Home Gardens in Mizoram : Plant diversity and use

Shifting cultivation in North-East India in general and Mizoram in particular is challenged today as never before owing to mounting concerns on environmental degradation (soil, flora and fauna depletion) on one hand and the pressure of economic development and difficulty in finding suitable alternatives to this practice on the other. The home gardens seem to be best alternatives to promote local food security and biodiversity conservation. The gardens are quite diverse with a complex vertical and horizontal structure that includes trees, crops and animals managed as a single unit for food, ornamental, medicinal and other purposes. Despite their importance in providing sustainable livelihood, the government support to promote this agroforestry system is largely lacking. This book covers species diversity, energy flow pattern, home garden plant use and some aspects of tree-crop interactions within the system and is expected to provide valuable reference materials to students and researchers in the field of agroforestry.