Agro Forestry System
Boon For Terai Farmers

By Shahab Uddin Khan

THE pressure on land resources has increased many folds in recent years as a result of increasing population and rising demands for food, fuel and fodder. Under such conditions agro forestry seems to be a logical solution to meet the requirements of fast growing population in sustainable manner and also ensure environmental stability and provide economic security. The trees also have potential of utilising the unproductive and/or less productive marginal land; farm bunds and boundaries. They require limited farm operation. Hence tree- crop cultivation is more evergy efficient than annual crops alone. Thus the system of land management with integrated food crops with tree cultivation (Agro forestry) will be more stable and diversified compared to mono-cropping system. Besides reducing soil erosion, it gives combined production of food and energy from the same place of land. It is also within the capacity and reach of the poor farming society. In agro forestry, there are both ecological and economical interactions amongst the different components.

Popularity

In Nepal Terai Populus and Eucalyptus are being raised on an increasing scale as Agro forestry tree crops by the farmers on field bunds within agricultural fields, wasteland etc. The popularity of these species is mainly because of fact that they are fast growing, tolerant to pruning and have small canopy, which casts minimum shade effect. However, agro forestry potential of indigenous fast growing species like, Salix (Baish), Ackocarpus (Badshar) Anthocephalus etc. is yet to be examined. Because of the nature of the Agro forestry trees that required long duration for crop yield and wide spaces between forest trees remain fallow are available, there is an ample scope for cultivation of short duration, spring and summer field crops.

A two-way approach of enhancing the productivity and increasing the area of crops can augment the crop production in the country. Adoption of new production technology with high yielding genotypes would increase the productivity of crop. Another way of increasing the area and productivity of crops is to grow crops under newly emerging agro forestry land uses. Some of the trees species such as Eucalyptus and Populus are most commonly grown in the plain of Terai along field boundaries or in block plantation either or without inter-cropping of arable crops for commercial purposes. A part from arable land, it has been grown as monoculture or in shelterbelt plantation on even in fertile agricultural land/field. Agro forestry- growing of trees and crop together is adopted to achieve sustainable production of food and wood together, while conserving the environment.

A typical agro forestry system through symbiotic, economic and ecological integration between the woody and arable components helps to increase, sustain and diversify the total net land out put. According to an estimate, agro forestry can increase the gross net production of our country by about Rs. 900 Crores, provide employment to 25 Lakh people and if seriously practise for 15 years, can banish poverty forever.

The main benefits of agro forestry under Nepal Terai conditions are: reduction of pressure on protective and productive forest for meeting the local demands and rational use of lands according to its capabilities, increase in production of agricultural crops from area not presently used for arable agriculture and increase in production of fuel wood and small timber from non-forest area and major benefit of this would be the release of cow dung for manure and reasonable fuel price. Besides, agro-forestry can supply wood and other tree products for industries and pastures and fodder trees for the locals. Similarly, it can help generate additional employment to rural communities, suitable design of agro forestry can be devised for landscaping and beautification of countryside to provide suitable recreation facilities and environmental conservation.

With the increasing realisation of the importance of agro forestry as a sustainable land use system, there is a growing enthusiasm among foresters to learn about agricultural species and their cultivation practices, and similarly among agriculturists to know about forestry system.

The appropriate agro forestry system for Nepal Tarai will depend on the physical economic and social considerations. There are two essential and related aims. First, the system should conserve and improve the site and secondly it should optimise the combined production of tree crops including fruit and agricultural crops.

Among the suitable system for Nepal Terai areas one is Agri-silviculture system. The system emphasises raising of trees and cultivation of food crops and/or fodder crops in the available space between the trees. Thus, with this system farmers obtains wood, food and fodder from his limited resources. Multipurpose tree species, such as Prosopis cineraria, Albizia labbek are grown for fodder. The pod of Prosopis cineraria are also used for edible fruits and vegetable.

Silvi-Pastoral System: Terai farmers who are engaged in raising milch animals or livestock as an integral part of their farming system, can very well benefit, if they follow silvi-pastoral system. Under this system trees are grown on the limited land for wood production and grasses are raised in the vacant space left in between trees for rearing domesticate farm animals.

