Pant, K.S.Thakur, Atul2023-03-102023-03-102020-12-04https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810195035The 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.EnglishThesis