Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal

Farmers are predominantly adopting two forms of agroforestry, traditional and improved practices, in the midhills of Nepal, but their efficacy on a comparative basis is poorly assessed, so farmers often confuse whether to continue the traditional practice or embrace the improved practice. We carried...

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Main Authors: Deepa Paudel, Krishna Raj Tiwari, Nani Raut, Bishal K. Sitaula, Suman Bhattarai, Yajna Prasad Timilsina, Shivaraj Thapa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Advances in Agriculture
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/2918410
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author Deepa Paudel
Krishna Raj Tiwari
Nani Raut
Bishal K. Sitaula
Suman Bhattarai
Yajna Prasad Timilsina
Shivaraj Thapa
author_facet Deepa Paudel
Krishna Raj Tiwari
Nani Raut
Bishal K. Sitaula
Suman Bhattarai
Yajna Prasad Timilsina
Shivaraj Thapa
author_sort Deepa Paudel
collection DOAJ
description Farmers are predominantly adopting two forms of agroforestry, traditional and improved practices, in the midhills of Nepal, but their efficacy on a comparative basis is poorly assessed, so farmers often confuse whether to continue the traditional practice or embrace the improved practice. We carried out a study in six villages of three districts, interviewed 210 farmers adopting each practice, organized six focus group discussions, and interacted with 24 key informants to compare agroforestry practices from income generation and forest conservation perspectives. An individual household adopting the improved practice annually generated 841.60 US$, which was more than two folds of the traditional practitioner. Similarly, the improved practitioner annually fulfilled 84% demand for forest products from the adopted agroforestry practice, whereas the traditional practitioner only fulfilled about 50%. The fodder, fuelwood, and timber productions were found to be significantly higher in the improved practice, whereas leaf litter production was found to be almost similar. The improved practitioners seemed to be self-sustained in forest products, where the traditional practitioners only satisfied half of their requirements from the agroforestry practice. The study concludes that the improved agroforestry practice is more beneficial compared to the traditional practice. Therefore, we suggest the traditional practitioners to modify their ongoing practice to enhance the contribution of agroforestry practice at the local level.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2356-654X
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language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series Advances in Agriculture
spelling doaj-art-dbc8ddcd77e44215834338381dd663972025-02-03T01:24:51ZengWileyAdvances in Agriculture2356-654X2314-75392021-01-01202110.1155/2021/29184102918410Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of NepalDeepa Paudel0Krishna Raj Tiwari1Nani Raut2Bishal K. Sitaula3Suman Bhattarai4Yajna Prasad Timilsina5Shivaraj Thapa6Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, NepalInstitute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, NepalDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Science, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, NorwayInstitute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, NepalInstitute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, NepalEnvironmental Resource Management -ERM, Kathmandu, NepalFarmers are predominantly adopting two forms of agroforestry, traditional and improved practices, in the midhills of Nepal, but their efficacy on a comparative basis is poorly assessed, so farmers often confuse whether to continue the traditional practice or embrace the improved practice. We carried out a study in six villages of three districts, interviewed 210 farmers adopting each practice, organized six focus group discussions, and interacted with 24 key informants to compare agroforestry practices from income generation and forest conservation perspectives. An individual household adopting the improved practice annually generated 841.60 US$, which was more than two folds of the traditional practitioner. Similarly, the improved practitioner annually fulfilled 84% demand for forest products from the adopted agroforestry practice, whereas the traditional practitioner only fulfilled about 50%. The fodder, fuelwood, and timber productions were found to be significantly higher in the improved practice, whereas leaf litter production was found to be almost similar. The improved practitioners seemed to be self-sustained in forest products, where the traditional practitioners only satisfied half of their requirements from the agroforestry practice. The study concludes that the improved agroforestry practice is more beneficial compared to the traditional practice. Therefore, we suggest the traditional practitioners to modify their ongoing practice to enhance the contribution of agroforestry practice at the local level.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/2918410
spellingShingle Deepa Paudel
Krishna Raj Tiwari
Nani Raut
Bishal K. Sitaula
Suman Bhattarai
Yajna Prasad Timilsina
Shivaraj Thapa
Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal
Advances in Agriculture
title Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal
title_full Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal
title_fullStr Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal
title_short Which Agroforestry Practice Is Beneficial? A Comparative Assessment of the Traditional and the Improved Agroforestry Techniques in the Midhills of Nepal
title_sort which agroforestry practice is beneficial a comparative assessment of the traditional and the improved agroforestry techniques in the midhills of nepal
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/2918410
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