Planting, Regeneration, Aftercare and Maintenance - Afforestation, Reforestation and Forest Restoration in Arid and Semi-arid Tropics - page 119

at biomass production and establishment of ground cover for soil conservation—in
which case it is not important to have straight stems—in many fodder production
areas the grasses will fail to come up if the trees sprawl out unruly and cover all
the space with proliferating branching close to the ground. In such cases, the plants
must be low-pruned and trained to grow straight up and to allow light on the ground.
Singling of multiple stems is also required in case of certain species for the same
considerations.
Plants of different species will need pruning at different ages. This may also vary
from site to site since growth of plants is affected by the site-specific edaphoclimatic
conditions. Allowances should be made for these and other factors while designing
a plan for pruning of the plants.
Long term maintenance of S&WC structures should be also planned, keeping in
view the need and effectiveness of the structures. Each structure except the stop dams
is so intended that it will eventually fuse into the natural landscape. Till then, care
should be taken to ensure that these are not damaged; although, as seasons pass, it
will become less likely that a contour trench is breached or a check dam is pulled
apart, since the effect of the afforestation work in the area will start reducing and
moderating the runoff of rain water.