Forage yield and carbon dynamics of mulberry fodder banks under varying density and harvest interval in coconut garden

In land crunch humid tropical regions like Kerala, the integration of protein rich mulberry hedgerows in coconut garden provides an excellent option to enhance quality forage production and carbon sequestration, but exhibit considerable variation to accumulate biomass and carbon under different management regimes. Hence, an attempt was made to assess the forage yields and carbon sequestration potential of mulberry fodder banks under three levels of plant density viz., 49382, 37037 and 27777 plants ha⁻¹ and three levels of harvest interval viz., 8, 12 and 16 weeks, in coconut garden using 3 × 3 factorial randomized block design, replicated thrice. The results indicate that mulberry fodder banks yielded maximum dry forage (32.85 Mg ha⁻¹ coconut garden over three year period) at the highest tree density of 49382 plants ha⁻¹ and at 12 weeks harvest interval, when compared to other management options. In addition, the intercropped mulberry hedgerows has fixed more carbon to a maximum of 33 Mg ha⁻¹ over three year period in the plant biomass and in soil up to 40 cm depth, when compared to coconut monoculture systems, thereby making considerable contribution for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to minimize global warming.