The third is Agri-Silvi-Pastoral System: This system is often called three in one in which a Terai farmer gets all his three requirements viz., wood, field crops and grasses. Under this system farmers grow field crops and forest trees together upto a particular stage but in a later stage grasses are raised in place of field crops between the vacant spaces of forest trees.

Another is multipurpose forest trees production system: All rainfed land are not suitable for arable cropping. Recognition of this fact has led to the multipurpose tree production system. In this the land is not put to grow field crops or fodder crops but is exclusively utilised for planting various trees, which provide wood, leaves, fruits, pods, fodder etc. The tree species found suitable in Terai land under this system are Acacia albida, Acacia aneura, Acacia catechu, Acacia nilotica, Albiziz labbek, Butea monosperma, dalbergia sissoo, Emblica officinalis, Prosopis juliflora etc.

The next is agro-horticultural system: This one form of agro forestry adopted in  arable lands having fruit trees as tree component. Thus the system provides higher income per unit area. In Terai lands guava, custard, ber, phalsa, jamun and bael can be raised.

Silvi-Horticultural System is unique and location specific since the forest trees of different types are primarily raised on the farm and in the available inter space the fruit trees are grown. The fruit grower, therefore, gets raw material, for packing purpose also which is the additional advantages of this system.

Need

Now there is the need of the selection of genotypes of pulses or cereals, which can tolerate the shade condition and can perform better under tree. In view of adove considerations the task is difficult and a little information is available on the crops genotype during spring/summer season in agro forestry system. Therefore it is important to workout the "yield compensation in various crops through seed rate and row spacing adjustment under agro forestry with the objectives of: assessing the relative performance of deferent crops genotypes under mixed agro forestry system, studying the mechanism of yield losses under sub-optimal growth condition in agro forestry and its compensation through agronomic manipulation and finding out optimum seed rate and spacing in different crops under agro forestry along with different tree species selection.

Gender Equity And Sex

By Sachin Upadhyaya

SOCIAL norms, rituals and culturally recognised taboos of any social system may be considered to be some sort of way out for balancing the basic preconditions of social equity. Discussing about social taboos related to normatively prescribed sexual behaviour of the community in the context of traditional Nepali society may be quite relevant in this regard. In a broad sense, social cognition of normal and taboos related to sexuality can also be observed as a means of gender balance at least to some segments of gender issues.

Immoral

Obviously there are some fundamental norms related to sexual behaviour in Nepalese society supported by norms, values and taboos. For example, premarital sexual activities, sexual relationship within blood relation, sexual contact during menstruation period, extramarital sexual contact etc. are regarded to be immoral activities in traditional Nepali families. This reflects the existence of considerable normative practices for institutionalising sex in Nepali society. The cognition seems to be guided by meaningful social and moral objectives.

Sexual activities in a general parlance though seems to be the part of private life, it has a substantial scope of making difference/effect even up-to international level in its long run impact. Increasing trend of HIV/AIDS infected population in the global scenario, decreasing trend of life expectancy because of HIV/AIDS in some part of the world and the widening the jaws of the epidemic surveillance of HIV/AIDS etc can be taken as some of the alarming instances in this regard. This means that, sexual practices, if not healthy, may create problems in a spider web model. The statement may equally be applicable to the demonstrative model of sexual behaviour and practices.

Indeed, one of the leading causes of making sex risky is associated with the natural chain/ cycle between sex and fertility. Well, some of the potential issues that can be raised from the unhealthy sexual practices are: social/moral pollution, population growth, increase in the demand of food supply, need of privacy/accommodation, increase in the health care services demand, chances of emerging conflicts at different levels, loss of life energy, possibilities of explosion of Sexually Transmitted Diseases including HIV/AIDS and so on.

