Monsoon plantation: how much of the 4.8-hectare block can actually be planted
You are the beat guard of Compartment 12, a 4.8-hectare degraded sal-mixed patch that has to be planted this monsoon. The approved pit spacing is 3 m × 3 m. The nursery raises seedlings in trays of 200 and charges Rs 14 per seedling; trays are bought whole and unused seedlings cannot be returned. Working norms require 8 per cent extra seedlings for casualty replacement. The plantation budget is Rs 75,000, of which Rs 6,000 is already committed for brushwood fencing that must be completed before planting begins. The monsoon window is 9 working days. Six labourers are available, and the local norm is 250 pit-plantings per labourer per day; the soil is already softened by rain, so no separate time is needed for pit digging. The Range Officer wants the whole block done in one season and asks you, on the first day, how many seedlings you will indent for and whether the money will last.
1. Calculate the number of seedlings you must indent, including replacement stock, and the number of trays.
Read the worked answer
Step 1 - area in square metres. 4.8 ha x 10,000 = 48,000 m2.
Step 2 - area per plant. 3 m x 3 m = 9 m2.
Step 3 - planting points. 48,000 / 9 = 5,333.3, rounded up to 5,334. You round up because the last strip still needs a full row; edge adjustment is done on the ground, not by cutting the count.
Step 4 - replacement stock. 8 per cent of 5,334 = 426.7, rounded up to 427. Casualties are always rounded up; a July shortfall cannot be repaired in August.
Step 5 - total. 5,334 + 427 = 5,761 seedlings.
Step 6 - trays. 5,761 / 200 = 28.8, so 29 trays = 5,800 seedlings, leaving 39 spare. The surplus is not waste: it covers failed tray cells and seedlings damaged in transport. Record the surplus in the nursery register so it is not treated as unexplained stock.
2. Can the full 4.8 hectares be planted within Rs 75,000? Show the arithmetic and identify which constraint is actually binding.
Read the worked answer
Cost. 5,800 x Rs 14 = Rs 81,200. Add fencing Rs 6,000 = Rs 87,200 against a budget of Rs 75,000, a shortfall of Rs 12,200 (about 16 per cent over).
Check the other two constraints before blaming money.
- Labour: 6 labourers x 250 pits = 1,500 pits a day. 5,761 / 1,500 = 3.84, so 4 days out of 9. Labour is not binding.
- Time: 9 days available, 4 needed. Time is not binding.
Conclusion. Money is the only binding constraint. Say so explicitly in your note to the Range Officer, because the remedy depends on which constraint bites: more labour would not help here, but more money, or free seedlings from the departmental nursery, would.
One assumption must be flagged. Rs 14 may be a purchase rate. If the seedlings come free from the departmental nursery, only fencing and labour fall on this budget. A guard should not assume either way; he should ask in writing before the indent is placed, because the indent is what commits the money.
3. The Range Officer says the budget cannot be increased. What area do you plant this year, and how do you use the rest of the season?
Read the worked answer
Affordable seedling money. Rs 75,000 minus Rs 6,000 fencing = Rs 69,000.
Whole trays only. 69,000 / 14 = 4,928 seedlings, but 4,928 / 200 = 24.64 trays. Twenty-five trays cost Rs 70,000, which crosses the balance, so buy 24 trays = 4,800 seedlings for Rs 67,200, leaving Rs 1,800.
Net planting stock. 4,800 / 1.08 = 4,444 pits (replacement already built into the 4,800).
Area. 4,444 x 9 m2 = 39,996 m2, that is about 4.0 ha of the 4.8 ha block.
Labour. 4,444 / 1,500 = 2.96, so 3 days of planting; 6 days remain for fencing, watering, fireline maintenance or helping the adjoining beat.
What must not be done. Do not squeeze 4.8 ha in by reducing the spacing to 2.5 m x 2.5 m. Spacing is a silvicultural prescription, and a denser, under-funded block will fail in the first dry spell and cost more than the 0.8 ha deferred. Report the balance 0.8 ha as 'deferred for want of funds' with reasons, and ask that the unspent Rs 1,800 be either topped up to sanction the 25th tray or surrendered in writing.