edaphic characters. Laterite outcrops in the northern Kerala are generally dominated by cashew.

Extent of similarities in floristic composition of homegardens among the thaluks

The Sorensen's similarity indexes (Table 3) suggested a moderately high degree of similarity for different tree species encountered on the homesteads. A comparison of Thalappilly and Hosdurg yielded the lowest similarity index (28.57%) while that of Kollam and Pathanapuram gave the highest value (81.08%). As Kerala falls under a single broad eco-climate zone (humid tropics) it is not surprising that many of the homegarden species have a cosmopolitan distribution. The Yucatan province of Mexico also registered a high similarity index (58.5%) suggesting that homegarden floristic elements

Table 3. Sorensen's Similarity Index (percentages) for 17 thaluks in Kerala State.

PATH PERI THAL V A I K

CHIR

ERNA HOSD

KART KOCH KOLL KOTH KOTT K U N N M U V A N E D U NEYY PARU

CHIR ERNA HOSD KART KOCH KOLL KOTH KOTT KUNN MUVA NEDU NEYY PARU PATH PERI THAL VAIK 00.00 68.42 59.65 64.15 46.38 65.45 62.86 62.75 81.08 46.75 54.05 65.45 00.00 45.28 53.06 36.92 54.90 51.61 42.55 66.67 41.10 66.67 47.06 00.00 55.88 59.52 60.00 44.00 57.58 61.54 52.17 38.46 65.71 00.00 70.00 57.58 47.83 61.29 58.33 54.55 50.00 60.61 00.00 48.78 38.71 48.72 40.63 57.69 34.38 51.22 00.00 54.17 56.25 52.00 53.33 40.00 52.94 00.00 54.55 60.00 31.43 40.00 50.00 00.00 52.17 41.86 47.83 59.38 00.00 44.44 56.25 64.00 00.00 38.89 48.89

00.00 44.44 42.35 54.55 48.84 61.54 54.17 53.73 57.14 45.57 64.62 44.44 55.74 51.06 50.57 51.06 49.23

00.00 48.84 46.43 36.78 37.74 36.73 50.00 43.75 47.50 45.45 34.78 38.71 37.50 56.82 33.33 39.39

00.00 41.03 42.20 42.67 33.80 57.78 51.16 50.98 56.82 29.41 45.24 45.71 54.55 28.57 45.45

00.00 45.57 57.78 43.90 56.67 46.43 44.44 55.17 42.11 51.85 50.00 45.00 40.00 48.28

00.00 44.74 30.56 46.15 45.98 44.66 47.19 31.88 54.12 36.62 50.45 36.62 58.43

00.00 40.00

00.00

CHIR - Chirayinkil, ERNA - Ernad, HOSD - Hosdurg, KART - Karthikappally, K O C H - Kochi, KOLL - Kollam, KOTH - Kothamangalam, KOTT - Kottarakkara, K U N N - Kunnathunad, M U V A - Muvattupuzha, N E D U - Nedumangad, NEYY - Neyyattinkkara, PARU - Parur, PATH - Pathanapuram, PERI - Perinthalmanna, T H A L - Thalappily, V A I K - Vaikam.

256 are characteristically similar within a given region. In general nearby provinces had a higher magnitude of similarities. But quite apart from geographical proximity, factors such as edaphic, cultural and socio-economic factors may play a vital role in controlling the nature of woody components in the homegardens.

Homegarden size
Although the total number of homegardens sampled in different thaluks was very similar (14 or 15), the total area sampled differed markedly between localities indicating that homegarden size is highly variable. The average size of the homegardens were 0.27, 0.678 and 1.640 ha, respectively, for the small, medium and large categories. It should be mentioned that sizes stated here are only approximations based on statements of garden owners. In this context, Karyono [c.f. Soemarwoto, 1987] recorded that the average size of 351 homegardens of West Java was 0.0229 ha. The size of the Santa Rosa house gardens [Padoch and de Jong, 1991] also varied from 0.0067 to 0.7322 ha, although most gardens were in the range of 0.03 to 0.07 ha. Homegarden size is by and large a function of the population density. The northern thaluks having relatively lower population densities (e.g., Hosdurg) also had relatively larger homegardens (mean size: 1.269 ha for Hosdurg). Homegardens usually get fragmented when the land ownership rights are passed down the family-line. An almost identical situation is reported from the Yucatan province of Mexico [Rico-Gray et al., 1990]. Soemarwoto [1987] opined that size of the homegardens decreases with altitude. Furthermore, there was no strong relationship between number of individuals per homestead (y) and homegarden size (x) (ln y -- 4.884 + In 0.569x; r 2 : 0.39, r = 252). Similarly the regression between species number (y) and homegarden area (x) also yielded very low r 2 (ln y -- 2.227 + In 0.104x; r 2 : 0.056, n -- 252), implying that garden size is probably not very a powerful determinant of species diversity, which is intriguing. Rico-Gray et al. [1990] also did not observe very strong correlations between homegarden area and number of species or individuals.

