Appraisal of Existing Agroforestry Systems in Hamirpur Tehsil of District Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Loading...
Date
2024-04-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
College of Horticulture and Forestry Dr YSP UHF, Neri, Hamirpur(H.P.)
Abstract
The current study was conducted in 2022–2023 and is titled "Appraisal of Existing Agroforestry Systems in Hamirpur Tehsil of District Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh." The study area is located at an elevation of 786-1250m above mean sea level, with coordinates ranging from latitude 31°25' to 31˚52' N and longitude 76°18' to 76˚44 'E. Through multistage random sampling, eight panchayats were selected, and two villages were chosen from each panchayat to examine the socioeconomic standing of the farmers and the vegetation composition of the land use systems they practiced. A total of three farmers from each category viz.marginal category (<1 ha), small category (1-2 ha), and medium category (2-4 ha) were chosen from each village. Personal interviews with the heads of each household and field visits were used to gather the data according to a pre-planned schedule. Farmers in the study area were practicing five distinct agroforestry systems in accordance to the study viz. agrisilviculture (AS), agrisilvihorticulture (ASH), agrihorticulture (AH),agrisilvipastoral (ASP), and silvipastoral (SP). The sampled households' average family size was 4.57 individuals per family, and the overall sex ratio was 953. The medium category of farmers had the highest (91.80%) recorded literacy rate. The main crops of the Rabi season were Wheat, Potato, Garlic, Cauliflower, and Cabbage. Whereas, Maize, Tomato, Colocasia and Turmeric were the predominant crops of kharif season. Acacia catechu, Grewia optiva, Bauhinia variegata, Toona ciliata, Morus alba, Ficus religiosa, Mallotus philippensis, and Albizia lebbeck were among the prominent tree components found along the bunds and boundaries of farm fields in Agrisilviculture system. On the other hand, Mangifera indica, Morus alba, Litchi chinensis, Psidium guajava, Citrus limon and Carica papaya were the main fruit tree species in Agrihorticulture system. The primary tree species in the silvipastoral system were Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia catechu, Ziziphus mauritiana, and Pinus roxburghii, while the primary grass species were Cenchrus ciliaris, Themada anathera, Panicum maximum, and Setaria sphacelata. Irrespective of farmers categories, the highest grand total biomass (27.83 t/ha) was observed in Silvipastoral system. Among all the category of farmers the maximum net returns (₹1,24,425/ha/yr) were reported from agrisilvihorticulture (ASH) and least (₹4,326/ha/yr) from silvipastoral system as economic value (₹/ quintal) of trees was calculated for fuelwood and fodder only. The primary roadblocks identified in the research area were fragmented landholdings, poor extension, insufficient irrigation, and lower involvement of youth in farming. Implementing location-specific diagnostic surveys, bolstering adoption of new technologies, efficient markets, willing adoption of certain villages by agriculture research centres and state agricultural universities to start various agricultural projects and so on are examples of pertinent agroforestry solutions. The ASH system type was determined to be the best from an economic point of view based on the research mentioned above.