JANJU, SHIVA2021-12-272021-12-272021-12https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810179900ABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Appraisal of existing agroforestry systems in Seraj valley of District Mandi, H.P.” was carried out during the year 2020-21 in Seraj valley of District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh with the objective to evaluate existing agroforestry systems, estimation of their biological yield and economic returns, to find out technological gaps in the systems and thereby propose possible solutions to overcome them. The study area was selected through multistage sampling technique. For the study 15 Panchayats of Seraj valley were randomly selected. From each Panchayat a representative sample of two villages were selected and from each village, a sample of nine farmers were selected and categorized as marginal (<1 ha), small (1-2 ha) and medium (2-5 ha), on the basis of their land holding. 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 seven types of agroforestry systems prevailing among different categories of farmers in Seraj valley viz., AH, AHS, AS, ASH, HA, HP and PS. Among all the existing agroforestry systems the highest total biomass production was recorded in HA system in the medium category (21.68 t ha-1) while the lowest total biomass production was recorded in PS in the small category (8.34 t ha-1) of the farmers. Also the highest net return was recorded in HA system in medium category of the farmers (206830.44 Rs. ha-1 yr-1), whereas lowest net return was reported in PS in small category of the farmers (13946.30 Rs. ha-1 yr-1). Technological gaps identifying the socio-economic and other limitations have shown the inherent weakness of existing AF systems. The most significant constraints were disproportionate insecticide/ pesticide and fertilizer applications, fragmented landholdings and a lack of efficient marketing channels, a communication gap between lab and land, and ineffective implementation of government-sponsored schemes for the benefit 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 centers at accessible places etc. From the above study it is concluded that HA, AH and AHS system types were found to be the best for economic point of view in Seraj regions respectively, hence these systems may be recommended for Seraj valley. As a result, this study provides a clear picture of biomass and economic analysis of existing agroforestry systems and it will be used as a tool for students, researchers and policy makers to better understand the agroforestry systems in the study area in order to improve and develop teEnglishThesis