Planting geometry
No clear cut planting pattern was discernible in the homegardens of Kerala. The garden shape also was highly variable. According to Rico-Gray [1990] who analyzed the homegardens of Yucatan province (Mexico), the villages form complex mosaics of homegardens of varying sizes and shapes. In the present study it was also found that the homegarden trees and shrubs were either scattered throughout the homestead or on farm boundaries. However, border trees (52.5%) marginally exceeded the scattered trees (47.5%) in the entire sampled area (171.2 ha of homestead area with a total frequency of trees other than palms and rubber equaling to 5586). The dominant tree species

257 encountered and their distribution pattern either on the farm boundaries or as scattered trees were, by and large, common except in the case of ailanthus which recorded the highest percentage frequency on farm borders (11.2% of all trees enumerated as against 2% of scattered trees) and mango trees which recorded the highest frequency as scattered trees on the farm lands (7% vs. 5% of boundary planted mango trees). The diameter structure of boundary planted and scattered trees and shrubs other than palms and rubber in the 252 selected homesteads also exhibited a skewed distribution pattern (data not shown).

Potential for timber and firewood production in the homesteads

Average standing stock of commercial timber from homesteads ranged from 6.6 to 50.8 m 3 ha -1 (Table 4). Moreover, palms, mostly coconut, constituted the principal component of commercial timber production in the majority of the thaluks investigated (on an average 63%) of the total standing stock of commercial timber; range: 12.48% to 92.47%). Implicit in this high standing volume of commercial timber is that a substantial proportion of the society's timber demands are met with from the homesteads. In this connection, a study conducted at the Kerala Forest Research Institute [Krishnankutty, 1990] also indicated that homesteads provided for 74.4 to 83.6% of the total wood requirement of the state. The remainder was derived from estates of cardamom, rubber, tea and coffee (9.3 to 11.8%), imports (2.4%) and wood from forests (4.7 to 11.4% [Krishnankutty, 1990].

Table 4. Standing stock of timber and firewood in the homesteads of selected thaluks in Kerala State (m 3 ha-1 overbark). Thaluks
Chirayankil Ernad Hosdurg Karthikappally Kochi Kollam Kothamangalam Kottarakkara Kunnathunadu Muvattupuzha Nedumangad Neyyattinkara Parur Pathanapuram Perinthalmanna Thalappilly Vaikam Timber Firewood .......................... (m3 ha-1) ............................... 12.42 11.87 17.60 20.46 24.74 36.91 30.70 50.82 40.29 31.82 6.58 23.99 24.94 9.52 32.74 27.21 22.75 60.28 36.09 29.23 41.36 37.89 67.55 68.13 70.46 85.92 44.99 23.01 55.64 49.01 29.34 27.32 43.10 73.66

258 Standing fuel wood volume in the homegardens was of the order of 23 to 86 m 3 ha -1 (Table 4). Palms constituted the dominant component of homestead fuelwood availability accounting for almost 72 per cent of the total on farm fuelwood supply (range: 19.7% to 91.5%). If the non-wood fuel from coconut also is considered it would be still higher [see Krishnankutty, 1990 for estimates on this].

Conclusions
Homegardens of Kerala form a sustainable as well as dynamic land use system. Homegarden floristic diversity was generally high but variable among the different provinces of Kerala state, which in turn may facilitate conservation of biodiversity. Furthermore, small holdings exhibited higher diversity indices and evenness, than medium and large sized holdings. Although tree species diversity was generally high, the garden owners throughout the state preferred a more or less common (29 to 81% similarity) set of dominant woody elements. Farmers usually do not adopt any specific planting geometry in the homegardens and the tree components are introduced either as border plants or as scattered trees. Species like Ailanthus triphysa was generally preferred by the farmers for border planting while mango trees dominated the scattered planting in the homegardens investigated. The diameter structure of homegardens exhibited a slightly skewed distribution pattern indicating the highest number of individuals in the 20-30 cm DBH category. Homegardens were also sources of substantial quantities of timber and firewood. Improving these traditional land use systems would, therefore, enable us to reduce the pressure on natural forests for timber and firewood and also would entail conservation of the dwindling tropical forest resources base of the Western Ghats region.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their gratitude to a large number of B.Sc. (Forestry) students of the Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara belonging to the 1987 and 1988 batches, who participated in the house-hold survey. The help and facilities provided by Dr C. C. Abraham, then Special Officer, College of Forestry are also gratefully acknowledged.

