“Appraisal of existing agroforestry systems in Chuhar valley of District Mandi, H.P.”.
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Date
2020-12-04
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College of Horticulture and Forestry Neri, Hamirpur (H.P.)
Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Appraisal of existing agroforestry systems in Chuhar valley of District
Mandi, H.P.” was carried out during the year 2019-20 in Chuhar valley of District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. The valley is
located between 31⁰ 50‟ to 32⁰ 02‟ N latitude and 76⁰ 50‟ to 77⁰ 00‟ E longitude. For the study the Chuhar valley was
divided into two distinct regions viz. northern region and southern region which constituted six panchayats and seven
panchayats respectively. A representative sample of two villages was selected from each panchayat and from each village a
sample of nine farmers was selected and categorized as marginal (<1 ha), small (1-2 ha) and medium (2-5 ha) on the basis of
the land holding. The data was collected through pre-structured schedule for the purpose through personal interviews with head
of the each household and field sampling. Socioeconomic status of farmers has been analyzed taking into account their average
family structure, sex- ratio, educational status, literacy rate, livestock status, off-farm employment status and land holding size.
The study revealed that six agroforestry systems types prevalent among different categories of farmers in northern and
southern regions viz., AS, AHS, ASH, HP, PS and PSH. In northern region, most predominant AFS was AHS, followed by PS.
In southern region, most predominant AFS was PS followed by AS. In northern region, a total of 15 plant families were
recorded with 27 genera and 29 species and in pasture land a total of 10 plant families was recorded with 25 genera and 26
species. In southern region, in agricultural land a total of 22 plant families was recorded which included 41 genera and 48
species. In the pasture land, a total of 20 plant families were recorded with 40 genera and 42 species. IVI studies revealed that
the most dominant fruit trees in AHS system in northern and southern regions were Prunus armeniaca and Prunus persica
respectively. In northern region, among all the existing agroforestry systems highest (21.72 t ha-1) total biomass production
was observed in Agrisilvihorticulture (ASH) system and lowest (9.45 t ha-1) in Pastoralsilviculture (PS) irrespective of
farmers‟ categories. In southern region, among all the existing agroforestry systems highest (22.38 t ha-1) total biomass
production was observed in Hortipastoral (HP) system and lowest (13.07 t ha-1) in Pastoralsilviculture (PS) irrespective of
farmers‟ categories. Comparative analysis of net returns of different agroforestry revealed that in northern region maximum net
returns (183276 Rs. ha-1 yr-1) was reported from Agrihortisilviculture (AHS) and least (7093 Rs. ha-1 yr-1) from
Pastoralsilviculture (PS) system among all the existing agroforestry systems irrespective of all the farmers‟ categories. In
southern region maximum net returns (205113 Rs. ha-1 yr-1) was reported from Agrihortisilviculture (AHS) while lowest (8213
Rs. ha-1 yr-1) from Pastoralsilviculture (PS) system among all the existing agroforestry systems irrespective of all the farmers‟
categories. Technological gaps identifying the socio-economic and other constraints have indicated the inherent weakness of
existing AF systems. The most prominent constraints include disproportionate applications of insecticides/pesticides and
fertilizers, fragmented landholdings, lack of efficient marketing channels, communication gap between lab to land and
ineffective implementation of government sponsored schemes for the benefits of farming communities. Relevant agroforestry
solutions include conducting location specific diagnostic survey, strengthening of agro-processing facilities, voluntarily
adoption of some villages by state agriculture universities and other related institutions and opening of govt. authorized sale
centres at accessible places etc. From the above study it is concluded that AHS and AS system types were found to be the best
for economic point of view in northern and southern regions respectively, hence these systems may be recommended for
Chuhar valley. Hence the study represents the clear picture of biomass and economic analysis of existing agroforestry systems
which will help the researchers and policy makers in planning and developing the strategies to overcome the existing
constraints and to make sure that local people get maximum benefit from agroforestry.