Farmers’ attitude towards sustainable management of Soppina Betta forests in Sringeri area of the Western Ghats, South India

Abstract

Soppina Betta Forests (SBFs; foliage forests) are minor forests allowed by the State for the Areca-grower’s use as organic support in the Western Ghats area of Karnataka, South India. Sustainable utilization of these for foliage and litter (to make composted leaf-manure) and firewood (to boil Areca nuts before drying) would ensure the farmer to stand on his own and prevent him from unduly pressurizing the State Forests. Ten hamlets in Sringeri area of the Western Ghats were selected at random, from each of which nearly 10 farmers were interviewed by PRA technique for a socio-economic survey of the purpose, benefits and management of their individual SBFs. One representative SBF from each of the 10 hamlets was taken up for phytosociological survey and the results were compared with a natural forest benchmark selected nearby. Species diversity at all levels was higher in the SBFs than in the natural forest. Stand densities too were higher, but basal coverages were lower. The farmers were found to promote select species like Aporosa lindleyana, Memecylon umbellatum, Syzygium cumini and S. caryophyllatum for their foliage requirements. The benefits derived, lopping patterns, protection and planting attitudes of the farmers were marked with a differentiating scheme and the relative scores on these four heads of management attributes were summed up into a management value index (MVI). MVI was found to increase with the Areca-landholding status of the farmers, and optimization of the MVI was observed at an Areca-landholding to SBF ratio of 1 : 1.5–2.5 for the low (0–1 ha), intermediate (1–2 ha) and rich (>2 ha) Areca-landholding categories. The optimization was most pronounced for the low landholding group of farmers. The average size-class distribution of tree species individuals of the 10 SBFs described the expected L-shaped curve similar to that of the natural forest, but possessed larger number of individuals in most of the size-classes.