Perception of Farmers ’Attitude and Knowledge Towards Agroforestry Sector in North Kashmir

The present investigation sought to explore the knowledge and attitude of farmers towards agroforestry practices especially in North Kashmir of Western Himalayas. A sample of 60 homesteads (46%) from the Astingo village was selected through random sampling technique. The responses were analyzed by using Frequency & Percentage Method (FMP)with rank order. The data on attitude of farmers towards agroforestry with its benefits reveal that 32.30 per cent respondents fall in the ‘agree category ’followed by ‘neutral ’(29.80%), ‘strongly agree ’(15.60%), ‘'disagree ’(19.00%) and ‘strongly disagree ’(03.30%). It is observed that farmers are also reluctant to go for only agroforestry practices due to smaller land holdings. The present study revealed that high financial return is the only response holding the key as motivational factor for adoption of agroforestry practices. The respondents gave lowest attention to the point ‘utilization of free time ’. The recommendations of the present investigations are that there is immediate need for making the farmers aware about the significance & benefits of agroforestry practices. They should also have easy access to the knowledge centers for adopting such economical and ecological viable options for mitigating the vagaries of the prevailing scenario.