Financial analysis of poplar based agroforestry system in low hill zone of Himachal Pradesh Samriti*, Sharma Ravinder, Sharma Subhash, Pathania Ankit Department of Social Sciences, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan-173 230, Himachal Pradesh. *Corresponding author's E-mail: jsamriti1994@gmail.com
Online published on 27 May, 2021. Abstract Present study was conducted in Una district of Himachal Pradesh to assess economics of existing agroforestry systems and factors affecting adoption of agroforestry. Multistage random sampling technique was used for selection of households in randomly selected Amb and Una blocks of the district. A sample of 60 households was drawn and families were divided into marginal (<1 ha), small (1–2 ha), medium (2–4 ha) and large (>4 ha) farm categories. Poplar based agroforestry was contributing maximum (48.42%) to the total farm income, followed by agriculture (42.60%) and livestock (8.98%). System identified was silvi-agri-pastoral system. At overall level in 2016–17, agroforestry income of household was Rs 1.83 lakh ha−1. Net present worth and benefit: cost ratio indicated that agroforestry was financially viable at the discount rate of 10% over eight years ’rotation. The internal rate of return in eight years rotation was unprofitable at the discounting rate higher than 36%. Returns over time also indicated that agroforestry was more profitable than agriculture. In regression analysis, factors like land holding, family size and number of non-farm workers were found to affect area under agroforestry. The study showed that net income from poplar based agroforestry system was more than agriculture. The change in the prices of poplar negatively impacted the farmers ’income. The price stabilization was necessary for enhancement of farm income. Top Key words Benefit cost ratio, Farmers ’income, Internal rate of return, Net present worth and silvi-agri-pastoral system. Top |