259

Appendix I
Relative frequency percentages, utilization classes and important uses of tree species (other than palms and rubber) recorded from sampled homesteads in Kerala state. Species Utilization Relative Important classes frequency uses percentages T2 M3 M2 T1 M4 T2 M3 M3 M4 T2 T4 M3 M4 T2 M3 T3 M4 M3 T3 T2 M3 T4 M4 M4 M4 T2 T3 M4 T2 M3 T4 13.2 12.3 11.7 6.3 5.5 5.4 3.9 3.4 3.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 1.6 1.4 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 4, 18 1,2,3,4,5,12 1,2,3,4 1, 4, 13, 20 1,2,4,8,13 1,3 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14 1, 3, 6, 18 1,3,4 1, 3, 4, 10 t, 7,19 1,3,4,5,12 1, 2, 4 1, 13 1,2,3,4,5,16,20 1, 4, 6, 10, 18, 20, 21 4,6,12 3,4 1, 3, 4, 18, 19 1,4 !, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20 7 4, 17 2 1, 2, 13, 16 1, 2, 3,4, 10, 13, 16, 18, 20 1, 16, 17 22 3 13, 16 1, 16 4, 16, 17 1, 3, 4, 5, 16, 18, 20 1, 10 11 1, 4, 10, 12, 13, 18, 20 2, 13 2
1

Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston. Mangifera indica L. Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk. Tectona grandis L.f. *Anacardium occidentale L. Artocarpus hirsutus Lamk. *Tamrindus indica L. *Erythrina indica Lamk. Macaranga peltata (Roxb.) Muell.-Arg. Thespesia populnea (L.) Soland. ex Correa Bombax ceiba L. *Gliricidia sepium (Jack.) Kunth. ex Walp. *Psidium guajava L. *Swietenia macrophylla King Emblica officinalis Gaertn. *Casuarina equisetifoIia J. R. & G. Forst. *Delonix regia (Boj.) Rafin. *Leucaena leucocephala (Lamk.) de Wit. *Paraserianthes falcataria (L.) Fosberg Terminalia paniculata Roth. *Azadirachta indica Adr. Juss. *Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. *Anonna squamosa L. *Artocarpus communis J. R. & G. Frost. Murraya koenigi Spreng. Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels Strychnos nux-vomica L. Polyalthia longifolia (Sonner.) Thw. BrideIia roxburghiana (Muell.-Arg.) Gehm. Hydnocarpus pentandra (Buch.-Ham.) Oken. Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. Carica papaya L. Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr. Morinda coreia Buch.-Ham. Cinnamomum malabatrum (Burro. f.) BI. Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken. Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Robs. Citrus sp. Dalbergia latifolia Roxb. Cerbera odollam Gaertn. Mimusops elengi L. *Achras sapota L.

X
T3 T3 X T2 Me T1 T4 T2

4, 17 10, 13, 16, 20 2

260
Appendix L (Continued).
Species Utilization Relative Important classes frequency u s e s percentages M4 X X T2 T2 T4 T3 X PL T3 T3 M4 PL T2 T3 M3 T2 X T1 M3 T2 X M3 X M3 X T4 T3 T2 T4 M3 T3 T2 X T2 T2 T4 T2 T4 X T4 T4 M3 T2 T3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1,2,4 2, 16 2, 13, 16 1 1,3,5,6,8,10,16 2,3 1,4,7 16 1,3,7 1,8 1, 10, 13, 16 2, 18, 19 1,2 3 I, 6, 8, 13, 16, 18, 20 1,4,6, 18,20 1,4,5, 8, 10, 13, 16,20 22 1, 3, 13, 16 1, 4, 5, 12, 13, 16, 20 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 13, 18,20 2 1, 3, 7, 12, 13, 18, 20 2 1, 3, 7, 12, 13, 16, 18 3 1, 3,4, 13 1, 16, 19 1,3,4,5,12 1, 17, 19 3,4 1 1,4,5, 13,20 15, 16 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 18, 21 4 1,5 1
1

