ABSTRACT
Cropland is the nucleus of human settlements in the rural Himalayas where the flow of energy and ecosystem services from surrounding areas are vital for the functioning of the agroecosystem and agricultural production. The majority of the human population (~75% of the total) in the Himalaya is dependent on agriculture (largely rainfed cultivation on terraced hill slopes) while irrigated cultivation remains in valleys. Himalayan forests provide multiple benefits at various scales, ranging from local to global. Human and bullock labor and farmyard manure are significant energy inputs to sustain agricultural productivity in the Himalayan region. This study aims to estimate flow of forest goods to support agroecosystem. The annual energy input in agriculture is evaluated in terms of seed, labour (human and animal), and organic manure (~90% of total energy input). Among the crops, manure and seed input were found maximum for wheat. Among the different inputs, human labour input ranged from 0.05 to 2.60 Gkcal and bullock labour from 0.02 to 1.28 Gkcal. The total energy output ranged between 1.39 and 39.74 Gkcal for the different crops. The agronomic yield was highest for wheat and lowest for lentils. To maintain 1 unit of agronomic production from cropland and orchard, about 28 units of energy are required from nearby forests. No export of product or energy from agroecosystem is done to the forested landscape; however, for each energy unit imported from market to the agroecosystem, 2.7 energy units were exported. It was also observed that crop by-product values were more than agronomic yield values, which signifies the importance of traditional crops to maintaining livestock required for farmyard manure and draught power.
