proposal for Agro forestry system in siddharthanagar municipality, Bhairahawa
1. A Proposal on…….
Promotion of Improved Agro Forestry System in Siddharthanagar
Municipality of Rupandehi District
Submitted to
Mr.Manoj Basnet
(Asst. Prof)
Department of Horticulture
IAAS, Paklihawa Campus,
Rupandehi
Submitted by
Suraj Poudel
Class Roll No.: 60
B. Sc. Ag. 5th Semester
IAAS, Paklihawa Campus,
Rupandehi
2. RESEARCHTITLE:
Promotion of Improved Agro Forestry System in Siddharthanagar
Municipality of Rupandehi District
INVESTIGATOR:
Mr. Suraj Poudel
B.Sc.Ag, 5th Semester
IAAS, Paklihawa Campus
Email: poudelsuraj08@gmail.com
Phone no. 9862762453
MAJOR ADVISOR:
Mr. Manoj Basnet
Assistant Professor
Department of Horticulture
IAAS, Paklihawa Campus
RESEARCH SITE:
Siddharthanagar municipality,
Rupandehi district
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET:
Rs. 13,55,400/- (Thirteen lakhs fifty five thousand and four hundred rupees only)
RESEARCH PERIOD:
Starts on: January, 2019
Ends on: june, 2019
3. INTRODUCTION:
Agroforestry is relatively new name for a set of old practices. The people have used different
definitions and even some imaginative and fanciful illustrations to describe Agroforestry.
However, it has now become an accepted land use system and the most acceptable definition
is: Agroforestry is any sustainable land use system that maintains or increases total yields by
combining food crops (annuals) with tree crops (perennials) and/or livestock on the same unit
of land, either alternately or at the same time, using management practices that suit the social
and cultural characteristics of the local people and economic and ecological conditions of the
area.
Agroforestry is a collective name for a land-use system and technology whereby woody
perennials are deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops
and/or animals in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In an Agroforestry
system there are both ecological and economical interactions between the various
components. This definition implies that:
Agroforestry normally involves two or more species of plants (plants or animals), at least one
of which is perennial.An Agroforestry system always has two or more outputs. The cycle of
an Agroforestry system is always more than one year and Even the most simple Agroforestry
system is more complex ecologically (structurally and functionally) and economically than a
monocropping system.
Principles of Agroforestry
• Productive- Agroforestry systems have capacity to produce food crops, fruits, leaf litter,
timber, fuel wood, and fodder for livestock.
• Protective- Agroforestry helps to minimize the degradation of the farm lands and other
natural resource by working as shelterbelt.
• Ameliorative- Agroforestry systems with legume trees and crops help to maintain or
improve the productivity of the land.
• Livelihood improvement- Income can be generated from the sale of forest and agriculture
products.
General Objective:
To improve the existing agroforestry system of Siddharthanagar municipality for the
upliftment of socio-economic status of rural people.
Specific Objectives:
To explore the existing agroforestry practices of local people.
To assess the contribution of existing agroforestry practices in the livelihood of
community and local people
To determine the problems, attitudes and people’s participation of existing AF
practices
To explore the potential AF practices in the community and local people
To maximize the overall production of food/fruits, woody crops and fodder and forage
including livestock per unit area.
4. To provide support for the conservation of soil, water and other resources including soil
productivity.
To improve local environment. To enhance the socio-economic condition of the farmers.
Statement of problem
Traditionally, people were heavily dependent on forests for supply of timber, fuel wood and
fodder. But now due to urbanization and the increase in human population, the need of
supplies also increase and the traditional methods are not sufficient. So, proper technique of
agroforestry is the present need to fulfill our requirements in a sustainable manner.
Farmers’ existing knowledge and practices are the foundation for development of appropriate
and adaptable AF interventions. Until and unless indigenous technologies, existing practices
and reasons behind them are not understood, one will be unable not only to evaluate the
strengths and weakness of such practices, but also to know what should be done and which
variables should be changed or modified for betterment. Hill farming systems are in fact,
based on strategies to manage forest, pasture, arable land simultaneously in an integrated
fashion to obtain essential items of food, shelter and clothing (Denholm, 1991), but the
research on such important field is lacking.
There are several practices in different agro-ecological region of Nepal, but they are not well
studied and documented. Now it is necessary to document, evaluate, improve and replicate
the best practices in other parts of the country. Moreover, the AF systems that have been
traditionally practicing only return the subsistence need of the local people and from this
subsistence return; the socio-economic status has not been uplifted.
Rationale of study:
Siddharthanagar Municipality of Rupandehi District is inhabited by the people of different
castes, races, religion, etc. The people living here are of mixed type sucha as Madhesis,
gurungs, kohar, Shah, Chhetris,Yadav, Brahmin etc. Mostly, the farmers are from Madhesis
community and they grow crops in their fields. I have choosen Siddhartha municipality for
agro forestry research because this place has plain fields where almost all the crops such as
rice, maize, wheat, mustard, potato, vegetables, fruits etc are grown and also there are forest
areas seen in the fields. Mostly the farmers are poor and illiterate so they are ignorant about
the agroforestry system and its importance in crops production increment and soil and water
conservation. They are not able to harnessed benefits from the agroforestry system present in
their fields. Moreover, they are uneducated and unknown about the soil fertility improvement
5. practices, climate change effects and other factors. Thus, it is urgent to explore and improve
about the agroforestry system and makes rural people aware about the importance of
adopting agroforestry practices in crop productions.
