Page 74 - Agroforestry system - book inner (web) - 9-3-21_Neat

National level e-symposium on “Agroforestry system for augmenting livestock
productivity and empowering resource poor rural farmers”

domesticated several tree species on agricultural lands, which evolved into the extant agroforestry practices.
Local people have designed woody perennial-based systems for meeting their livelihood requirements,
especially during lean periods. These woody perennial-based systems help the farmers combat the rising
fodder and fuelwood prices resulting from increased demand and reduced supply of fuelwood due to forest
degradation. Community and private forests (wood lots) are protected at the community level. In community
forests, the whole area is divided into small block or compartments and each compartment is allotted to the
inhabitants for rotational lopping of fodder particularly oaks woodlots during lean (winter) season.

Homestead agroforestry system

This farming is traditional in the Himalayan region. In a home garden multiple crops are present in
a multi-tier canopy configuration. The leaf canopies of the components are arranged in such a way that
they occupy different vertical layers with the tallest components having foliage tolerant to strong light and
high evaporation demand and the shorter components having foliage requiring or tolerating shade and high
humidity. In upper parts of district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh the homestead is constituted of Fodder trees
i.e. Celtis australis (Khirak), Bahaunia variegata (Kachnar), Grewia optiva (Beul) in the upper story. The
middle storey is constituted of bushes and fruit trees. During the rainy season cucurbits (vines) are grown
along with Colocacia, turmeric in the field and (winter) vegetables during the winter season.

In Meghalayan homestead pisciculture is the common practice. Important timber trees Pinus
kesia (Khasipine) Alnus nepalensis (Utis) , Schima wallichii (chillowane) etc. are grown in the homestead
for their requirement. In the lower storey guava, banana and vegetables are grown for domestic consumption.
However, wide variations in the intensity of tree cropping are found among homegardens in different
locations. This can generally be attributed to the differences in socio-economic conditions of the households
and their responses to externally determined changes particularly to price of the inputs and products,
dependence on land etc.

Multipurpose trees on the crop land

It is a common practice in the Western Himalayan region to cultivate wheat, peas, potato, cauliflower,
mustard etc. during winter and maize, tomato, chillies etc. during the summer season either in monoculture
or mixed on the permanent terraces prepared across the hill slopes. Fodder, fuel and timber trees viz. Grewia
optiva (beul), Celtis australis (khirak), Bauhinia variegata (kachnar), Toona ciliata (toon), Morus
alba (toot), Ulmus laviegata (meryano), etc. are deliberately left or grown on the bunds of terraces. This type
of practice i.e. agrisilvicultural system is prevalent in sub-montane and mid hills sub-humid zone of Himachal
Pradesh.

Similarly in the Agri-horticultural system which is predominantly followed in the mid hill-sub humid and
high hill-temperate wet zones, fruit trees are grown on terrace bunds along with agriculture crops since fuel and
fodder are readily available from other sources. Agricultural crops like peas, cabbage, colocacia, turmeric and
pulses are generally grown in the inter-spaces of horticultural trees such as Malus domestica (apple), Prunus
domestica (plum), P. armeniaca (apricot) P. persica (peach), P. deueis (almond) and Pyrus communis (pear).
In some cases fuel or fodder/timber trees are also retained on the field bunds and managed under agri-horti-

Institute of Animal Nutrition, Centre for Animal Production Studies, TANUVAS
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development 51