*Coffea arabica L. Moringa oleifera Lamk. *Myristica fragrans Houtt. Terminalia crenulata Roth. Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. Garuga pinnata Roxb. Hibiscus tiliaceus L. Samadera indica Gaertn. Caryota urens L. Vatica chinensis L. *Adenanthera pavonina L. Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz. Borassus flabellifer L. Artocarpus gomezianus Wall. ex Trec. Albizia procera (Roxb.) Benth. *Acacia auriculiformis A. Cunn. ex Benth. Cassia fistula L. Polyalthia sp. Santalum album L. *Terminalia catappa L. Unidentified Albizia odoratissima (L. f.) Benth. *Averrhoa bilimbi L. Morus alba L. *Averrhoa bilimbi L. Morus alba L. Bauhinia purpurea L. Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. Albizia lebbeck Willd. Excoecaria agalocha L. *Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Michelia champaca L. Xylia xylocarpa (Roxb.) Taub. Saraca asoca (Roxb.) de. Wilde *Melia azadirach L. Elaeocarpus tectorius (Lour.) Poir *Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. Careya arborea Roxb. Carallia brachiata (Lour.) Merr. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. Euodia lunu-ankaenda (Gaertn.) Merr. Ficus exasperata Vahl. *Theobroma cacao L. Syzygium sp. Grewia tiliifolia Vahl. *Eucalyptus tereticornia Sm. Ficus sp.

22 1, 13, 19 1, 14 1,4,6
1

1,3 1, 3, 13, 18 22

261
Appendix L (Continued).
Species Utilization Relative Important classes frequency uses percentages PL T4 T4 T4 T3 T2 T3 T2 T3 X T4 M3 T3 ? X T3 T4 T3 T4 T3 M3 X X T3 T3 X T2 X X T2 T3 T2 T3 T4 M2 T4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.i 0.1 0.1 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.0179 0.0179 0.0179 0.0179 0.0179 8, 16 1 1 1, 7 8, 16, 19 1 1, 8 1 4, 8, 18, 20 5 4 1, 4, 6, 8, 12, 13, 16, 20, 21
1

Cycas circinalis L. Pajanelia rheedi DC. Ficus callosa Willd. Sterculia guttata Roxb. ex DC. Holigarna arnottiana Hk. f. Calophyllum inophyllum L. Dipterocarpus bourdilloni Brand. Lagerstroemia reginae Roxb. Rhizophora mucronata Poir. Wrightia tinctoria (Roxb.) R. Brown Trema orientalis L. BI. Butea monosperma (Lamk.) Taub. Stereospermum chelonoides (L. L) DC. Miliusa tomentosa (Roxb.) Sinclair Bixa orellana L. Holarrhena pubescens (Buch.-Ham.) Wall. ex Don. Terminalia chebula Retz. 9Peltophorum pterocarpum (DC.) Baker ex. Heyne. Semecarpus anacardium L. Diospyros ebenum Koenig. Hydnocarpus alpina Wight. Sapindus laurifolia Vahl. 9Ficus elastica (Roxb.) King Lagerstroemia microcarpa Wt. Memecylon molestum (C1.) Cogn. 9Chrysophyllum cainito L. Vitex altissima L. Lawsonia alba Lamb. 9Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Men'. & Perry Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. Persea macrantha (Nees.) Kosterm. Gmelina arborea Roxb. Toona ciliata Roem. Cullenia exarillata Robyns 9Cassia siamea Lamk. Trewia polycarpa Benth.

22 10 1, 16 3, 4 9 1, 20 1, 4 1 1, 13 13, 14 22 1 4, 10 2 1, 10 10 11 ! 1, 19 1, 4, 8 1, 3, 4 1 1, 4, 5, 8, 18, 20 1, 4, 13, 18

* Exotics. Used codes: 1. Timber, 2. Food & beverages, 3. Fodder, 4. Fuel/Charcoal, 5. Green manure, 6. Nitrogen-fixer, 7. Fiber/flosses, 8. Glues/resins, 9. Latex, 10. Dyes, 11. Species, 12. Apiculture/ sericulture/lac culture, 13. Oil (essential/fatty), 14. Cleaning/polishing agents, 15. Religious, 16. Medicinal, 17. Toxins (poisons/repellents), 18. Paper/pulp, 19. Matchwood, 20. Tannin, 21. Waxes, 22. Uses other than those listed above. Utilization classes: T - Primarily timber yeilding species, M - Multiple use species, PL - Palms, X - Uses other those listed above. (1, 2, 3, 4 - Classification based on natural durability: 1 - Perishable, 2 - Moderately durable, 3 - Durable, 4 - Very durable)

262
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