page_title: Thar Desert
section_title: Agroforestry
hierarchical_section_title: Thar Desert / Desert eco-system / Agroforestry
caption_attribution_description: Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) tree lopping for fodder at village Harsawa, Rajasthan
context_page_description: The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is a large arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km² and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 17th largest desert, and the world's 9th largest subtropical desert.
  About 85% of the Thar Desert is located within India, with the remaining 15% in Pakistan. In India, it covers about 170,000 km², and the remaining 30,000 km² of the desert is within Pakistan. The Thar desert forms approximately 5% of the total geographic area of India. More than 60% of the desert lies in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and it extends into the states of Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana, and the Pakistani province of Sindh. Within Pakistan's Punjab province, the Thar continues as the Cholistan Desert. The desert comprises a very dry part, the Marusthali region in the west, and a semidesert region in the east with fewer sand dunes and slightly more precipitation.
context_section_description: Forestry has an important part to play in the amelioration of the conditions in semi-arid and arid lands. If properly planned, forestry can make an important contribution to the general welfare of the people living in desert areas. The living standard of the people in the desert is low. They can not afford other fuels like gas and kerosene. Firewood is their main fuel, of the total consumption of wood about 75 percent is firewood. The forest cover in the desert is low. Rajasthan has a forest area of 31150 km². which is about 9% of the geographical area. The forest area is mainly in southern districts of Rajasthan like Udaipur and Chittorgarh. The minimum forest area is in Churu district at only 80 km². Thus the forest is insufficient to fulfill the needs of firewood and grazing in desert districts. This diverts the much needed cattle dung from the field to the hearth. This in turn results into a decrease in agricultural production. Agroforestry model is best suited to the people of desert. 
  The scientists of the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), have successfully developed and improved dozens of traditional and non-traditional crops and fruits, such as Ber trees (like plums) that produce much larger fruits than before and can thrive with minimal rainfall. These trees have become a profitable option for farmers. One example from a case study of horticulture showed that in a situation of budding in 35 plants of Ber and Guar (Gola, Seb and Mundia variety developed by CAZRI), using only one hectare of land, yielded 10,000 kg. of Ber and 250 kg. of Guar, which translates into double or even triple the profit.
  Arid Forest Research Institute, (AFRI) situated at Jodhpur is another national level institute in the region. It is one of the institutes of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) working under the Indian Ministry of Environment & Forests. The objective of the Institute is to carry out scientific research in forestry in order to provide technologies that increase the vegetative cover and to conserve the biodiversity in the hot arid and semi arid region of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Dadara and Nagar Haveli union territory.
  The most important tree species in terms of providing a livelihood in Thar Desert communities is Prosopis cineraria.
  Prosopis cineraria provides wood of construction grade. It is used for house-building, chiefly as rafters, posts scantlings, doors and windows, and for well construction water pipes, the upright posts of Persian wheels, agricultural implements and shafts, spokes, fellows and cart yokes. It can also be used for small turning work and tool-handles. Container manufacturing is another important wood-based industry, which depends heavily on desert-grown trees.
  Prosopis cineraria is much valued as a fodder tree. The trees are heavily lopped particularly during winter months when no other green fodder is available in the dry tracts. There is a popular saying that death will not visit a man, even at the time of a famine, if he has a Prosopis cineraria, a goat and a camel, since the three together are some what said to sustain a man even under the most trying condition. The forage yield per tree varies a great deal. On an average, the yield of green forage from a full grown tree is expected to be about 60 kg with complete lopping having only the central leading shoot, 30 kg when the lower two third crown is lopped and 20 kg when the lower one third crown is lopped. The leaves are of high nutritive value. Feeding of the leaves during winter when no other green fodder is generally available in rain-fed areas is thus profitable. The pods have a sweetish pulp and are also used as fodder for livestock.
  Prosopis cineraria is most important top feed species providing nutritious and highly palatable green as well as dry fodder, which is readily eaten by camels, cattle, sheep and goats, constituting a major feed requirement of desert livestock. Locally it is called Loong. Pods are locally called sangar or sangri. The dried pods locally called kho-kha are eaten. Dried pods als
caption: Lopping of Khejri tree for fodder and fuel in Harsawa village
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