Infodoc : Sciences, Techniques et Culture

Une étude de la structure, de flux d'énergie et de la tendance dans le système agroforestier traditionnel dans l'Himalaya Central.
Agroforestry as been practised throughout the central Himalayan region for a very long time. However, the structure of this traditional agroforestry system is more than a simple combination of woody and herbaceous components on the same unit of land. This subsistence strategy has evolved under the constraints and opportunities peculiar to the region and has permitted the rural folk to thrive in an environment of inherently low productivity. It features interactions among five components:
- crop fields,
- a private land support system (trees in and around crop field),
- a forest support system (natural forest around the village, village community forest[...]

Une étude de la structure, de flux d'énergie et de la tendance dans le système agroforestier traditionnel dans l'Himalaya Central.
Agroforestry as been practised throughout the central Himalayan region for a very long time. However, the structure of this traditional agroforestry system is more than a simple combination of woody and herbaceous components on the same unit of land. This subsistence strategy has evolved under the constraints and opportunities peculiar to the region and has permitted the rural folk to thrive in an environment of inherently low productivity. It features interactions among five components:
- crop fields,
- a private land support system (trees in and around crop field),
- a forest support system (natural forest around the village, village community forests, etc.)
- livestock and
- man in the uniquely specific socio-economic-cultural setting of the region.
The present study indicates that the private land support system in central Himalaya has become very weak with the passage of time due to the ever increasing human and livestock populations and their associated demands. Although the import of energy into the system amounts to only 6.0% of the total utilized energy, this independence of outside energy sources has been achieved at the cost of environmental degradation of species rich forests, soil erosion and silting of reservoirs at about thrice the rate of their designed capacity. The cropping paterns, fodder, firewood and manure fluxes of Siloti and Chanoti villages have been used to exemplify and amplify other data, and describe the agroforestry system in terms of energy fluxes among its different components. The livestock component plays a vital role in linking the over components and maintaining the health of the cropland. Arable crop production is largely at the cost of energy derived from adjacent
forests because the private land support component is diminishing. However, as a consequence of the unsustainable drain on the forest component, the survival of the present form of traditional agroforestry system is endangered. To make the system ecologically sound and sustainable, it is essential to revive and increase the tree component in the private land support system even at the expense of agricultural production.