Extent of Diversification and Constraints in Adoption of Different Farming Systems in Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh

The existing farming systems have been studied for their profitability and extent of diversification in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. The study is based on the primary data collected from 160 farmers. The diversification index was computed to capture the extent of diversification in the district. The lowest value of diversification index implied that extent of diversification was highest and vice versa. In cereals based farming system (FS-I), lowest diversification was observed with a value of 0.77. The higher diversification was noted in livestock based (FS-III) and fruits based (FS-IV) farming systems having values 0.55 and 0.58, respectively. The fragmentation of land holdings, lack of cold storage facilities, monkeys, stray animals and wild animals menace were found as major problems in the study area and the scope for agro-processing unit, diversification towards cash crops, developing commercial livestock unit, herbal, aromatic and medicinal plants were major opportunities reported in the study area.