<strong>Ecorestoration</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> 2. STUDY AREA 2.1 Location <strong>Banni</strong>, the largest single stretch <strong>of</strong> grassland in India, is located on the northern border <strong>of</strong> Bhuj taluka (23° 19' 23° 52' N latitude and 68° 56' to 70° 32' E longitude) <strong>of</strong> Kachchh district in the Gujarat State. It encompasses an area <strong>of</strong> 3,847 sq. km and forms a low alluvial tableland. The entire area is more or less flat and without any gradient. <strong>Banni</strong> has 52 villages, which are under 17 panchayats (Census 1991). The plains <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> geomorphologically resemble an embayment, which is bounded by the Kachchh mainland upliftment in the south, the Pachchham upliftment in the north and the Wagad, and Bela upliftment in the east. In the southern part <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> there is an intervening stretch <strong>of</strong> salty waste known as Little Rann <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong>, which separates the <strong>Banni</strong> from the mainland <strong>of</strong> Kachchh (Figure 1). The name <strong>Banni</strong> was derived from a Kachchhi word ‘Banna/’, which means “<strong>Banni</strong> hui” in Gujarati (made up); signifying that the land has been formed by detritus. There are views that <strong>Banni</strong> was formed by the sediments brought down by the rivers such as Indus, Luni, Banas and Saraswati which, in the recent geological past, flowed through this area from the north and east (Kadikar, 1994). 2.2 Climate The climate <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> is arid. There are three predominant seasons; monsoon extends between end <strong>of</strong> June to September, October and November being the transition months, winter lasts from December to March and summer spreads between April to June. The temperature <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> is high during most <strong>of</strong> the time and it reaches a maximum <strong>of</strong> 48- 49°C during May-June (the hottest months). The winter temperature goes down to 10° C with January and February being the coldest months. The total annual rainfall, occurring through south-west monsoon between June and September, is very low with an average <strong>of</strong> 317 mm per year with a coefficient <strong>of</strong> variation <strong>of</strong> 65 per cent (GAU, 1989). The 16 rainfall is extremely erratic and variable in distribution, therefore, droughts are a recurring phenomenon. 2.3 <strong>Banni</strong> Soil The soils <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> are inherently saline and consist <strong>of</strong> recent alluvium mixed at places with aeolian sandy deposit and the entire area has deep to very deep clayey and coarse textured soils in discontinuous patches. In <strong>Banni</strong>, soil material containing clay loam to silty clay loam is termed as moderately fine textured soils, which ranks first in distribution and covers 59 per cent <strong>of</strong> the total area. The salinity <strong>of</strong> the soil is highly variable from 1.0 (very low) to over 15.0 Mmhos/cm (very high). About 90 per cent <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Banni</strong> area falls under moderate to very high salinity and the pH ranges between 6.5 and 8.5. The soil salinity also changes with the depth <strong>of</strong> the soil horizon. Though, the subsurface water in <strong>Banni</strong> exists at shallow depth <strong>of</strong> about 3m, it is highly saline, thus not suitable for drinking or irrigation purposes. Further, the presence <strong>of</strong> high silt and clay content lessens the vertical and lateral movement <strong>of</strong> surface and subsurface water. About 70 per cent <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Banni</strong> area fall under very slow to slow permeability range (0.00 to 0.13 cm/hr) which subsequently leads to waterlogging in the low-lying areas during good rainfall years. 2.4 Vegetation <strong>Banni</strong> supports the growth <strong>of</strong> perennial and palatable grasses <strong>of</strong> high productivity, which grow in low to moderate saline areas. They are Sporobolus pallidus, Sporobolus helvolus, Dichanthium annulatum, Cenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setigerus, Desmostachya bipinata etc. High saline areas are colonised by perennial grasses <strong>of</strong> low productivity and palatability such as Aeluropus logopoides, Eurochondra sp. etc. Among the tree species Acacia nilotica was once distributed all over <strong>Banni</strong>. The shrub and tree strata were mainly composed <strong>of</strong> Prosopis cineraria.
Fig. 1 : Map showing location <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> <strong>Ecorestoration</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Banni</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> 17