A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology,1998

This study has investigated traditional agroforestry practices and non-wood forest products (NWFP) based income-generating opportunities to the farmers of low input hill farming system of mountain watershed. Brief mention is made of forest based non -wood forest products and their use pattern. Participatory rural appraisal is adopted to understand farmer's tree species selection criteria for agroforestry system. Watershed management program in general and gap in program implementation in particular is examined. Due to change in forest cover and composition there has been gradual shift in terms of non-wood forest products collection and use. Fruits production is becoming an attractive means of earning in rural household economy. Agroforestry practice is basically fodder and fuel wood production oriented. Farmers have minimized soil loss from their farm through various indigenous practices including tree-crop planting. Biophysical condition of the watershed in general is satisfactory but the socio-economic situation of the watershed inhabitants is not improving due to degrading land productivity. Farmers have adopted integrated farming system. Optimizing overall output of the system has been their concern rather than maximizing the output of one component. Delicate balance between farming system components is getting disrupted due to faulty resource management approach and population pressure. External support in watershed management has not been able to address the root cause of the problem. Agroforestry practice is suggested as a viable land use option · in low input farming system. Domestication, improvement and introduction of Promising multipurpose tree species in the existing farming system should be the focus of farm research. This is expected to help improve the overall output of the farming system in general and level of income in particular. Finally, a broad framework to link watershed condition, agroforestry and income generation is proposed.