In this background, it may be worthy to note that besides the reproductive consequence of sex and other allied socio-economic issues that are most likely to emerge from sexual activities it is due to the biological characteristics that there is higher risk for female from such sexual practices. The higher prevalence rate of STDs and HIV/AIDS among the female population in comparison to those of male population can be taken as an example in this connection. A candid quest in this matter from gender prospective indicates the existence of serious gender issues even in this segment of social life. Therefore, some of the sexual norms and taboos as prescribed by Nepali society should widely be perceived as the indigenous normative dimensions of engendering process for a harmonious society. It is because, in Nepali society there are also several social activities related to sex besides sexual norms and taboos which are also safeguarding the gender equity in Nepali society, Instructions in such matter are also found in several Hindu religious texts.

The traditional practices of observing four menstruaral days in each month and moral restriction to commit sexual activities during that period may be regarded as a privilege of additional physical rest to women which may count a lot in the country like Nepal where the women's work load is higher than those of men. But however, the statement may not fully applicable to the practice of keeping women in cave deprived of even basic physical need as in some part of Western Nepal.

Similarly, the practice of treating antenatal (pregnant) and post natal (after delivery) women can be taken as another instance of pro-gender social cognition. The practice of sending the daughter in-laws in their paternal houses for first delivery (before one-two months) among the most of the Terai community and the general practice of sending to the paternal houses after delivery prevalent among most of the Nepali community also seems to be very much favourable to meet the requirement of Maternal and Child Health (MCH), which also contribute to the process of gender balance either in a way or another and help to meet the target of safe motherhood and new born care as per recent primary health priority.

Review

Thus, extensive review of socio-cultural practices from eye opening prospective may help to widen the scope of generating further activities for gender equity in a socially and culturally accepted way. Committed effort being made by the national as well as international gender activities may come up with several acultured gender approach by empowering women and reducing their drudgery that may contribute a lot in the country like Nepal where gender is still more considered as matter of women and their drudgery.

Beware Of Fake Doctors

By Rishi Ram Paudyal

ARE you suffering from any ailments or have you broken any of your fingers or toes or any part of your body? If you have any physical problems, just don't hurry to see any person in a clinic or a medicine store because the people there might not be the right person for your treatment.

You may say, "I have been suffering from my disease for a long time and my pain is hard to bear. I don't want to lie on my bed being ill. I want to get cured soon and I want to eat, talk, walk and work like other human beings. So take me quickly to the nearest clinic or a medicine store."

Even at such a critical time it would be better to wait, to be patient, and to endure your pain until you find a real doctor. It is better for you to suffer pain for some time than to lose your life while undergoing treatment from a quack doctor, leaving your nearest and dearest in tears, and other groaning patients like you in fear and despair. So never hurry until you find out a genuine professional doctor.

There are so many private clinics, nursing homes and hospitals in the city. Not all of them might have real doctors. In a poor country like ours it's too early to expect so many real doctors working in so many places. It's not that easy to become a doctor. You have to study very hard for several years and it's very expensive too. However, the profession of a doctor is highly respected and lucrative.

Therefore, to earn money quickly, people without genuine qualification might have involved themselves in medical profession. But it's difficult to differentiate a fake doctor from a real one from their outward appearance. You will find both of them in white gown with stethoscopes round their necks.

These days it's much easier to become a fake doctor than a shaman. To become a shaman you may need traditional knowledge and practices but to become a fake doctor you simply need a fake certificate. It's not difficult to produce such a certificate. In this age of science and technology, it you have a computer with a printer it will do. Just simply print your own certificate and keep it for evidence, or you can simply buy a certificate from neighbouring country.

After having a certificate you can hang a signboard and start your job there or contact a pharmacy to run a clinic, you as a doctor! The authorities are too busy and they don't have time to check what's going on. Anyway even if they find out about your illegal profession, you will have enough money to satisfy the person who comes for investigation. So you will have an easy escape.

After the investigation is over you can involve in private clinics, nursing homes and hospitals. In the course of your practice you can abuse and disabuse ignorant and innocent patients. You can rob and kill poor people prescribing unnecessary medicine and doing unnecessary operations. You can spread the rumours that you are a cosmetic plastic surgeon and abuse the leadies when they come for treatment. This is how you will begin your medical profession - playing with the lives of people, making a lot of money, and deriving physical pleasure from young ladies.

So friends, beware of quack doctors! Go to a right place for treatment and meet the right doctor.