Forests and trees are essential for the welfare of people and play significant role in sustainable development. Extent of forest resources is one of the criteria for monitoring the progress towards sustainable forest management. The total forest and tree cover of Himachal Pradesh is 15,453 km² which is 27.76 percent of the state’s geographical area. As per National Forest Policy 1988, the aim should be to maintain two-third of the geographical area of the state under vegetal cover in the hills and in mountainous regions; but there is very little scope for realizing the envisaged target in near future in the state. There is no enough culturable land in the state, as large area of the state is covered under alpine pastures, barren and unculturable wastelands and snow bound areas where trees do not grow. Agriculture in the state is mainly subsistence, and hence there is not much scope of expanding agroforestry in these marginal lands. Therefore, it is prudent to focus more on protecting the existing unspoiled forests, eco-restoration and qualitative improvement of the degraded forests. Positive environment towards agroforestry plantation in the state will motivate the farmers to reap the incentives under Sub-Mission on Agroforestry which will not only fulfill the multiplicity of local requirements but also reduce the pressure on existing forests.

The suitability of Rajkoroi (Albizia richardiana) for plywood and particleboard manufacture has been determined. Study shows that 1.5mm thick smooth and figured veneer can be peeled and dried easily. Three-ply plywood were made using veneer of this species bonded with liquid urea formaldehyde glue of 50% solid content extended with wheat flour and catalyzed  with 2% hardener (ammonium chloride) under the three specific pressures, such as 1.05 N/mm²,1.40 N/mm²,  1.76 N/mm² in three replications at 6 minute press time and 120^°C press temperature. Dry and wet shear test were conducted on the samples and their shear load at failure per unit area and percentage of wood failure were determined. 1.05 N/mm² Pressure was found best for the manufacture. The particleboards of Rajkoroi (Albizia richardiana) were tested for determining the strength & dimensional stability. Tensile strength passed the German and British Standard Specification. Bending strength found to be nearest to the  Bureau of  Indian Standard but lower than German and British standard Specification.

The present study was undertaken from December 2009 to September 2015 to explore the grasses of East Nimar, Madhya Pradesh. A total of 245 species belonging to 94 genera were recorded from the area. Eragrostis was the dominant genus with 17 species, followed by Panicum (9 spp.), Aristida, Arthraxon, Ischaemum and Sporobolus (8 spp. each), Brachiaria and Digitaria (7 spp. each), Dichanthium, Pennisetum and Sorghum (6 spp. each). The current nomenclature with flowering and fruiting periods, locality and importance of grasses have been provided.

The population of Croton scabiosus, an endemic tree species of southern Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh,  India was assessed through random sampling in 15 localities spread over 8 locations. In sampled 37.5 h area, a total of 8737 mature  individuals of Croton scabiosus was recorded. Of the 8 locations, Sanipaya sub population was found stable and considered elite owing to the maximum number of mature individuals, girth and height. In spite of good adult population, low number of seedlings and saplings of the species across the native terrain indicates its poor germination and recruitment warranting both in situ and ex situ conservation measures.

Different explants of Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem. cultured on modified MS media gave significant differences for shoot regeneration and root differentiation. Plantlets were successfully developed using axillary bud and cotyledon as explants. There was no shoot formation from leaf explants. Maximum multiple shoots  from axillary buds and cotyledons were obtained on medium containing  MS major salts with BAP 4.0 mg/l + IAA 0.1 mg/l and BAP 5.0 mg/l + NAA 0.5 mg/l, respectively. Healthy roots developed from two step procedure. Isolated shoots were rooted by culturing on half strength MS liquid medium having IBA 2.5 mg/l for 48 hrs and then transferring to hormone free half strength solid MS medium. An initial dark period for 5-7 days favoured root induction. About 55 percent of in-vitro produced shoots were rooted.

A  note on  phytogeographical  distribution and economic  importance of a threatened, medicinally important species Lycium ruthenicum Murray (Solanaceae) in India and adjoining Countries is being provided.

Herbal sector is growing at a fast pace catering to diverse needs of pharamaceuticals to nutraceuticals to cosmeticeuticals to plant extracts due to natural products and traditional medicine inclination world over. Trades of botanicals in the raw drug markets are diverse, complex, unregulated, opaque, fluctuating, unclear regulatory norms and implementation, lack of comprehensive documentation of market information and so on. Due to which, there is a cascading effect on the availability of the plant resources, which is affected by unscientific and destructive harvests along with certain species intrinsic factors.The doctoral study undertook ethnobotanical documentation of 6 raw drug markets of two states in southern India. This resulted in enumeration of 779 plant raw drugs comprising of 298 species, which are traded in two states. A ready reckoner comprising of botanical names, trade names, parts traded, field characters, botanical sources with authenticated information is shared as a catalogue. Such effort will facilitate the preparation of Market action and resource augmentation initiatives involving different stake holders in trade and manufacturers.

The paper deals with 42 species of plants used by the tribals of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh, for curing cold and cough. 25 practices were found to be  new or less known.

An experimental trial was conducted to find out the effective potting mixture and low cost quality planting material through semi-hardwood cuttings propagation of endangered medicinal plant Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari.  The experiment was carried out in CRD (Completely Randomized Design) with six treatments, three replications and 20 cuttings per treatment. Growth in cutting was measured by eleven parameters. Parameter such as sprouting percentage (88.67%), rooting percentage (83.45%), minimum days for sprouting (9.82), number of sprouts (7.17), length of shoot (15.25cm), diameter of shoot (3.950mm), number of leaves (24.83), chlorophyll content a, b and total (7.6290, 5.7083 and 13.3374 mg/100g, respectively) was significantly superior under potting mixture S+S+V (soil+sand+vermicompost). Furthermore rooting parameter such as number of roots (7.51), length of root (14.60cm), diameter of root (1.338mm) was found higher in media containing S+S+C (soil+sand+cocopeat).

The paper deal with by the tribals againts snake bite and scorpion sting. The information has been gathered through field surveys and from available literature.

In this paper highlights a brief description of Hygrophila auriculata Schumach. belongs to Acanthaceae family is provided along with its medicinal use to cure stone in Kidney.