“Diagnostic Survey of Agroforestry Systems in Nadaun Tehsil of Hamirpur District, Himachal Pradesh”
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Date
2021-12-17
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College of Horticulture and Forestry Neri, Hamirpur (H.P.)
Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Diagnostic Survey of Agroforestry Systems in Nadaun Tehsil of Hamirpur
District of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in the year 2020-21 with the aim to identify agroforestry system types; estimate
their biological yield and economic returns; technological gaps and thereby propose suitable agroforestry solutions. Fifteen
gram panchayats were chosen and from each panchayat two villages were selected. In each village, three farmers of each
category were selected which were divided on the basis of their land holding viz. marginal category (< 1ha), small category
(1-2 ha) and medium category (2-4 ha). Data was collected through field sampling and personal interviews. The study
revealed that five different agroforestry systems were practiced by the farmers in the study area namely; Agrisilviculture
(AS), Agrihorticulture (AH), Agrisilvihorticulture (ASH), Agrihortisilviculture (AHS) and Pastoralsilviculture (PS) were
identified. In medium and small category of farmers all five agroforestry systems were present while, in marginal category of
farmers pastoralsilviculture system was absent. The average family size of sampled households was 4.67 person per
household. The literacy rate was recorded highest (90.46%) in marginal category of farmers. Wheat, potato, garlic,
cauliflower and cabbage were rabi crops, whereas maize, colocassia, tomato, ginger and turmeric were crops of kharif season.
Prominent tree components in agroforestry systems were Acacia catechu, Grewia optiva, Celtis australis, Pinus roxburghii ,
Bauhinia variegata, Toona ciliata, Morus alba, Ficus roxburghii, Ficus palmata and Albizia lebbeck found in pastureland
and along the bunds of agriculture fields, whereas fruit trees of Mangifera indica, Morus alba, Litchi chinensis, Syzygium
cumini, Psidium guajava, Citrus limon and Punica granatum were retained on and around the bunds of the agriculture field.
In pasture, the dominant grass species observed were as follows: Cenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setiger, Themada anathera,
Panicum maximum and Setaria sphacelata. Irrespective of farmers categories, the highest grand total biomass (26.39 t/ha was
observed in agrisilviculture system (AS) and lowest (18.74 t/ha) in pastoralsilviculture system (PS). Among all the category
of farmers the maximum net returns (1,41,532 Rs/ha/yr) was reported from agrihortisilviculture (AHS) and least (7,875
Rs./ha/yr) from pastoralsilviculture system. Technological gaps identifying the socio-economic and other constraints have
highlighted the inherent weakness of existing AFS types. The most prominent among these constraints includes
disproportionate applications of insecticides/pesticides and fertilizers, occurrence of fragmented landholdings, communication
gap between lab to land, 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 etc.
From the above study it is concluded that AHS system type was found to be the best for economic point of view whereas
ASH system type was proved more profitable by providing maximum BC ratio.