Author(s):

Nikita kumari, Jyoti kumari, Anupama Topno, Deepak Kumar and Pratap Kr. Singh

Abstract: The emergence of Agroforestry as an alternative land use practice has paved the way to accomplish the increased pressure on a single tract of land. Most landholdings in Jharkhand are below one acre or even smaller. With the purpose of studying the scopes and challenges of Agroforestry practice in the context of Jharkhand, a sample survey of four panchayats in Namkum Block of Ranchi district in Jharkhand was carried out.The survey disclosed that most people of the mentioned region follow Agroforestry as a traditional land use practice. Among the existing practices, Agrisilviculture (37.50%) and Agriculture (36.87%) are the important land use practices along with Agrihorticulture (18.75%) and Hortisilviculture (6.87%) in the studied area. Agriculture is practiced in the selected village areas either singly or in combination with tree crops such as Melia azaderach (Bakain), Leucaena leucocephala (Subabul), Dalbergia sissoo (Shisham), Gmelina arborea (Gamhar), Tectona grandis (Teak) and Pongamia pinnata (Karanj).The agricultural crops present were Triticum aestivam (Wheat), Brassica nigra (Mustard), Pisum sativum (Pea), Zea mays (Maize) and Oryza sativa (Paddy) etc. The findings also indicated that most of the respondents (96.25%) had below one ha land holding status. The miniature farm sizes and the manner, in which they are fragmented and scattered, constitute an obstacle to farm improvement since they do not enable farmers to take advantage of economies of scale of production. The study suggests for awareness and extension activities to the farmers about Agroforestry technologies, marketing and information regarding the ecological and economic benefits of trees associated with farming. The state government should evolve a strategy towards implementation of the State Agroforestry Policy in consonance with the National Agroforestry Policy 2014, to plan, prioritize and develop agroforestry action plan suitable for Jharkhand.

Pages: 951-954  |  1457 Views  366 Downloads

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