Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 12 (2), April 2013, pp. 231-239 Indigenous management practices of betel-leaf (Piper betle L.) cultivation by the Khasia community in Bangladesh M Rafiqul Haider* 1 , Abul Khair 2 , M Mahfuzur Rahman 2 & M Khairul Alam 1 1 Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box No - 273, Chittagong 4000, Bangladesh 2 Department of Botany, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh E-mail: haider_bfri@yahoo.com Received 16.11.12, revised 14.01.13 The Khasia community, living within reserve forests of Sylhet division mostly in Moulvibazar district. Traditionally they grow betel-leaf on trees which is different from plain land betel-leaf cultivation. Tree based betel-leaf cultivation is a productive and sustainable agroforestry system. Average farm size is about 1.21 hectares per family. The study recorded 86 support tree species in the farm land. Stocking density in the farm land is 1452 trees per hectare excluding seedlings and saplings, with a wide variety of diameter classes. Artocarpus chama and Areca catechu are the most suitable support tree species for betel-leaf farming. Farmers propagates betel vine through stem cutting. June-August is the optimum time for planting betel vine. Support tree pruning and mulching are essential management practices for betel-leaf farming. Leaf rot and stem rot are two common diseases occur in betel-leaf farm. Male members conduct farm activity and harvesting of betel-leaf and the female members operate betle leaf processing and marketing. The state of the art of betel-leaf cultivation as a viable and sustainable farm, lie in its management practices, a skill of the Khasia community. To extend this farming practice one is to understand its cultivation and management practices. Keywords: Indigenous management, Betel-leaf cultivation, Khasia community; Bangladesh IPC Int. Cl. 8 : A01 Betel-leaf (Piper betle L.: Piperaceae), is a perennial dioecious climber that climbs up trees or other supporting materials with the help of its adventitious roots 1-3 . It is a popular mastication, usually chewed with slice of betel nut (Areca catechu) and lime, widely popular among people of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Srilanka, Indonesia and Malaysia 4-6 . The leaf is widely used in social, cultural and religious events for hospitality and also has medicinal value 7 . It is an important economic crop in Bangladesh and exported to Middle East, Britain, Pakistan and some other African countries 8 . In Bangladesh, it is widely cultivated in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Jessore, Khulna, Kustia, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Narail, Bhola, Barisal, Faridpur, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Gaibanda, Pabna, Cox’s Bazar and in greater Chittagong district 9-10 . Based on the cultivation practices betel vine can be divided into two groups, the plain land betel-leaf (boroj pan) and tree-betel-leaf (gach pan). Khasia people cultivated tree betel-leaf or gach pan in greater Sylhet districts, locally called Khasia pan. Khasia’s is one of the ethnic communities out of 45 tribal communities live in Bangladesh 11 . They live in a cluster village generally located on top of the hill or hillocks called punji. Besides Khasia people, Bengali people of adjacent areas also cultivate Khasia betel- leaf around their homesteads 9 . The main occupation of Khasia community was subsistence agriculture mainly rice cultivation in plain land and cultivation of citrus, lemon, betel-leaf, betel nut and fruits. At present betel-leaf cultivation has become their main source of livelihood 2, 9, 12-16 . More than 80% Khasia people are dependant on tree based betel-leaf cultivation for their livelihood 14 . Tree based betel-leaf cultivation is one of the important agroforestry practices in Bangladesh 17 , and sustainable agroforestry system both economically and ecologically 12 . This practice is a cash oriented production system in the forested areas and forest trees are used as support for climbing of betel vines. The production system is labor intensive and confined to limited areas. This is also practiced in Eastern India 18 . This agroforestry practice of the Khasia community plays an important role in biodiversity conservation 17, 19-20 . The art of betel-leaf cultivation is __________ *Corresponding author