वृक्षायुर्वेद (सुरपाल - प्राचीन भारतीय पादप-विज्ञान, कृषि एवं वृक्ष-चिकित्सा सटीक)

and planting materials to promote germination, seedling
growth, and seedling care (verses 53–62).
Vrikshayurveda deals with cultural practices, e.g.,
sowing of seeds and planting materials; transplanting
of seedlings; spacing between plants and planting
design; preparation of underground pits for seedlings;
seed and fertilizer treatments; watering; planting of
bulbs; sowing or planting time; layout of garden or
landscaping; and other cultural practices (for details see
verses 63–99). Several verses of Vrikshayurveda deal
with plant nutrition; organic fertilizers and their
methods of preparation and application; weeding; and
herbal fertilizer recipes, with or without animal
products, but using one or more species of plants in
specific formulations for target species of trees (for
details see verses 101–115). Several verses (127–154)
provide information on irrigation methods, using water
mixed with herbal products obtained from different
plant species and animal products. Several verses
(116–156) deal with methods to increase fruit production
in different plant species, using herbal formulations,
some of which are species specific.
Vrikshayurveda deals with symptoms of plant diseases
and insect attack, and suggests several methods, using
herbal preparations to maintain excellent health of
different plant species (for details see verses 165–222).
Vrikshayurveda suggests ways to create horticultural
wonders with specific species of plant and animal
products, singly and in formulation (for details see
verses 223–300). Most of these recommendations need
to be tested to verify the claims, while others such as
plantain trees producing pomegranate (verse 246) are
simply not feasible. Surapala compiled the available
information and systematically organized the
recommendations, hoping that the readers would follow
them and use them (verse 3). It seems that Surapala
provided extensive recommendations on cultural
practices from planting to fruit production and plant
protection so that people will conserve the plant
biodiversity and enjoy its benefit (verse 3). He also made
specific recommendations relating to species of plants
that grow in specific environments: marshy, arid, and
ordinary lands (for details see verses 41–43). This reveals
his deep understanding of the agroclimatic conditions
and of adaptation of specific plant species to specific
environments or lands.

Plant indicators

Surapala carefully recorded several plant species and
the ecological conditions under which they grow. Thus,
he noted that occurrence of certain plant species could
be used as indicators for crop production, animal
production, water availability, and other attributes.

Crop production

Surapala referred to seven species of trees considered
as indicators of specific crop production areas due to
their natural occurrence on land. These tree species are:
Ficus benghalensis for barley, Diospyros tomentosa for a
rice variety that matures in 60 days, Ficus religiosa for
all types of crops, Syzygium cuminii for growing black
gram and sesame, Albizia lebbek for green gram, Madhuca
indica for growing wheat, and Alstonia scholaris for barley
production (verses 320–321).

Animal production

Surapala mentioned (verse 322) that the occurrence of
Butea monosperma indicated the presence of elephants,
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