Abstract

Annual forest degradation rate in our country is about 0.15% or 95 thousand ha and out of total agricultural land in India a major part (105 million ha) is under rainfed agricultural practices. Thus there is a need to develop the degraded land to maintain the current rate of forest productivity. The traditional agricultural practices and forestry are constrained by their limited inherent capacity of productivity. Agroforestry, spanning both the land use systems – agriculture and forestry obviously a viable alternative which take care of the objectives of both systems i.e. food security and ecological stability of forest simultaneously. Through this study an attempt has been made to develop a suitable Agroforestry models for reclamation of the vast chunk of red lateritic wastelands in the State of West Bengal in association with the local NGOs and the indigenous people that is the need for the hour. It is found through this field experiment that with the right kind of technology and selection of better combination of different tree species and intercrops with little external input even the gravelly lateritic barren wasteland can be reclaimed as ecologically and economically productive ones.

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