APPRAISAL OF EXISTING AGRO FORESTRY SYSTEMS IN SUB TEMPERATE REGION OF SOLAN DISTRICT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
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Date
2016
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UHF,NAUNI
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “Appraisal of existing agro forestry systems in sub temperate region of Solan District of
Himachal Pradesh.” was carried out in Kandaghat block of Solan during the year 2015-16 with the aim to identify agroforestry land use
systems; estimate their biological yield and economic returns; technological gaps and thereby propose suitable agroforestry solutions. Two
panchayats were chosen and each panchayat was further divided into two villages. In each village, farmers were divided into three different
categories 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 six different agroforestry systems were practiced by the
farmers in the study area namely; Agrisilviculture (AS), Agrisilvipastoral (ASP), Agrisilvihorticulture (ASH), Agrihortisilviculture (AHS),
Silvipastoral (SP) and Hortipastoral (HP). The average family size of sampled households was 6.4 persons/ household. The literacy rate was
recorded highest (92.65%) in medium category of farmers. Wheat, pea, mustard, barley and cabbage were rabi crops, whereas maize,
colocassia, beans, capsicum, tomato, ginger and turmeric were crops of kharif season. Prominent tree components in agroforestry systems
were Grewia optiva, Celtis australis, Pinus roxburghii , Robinia pseudoacasia, Quercus leucotrichophora, Bauhinia variegata, Myrica
esculanta, Pistacia integerrima, Toona ciliata, Pyrus pashia, Morus alba, Ficus roxburghii, Ficus palmata and Prunus padus found in
pastureland and along the bunds of agriculture fields, whereas fruit trees of Prunus armeniaca , Pyrus communis and Prunus saliciana were
retained on and around the bunds of the agriculture field.In pasture, the dominant grass species observed were as follows: Chrysopogon
montanus, Heteropogon contortus, Panicum maximum, Apluda mutica, Dicanthium annulatum, Themada anathera, Ischaemum aristatum, Arundinella nepalensis and Oplismenus compositus. Among all the existing agroforestry systems highest (24.88 t ha-1yr-1) grand total biomass was observed in silvipastoral (SP) system and lowest (12.16 t ha-1yr-1) in Agrihortisilviculture (AHS) irrespective of all farmers
categories of the studied area. Comparative analysis of net returns of different agroforestry revealed that maximum net returns (Rs.297952 ha-1yr-1) was reported from Agrihortisilviculture (AHS) and least (Rs.33232 ha-1yr-1) from silvipastoral system among all the existing
agroforestry systems of the studied area irrespective of all the farmers categories. 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, lack of efficient marketing
channels, communication gap between lab to land, lack of agro processing facilities and ineffective implementation of government
sponsored schemes for the benefits of farming communities. Relevant agroforestry solutions include conducting locality specific diagnostic
survey, strengthening of agro-processing facilities, voluntarily adoption of some villages by state agriculture universities and other related
institutions, Opening of govt. authorized sale centers at accessible places and popularization of HYV seeds etc.
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