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

Abstract

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.

What affects farmers in choosing better agroforestry practice as a strategy of climate change adaptation? An experience from the mid-hills of Nepal

“…Traditional (home garden, fodder trees with agricultural crops) and the improved (commercial fruit orchards, coffee plantation, and fodder trees with agriculture crops) practices are existing agroforestry practices in the study sites ( Paudel et al., 2019 , 2021 ). Although two thoughts persist in the region, namely, continue the traditional practice or initiate improved agroforestry practices, farmers were also continuing the traditional practice for basic requirements ( Regmi 2003 ; Kiptot and Franzel 2012 ; Paudel et al., 2019 , 2021 ). However, some farmers were modifying their traditional practice into improved practices.…”

“…Climate change also negatively affects the yield and growth of crops and agroforestry species ( Fischer et al., 2002 ; Agwu et al., 2018 ), so farmers adopt different forms of agroforestry practices ( Paudel et al., 2021 ). Over the past few decades, some farmers have been modifying traditional agroforestry practices to optimize benefits, however, some farmers are continuing traditional ones ( Paudel et al., 2019 ).…”

Agroforestry Assisted Natural Farming in India: Challenges and Implications for Diversification and Restoration of Agroecosystem

“…These problems can be overcome by following recommended management practices such as conservation tillage, cover and nurse cropping, crop rotation, integrating climate resilient trees and crops with livestock, efficient cropping and irrigation practices, mulching, proper use of resources and sensible use of off-farm inputs [50]. Some studies compared the adaptation and benefits of these two forms of AF practices [50,51]. Studies reported nearly threefold increase in annual income and diverse benefits from improved AF practices as compared to traditional AF practices [51].…”

“…Some studies compared the adaptation and benefits of these two forms of AF practices [50,51]. Studies reported nearly threefold increase in annual income and diverse benefits from improved AF practices as compared to traditional AF practices [51].…”

Agroforestry potential of Kanchanpur District, Nepal using remote sensing and Geographic Information System

“…Farmers in Nepal have been using their experiences to grow trees combined with crops and livestock for centuries (Paudel et al, 2021). Agroforestry practices in Nepal can be classified as (i) farm-based, which include home gardens and trees grown on agricultural fields, and (ii) forest-based, which includes agricultural activities linked to forests (Khadka et al, 2021).…”