Cultivation of Agave sisalana in the Dry Tracts of Andhra Pradesh

Anantapur District had been posing many difficulties in the afforestation attempts by the Foresters since many years with several of its limiting factors. It was, therefore, thought to raise Agave sisalana which is known to be a hardy species, withstanding high drought conditions. Nursery stocks were mostly obtained from the Nildongri Sisal Estate, Sambalpur now under the Department of Agriculture of the Government of Orissa at a prohibitive cost. No standardised technique either with regards to raising of nurseries or plantations was available on hand when the plantations were first taken up. The techniques which were found convenient to the local conditions were, therefore, adopted. Improvements were made year after year from 1962 from the experience gathered. The techniques adopted, cost particulars and the damages noticed have been elaborated below. The entire article is an outcome of observations made by the author over three planting seasons; comparison as such to any other reports on the subject has purposely been avoided.