Review of the Literature
Agroforestry (AF) involves the coexistence of the trees with agriculture, both in time and
space, and has been practiced as an informal basis ever since human began to till the soil and
herd animals (Churchill, 1993)
Research on AF has increased since 1983, and a scientific framework for the quantitative
analysis of AF systems is gradually developing (Ong, 1996)
Planting trees on agriculture land or the ‘Practice of Agriculture’ can protect forest by making
tree products such as firewood and fodder easily available to farmers, can restore fertility of
land by decreasing soil erosion, adding nutrients through decomposition of leaf litter and
nitrogen fixation, recycling leached-down nutrients and helping breakdown of nutrients in the
subsoil by means of deep roots (Shrestha, R. K., 1995). Problems such as shortage of forest
resources have been reduced by the mid-hill farmers through retaining or keeping trees in
various parts of their farmland along with crops for centuries despite having limited
landholding (Shrestha, R. K., 1995).
According to Nepal Planning Commission, about 60% of the households (HHs) own 0.3 to
1.1 ha. of land and these small farmers are not able to develop farm woodlot separate from
their agricultural production. AF systems are their only practical option to meet the needs of
forest and agricultural produces (Joshi 1990a, cited by Thapa 2003).
Many authors (Fonzon and Oberholzer 1984; Thapa et al. 1989; Robinson 1993; Shrestha
1994) mentioned about keeping or retaining trees of various species by mid-hill farmers in
their different type of farmland. However there has been merely any document, which
suggests different patterns of retaining or keeping different tree species by farmers on various
part of their land (Shrestha R. K., 1995).
6. Methodology:
Selection of Study Area:
The study area is Siddharthanagar Municipality, Rupandehi District. This district lies in
27°30′N latitude 83°27′E longitude'.
Data Collection:
Primary Data Collection:
It will be collected through reconnaissance survey, key informant interview, questionnaire
survey, formal and informal discussion, focus group discussion, matrix ranking and direct
observation.
Secondary Data Collection:
Secondary Data will be collected from OP and constitution of CFUG, DFO, DSCO, DDC,
NGOs/INGOs, libraries, journals, magazines, internet etc.
Data Analysis and Interpretation:
Data analysis will be done with the help of simple statistical tools like bar diagram,
histogram, pie chart, etc for the quantitative data. Qualitative data will be analyzed with
descriptive methods.
7. Budget:
Following budget allocations are made to accomplish the above mentioned thesis research
experiment.
S.N. Description Qty Amount (NRs)
1. Human resource
A. Project coordinator
B. Social mobilizer
C. Support staff
1
2
5
3,00,000
3,00,000
6,00,000
2. Data collection 10,000
3. Data analysis 15,000
4. Stationary Cost, typing, printing, binding,
photocopy, etc
10,000
5. Report writing and publication 10,000
6. Distribution of trees saplings 100 10,000
Sub total 12,55,000.00
Contingency(3%) 37,650.00
Overhead (5%) 62,750.00
Total 13,55,400.00
Time Frame:
S.N. Activities Month (2019)
jan feb march april may june
1. Site selection and preliminary
field visit
2. Literature review
3. Preparation of the
questionnaire
4. Survey
5. Data analysis
6. Report writing/ preparation
7. Report presentation
8. Expected Results or benefit
The expected outputs will be to:
explore out the existing AF practices
assess the contribution of existing AF practices to the livelihood of community and
local people
determine problems, attitudes, and participation towards existing AF practices
Explore at the potential AF practices to the community and local people that will
commercialize their products rather than only fulfill their subsistence need so as to
uplift their socio-economic states.
Calculate the cost-benefit analysis of 3 highly potential AF practices and formulate
models of them.
Training potential
I will get an opportunity to learn and conduct a social survey with realistic situation related to
resource conservation and use in hilly areas of Nepal. After completion of the survey, I will
be able to generate valuable information and data regarding the contribution of AF in
livelihood of rural communities as well as generate valuable information on potential agro-
forestry practices in the research area. Moreover, the document can provide guidance for
policy formulation for control of environmental degradation by existing practice of using
non-renewable energy sources. The concept of using renewable energy resources will be
disseminated among the rural and marginal community. In addition, this will strengthen my
concepts on project development, implementation, and report writing as an additional
academic requirement for bachelor degree.
9. References
Churchill, H. 1992. Forestry with Populus deltoids. South African Forestry Journal 167. Page
63-66
Denholm J., 1991, Agroforestry in Mountain areas of Hindukush Himalayan Region,
ICIMOD, Occasional paper no. 17, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Mahat, T. B. S., 1987. Forestry-Farming Linkages in the Mountains, ICIMOD Occasional
paper no. 7, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal
Ong, C. K., 1996. A Framework for Quantifying the Various Effects of Tree-Crop
Interactions
Shrestha R. K., 1995) Deforestation of agroforestry in Nepal, M. Sc. Thesis, the University of
Adelaide, USA.
Thapa N., 2003. Agroforestry Practices in Community Forestry and Private Farmland in
Eastern Hill of Nepal
Yadav Y. 1992, Farming-Forestry-Livestock Linkages: a component of Mountain Farmers’
Strategies
