A Study on Problems Faced by the Permaculture Farmers of Paddy Based Agro Forestry System in Sub-Tropical Hill Agro-Climatic Zone of Meghalaya

Abstract

Permaculture, a holistic approach to sustainable agriculture, has gained significant attention worldwide for its potential to address environmental, economic, and social challenges in agriculture. In the context sub-tropical hill agro-climatic zone of Meghalaya, permaculture practices have gained traction, especially in the cultivation of paddy-based agro-forestry systems. Within this backdrop, the adoption of permaculture practices in paddy cultivation has been promoted as a sustainable solution that not only enhances food security but also contributes to ecosystem preservation, soil health improvement, and rural livelihoods. Since the study was taken with the objective of studying problems faced by farmers in the adoption of permaculture practices. This paper focused on appraising the problems faced by the permaculture farmers of paddy based agro forestry system by adopting diagnostic research design with a sample of 60 farmers, covering Sub-Tropical Hill Agro-Climatic Zone of Meghalaya. Major problems and their priorities expressed by the paddy- based agro-forestry farmers in the adoption of permaculture were analysed by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP analysis), it was revealed that unforgiving topography and limited arable land for production and diversification of agroforestry, as the most important problem followed by, Lack of knowledge on permaculture practices such as soil building, water conservation and pest management, Lack of interest in branding and advertisement of the permaculture produce, High initial cost of investment due to transitioning from conventional farming, Permaculture implementation requires change in mentality and level of commitment and lack of supportive and subsidiary policies for permaculture were the major problems under different domains of permaculture. The judgement given by the farmers were found acceptable with inconsistency ratio below 10%. The consensus among seasoned farmers highlights a valuable opportunity to address the permaculture challenges in the region. By pinpointing and prioritizing these bottlenecks, we can effectively target efforts for the successful implementation of permaculture practices in the area.