Glossary - Afforestation, Reforestation and Forest Restoration in Arid and Semi-arid Tropics - page 271

more than one, for the simple reason that the plant production process involves losses
of plant material at various stages.

Propagation losses Loss in plant material in the process of plant propagation in
nursery. Propagation losses can be very high in certain methods whereas these are
insignificant in others.

Protected areas Areas of natural wilderness set apart for conservation of flora and
fauna.

Provenance The characteristic source or place from where seeds or plants were
obtained.

Pruning The practice of cutting of parts of a plant, usually unwanted branches, for
better shape and more fruitful growth.

PVC ⇒ Polyvinyl chloride

Quality check statement A statement recording inspections made and different
aspects of quality checked with results thereof, for a given period. It affords checking
quality on-the-fly rather than verifying it afterwards which may really not be possible
in many situations.

Ranging rods Rods or sticks of bamboo used for aligning a straight line in surveying.

Ravines Small narrow steep-sided network of gullies worn into soil by the running

water.

RC Reinforced concrete. Also known as RCC for reinforced cement concrete.

Recalcitrant seeds Seeds that are difficult to germinate because of hard seed coat.
Such seeds should be sown—whether in field or in nursery—after effective pre-
treatment.

Recurring costs Costs that are incurred with passage of time and repeat over a
period of time. Usually same as the establishment costs.

Reforestation Establishing cover of trees, shrubs, and grasses on a tract of land that
had a forest cover on it until 50 years ago or later. Often the same species are used
that had existed earlier.

reseeding ⇒ Overseeding.

Resowing Sowing seeds again, usually in the next season or next rainfall, when the
seeds sown earlier have not germinated successfully.

Relative density Density of a substance expressed in terms of the dimensionless
ratio of density of the substance to the density of water. It is always equal to the
density of the substance expressed in gram per millilitre (g/ml), because the density
of water expressed in this unit is equal to one.
Residual sodium carbonate Index of soil water used to indicate the alkalinity
hazard of soil and to find the suitability of water for irrigation in clay soils with