Rehabilitation of Old River Bed Lands in the Northwest Himalayas Using Perennial Vegetation for Multiple Products

Rivers emerging from the Himalayas carry a high sediment load due to erosion and degradation, which gets deposited in the valley portions as gravel bars, which present a harsh environment for plant survival. These lands are left abandoned and provide no benefits to rural communities that depend on natural resources for their livelihood. Since the appearance of vegetation through natural migration is a long process, efforts have been made to rehabilitate these lands by using various tree, grass, fruit species, and suitable crop combinations in various types of agroforestry-based land use practices. This chapter describes the use of these lands for fodder production through silvi-pastoral practices using native trees (Grewia optiva, Bauhinia variegata, and Albizia lebbeck) and grass species like Chrysopogon fulvus, Panicum maximum, and hybrid Napier. Biomass production for firewood and small timber has been attempted by using densified plantations of native species (Dalbergia sissoo, Grewia optiva, and Bauhinia variegata) managed by mechanical thinning. Fruit-based agroforestry practices using fruits like peach, mango, and litchi have been evaluated on these sites in several long-term studies, with various intercrops that can survive below light to dense shade from the overhead canopy. The use of these modified practices on carbon storage and carbon sequestration has also been attempted in several studies, which indicate that these degraded sites can serve as potential storage sites for carbon where it can be stored in the phytomass of the vegetation being raised.