Palamu Tiger Reserve gears up for developing fodder species for its herbivores such as elephant, barking deer, gaur, sambhar spotted deer. A three-day training camp for fodder development was held in PTR to sensitise the rangers, foresters and forest guards to locate and identify grasses.
A senior university professor of Botany in Maharashtra’s Amrawati based university Dr GD Murrarkar conducted the training in grass land management in PTR. DFO buffer Mahaling under directives from field director-cum-chief conservator of forest PTR MP Singh initiated this three day training on grass land management.
Speaking to The Pioneer on the penultimate day of the three-day training on Sunday professor GD Murrarkar said effective measures are to be taken for the grass in the 15 acre enclosure raised in PTR for Sambhar. He said there is a strong need to further buttress it with aquatic nutritional grasses for Sambhar.
The PTR abounds in Dina Nath grasses about which this visiting professor said it is not useful in general way as herbivores have a kind of revulsion for it since Dina Nath grass is more exotic. Murrarkar said stress is on for propagating and conserving indigenous grasses more in the PTR.
Asked if the PTR is replete with only non palatable grasses to which Murrarkar said this tiger reserve has top ten palatable grasses and the need is to further manage it for the larger use of it by the various herbivores. Weeds are invasive grasses which come and restrict the growth of healthier grasses. This PTR has weed problem. It has to be eradicated reiterated Murrarkar.
Asked that simply doing away with non palatable grasses will not serve any purpose if the seeds are not taken care of he said the seed management is as vital as grass management as if invasive seeds are not shunted out the problem of weeds around is there.
Classifying weed he said the perennial variety of weed is more a force to reckon with than those weeds that come out thrice in a year say in the months of July, October and December. Quality grasses and its easy availability for herbivores in PTR was the chief motto of this three day training on fodder management said sources. Sources said if the grass land management is updated most of the problems plaguing the herbivores can be settled down.