In this chapter some of the facts and figures related to forestry are mentioned like how the area under the cover of forest is decreasing, its impact on the environment, how desertification is increasing, the various causes for deforestation, urbanization and its impact on the forest and so on are mentioned in this chapter.

1. Contentsof section6: Agriculture.
Chapter2-Facts and FiguresonForestry.
2.1-Forestarea inIndia.
2.2-Distributionof the forestarea.
2.3-Role of forestinthe national economy.
2.4-Chipkomovement.
2.5-Timbermafia.
2.6-Dense forestisdecreasing.
Views to make this ‘World’ developed and this
‘Earth’ as the lovely place for every ‘Human’.
SECTION 6
AGRICULTURE
Let, all of us have nutritious, balanced, poison free
diet,
For better mind and muscle power,
To live long with health and happiness;
Chapter 2: Facts and Figures on Forestry:
2.1. Forest area in India.
[Some 500,000 square kilometres, about 17
percent of India's land area, were regarded as
ForestAreain the early 1990s. In FY 1987, however,
actual forest cover was 640,000 square kilometres.
However, because more than 50 percent of this
land was barren or bush land, the area under
productive forest was actually less than 350,000
square kilometres, or approximately 10 percent of
the country's land area. The growing population's
high demand for forest resources continued the
destructionand degradation of forests through the
1980s, taking a heavy toll on the soil. An estimated

2. 6 billion tons of topsoil were lost annually.
However,India's0.6percentaverage annual rate of
deforestation for agricultural and non-lumbering
land uses in the decade beginning in 1981 was one
of the lowest in the world and on a par with Brazil.
Sir Dietrich Brandis was a German forester who
worked in India. He is considered the Father of
tropical forestry. Source [70]
We can involve the VPA in the creation of new forest area and in the conversion of
barren or bushy land in to productive forest. All the barren and bush lands can be
converted in to useful productive forest by implanting trees like rose, neem, teak, sandal
wood and so on by the working team of the VPA.
Prevention of loss in the agriculture products, increasing the yield in agriculture by
adopting scientific methods in agriculture, better preservation technology makes us to
use less land for agriculture and more land can be converted in to productive forest with
RCS- VPA.
2.2. Distribution of the forest area.
[Forestry in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Distribution
Many forests in the mid-1990s are found in high-
rainfall,high-altituderegions,areas to which access
isdifficult.About20percentof total forestland is in
Madhya Pradesh; other states with significant
forests are Orissa, Maharashtra, and Andhra
Pradesh (each with about 9 percent of the national
total); Arunachal Pradesh (7 percent); and Uttar
Pradesh (6 percent). The variety of forest
vegetation is large: there are 600 species of
hardwoods, sal (Shorearobusta) andteak being the
principal economic species.
Strategy to increase cover
India'slong-termstrategyforforestrydevelopment
reflects three major objectives: to reduce soil
erosion and flooding; to supply the growing needs
of the domestic wood products industries; and to
supply the needs of the rural population for
fuelwood,fodder,small timber, and miscellaneous

3. forest produce. To achieve these objectives, the
National Commission on Agriculture in 1976
recommended the reorganization of state forestry
departments and advocated the concept of social
forestry. The commission itself worked on the first
twoobjectives,emphasizingtraditional forestryand
wildlife activities; in pursuit of the third objective,
the commissionrecommendedthe establishmentof
a new kind of unit to develop community forests.
Following the leads of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, a
numberof otherstatesalsoestablishedcommunity-
basedforestry agencies that emphasized programs
on farm forestry, timber management, extension
forestry, reforestation of degraded forests, and use
of forests for recreational purposes.
Such socially responsible forestry was encouraged
by state community forestry agencies. They
emphasized such projects as planting wood lots on
denudedcommunal cattle-grazinggrounds to make
villagesself-sufficientinfuelwood,tosupply timber
needed for the construction of village houses, and
to provide the wood needed for the repair of farm
implements. Both individual farmers and tribal
communities were also encouraged to grow trees
for profit.Forexample, in Gujarat, one of the more
aggressive states in developing programs of
socioeconomic importance, the forestry
departmentdistributed200milliontree seedlingsin
1983. The fast-growing eucalyptus is the main
speciesbeingplantednationwide,followed by pine
and poplar. Source [71]
We are not seeing the forest area evenly in different states; there are many reasons for it. But the
products from the forest is required by all the states, especially the states with higher population
density.Withthe establishmentof VPA we canmake sure that at least 25% of the geographical area
which comes under their VPA should be the thick forest which may be manmade thus the forest
coverwill increase everywhere whichreduces soilerosion andflooding; which supplies the growing
needsof the domesticwoodproductsindustries;whichcatersneedsof the rural population for fuel
wood,fodder,small timber,andmiscellaneous forestproduct. With the complete establishment of
RCS- VPA – MV – MN no one need to construct new houses for the next 200 years at least, thus the
treescut forthe purposesof constructionwill stoptill the necessity to build another MV as this MV
becomes old. Quality work in MV will make the MV to live for 300 or 400 years or even more. With
establishmentof VPA we canadopt universal utilizationof energy like solar energy thus the burden
on the forest for fire wood will decrease. Since the forest area spreads all over the nation the soil

4. erosion and flooding is going to decrease. Industrial requirement for the wood may persist for
another 50 years of establishment of MV and once all the houses are saturated with the required
furniture then we need not cut any wood for any purpose. The major work left with the forestry
department becomes the distribution of tree seedlings and to implant them in the village
panchayath limit and in the thin forest around the village panchayath.
2.3. Role of forest in the national economy.
[Forestry in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Conservation
The role of forests in the national economy and in
ecology was further emphasized in the 1988
National Forest Policy, which focused on ensuring
environmental stability, restoring the ecological
balance, and preserving the remaining forests.
Other objectives of the policy were meeting the
need for fuelwood, fodder, and small timber for
rural and tribal people while recognizing the need
to activelyinvolve local people in the management
of forest resources. Also in 1988, the Forest
ConservationActof 1980 wasamendedto facilitate
stricterconservationmeasures.A newtargetwas to
increase the forest cover to 33 percent of India's
land area from the then-official estimate of 23
percent. In June 1990, the central government
adopted resolutions that combined forest science
with social forestry that is, taking the sociocultural
traditions of the local people into consideration.
Conservation has been an avowed goal of
government policy since independence.
Afforestationincreasedfromanegligible amount in
the first plan to nearly 89,000 square kilometres in
the seventh plan. The cumulative area afforested
during the 1951-91 period was nearly 179,000
square kilometres. However, despite large-scale
tree planting programs, forestry is one arena in
which India has actually regressed since
independence. Annual fallings at about four times
the growth rate are a major cause. Widespread
pilfering by villagers for firewood and fodder also

5. represents a major decrement. In addition, the
forestedarea has been shrinking as a result of land
cleared for farming, inundations for irrigation and
hydroelectric power projects, and construction of
new urban areas, industrial plants, roads, power
lines, and schools. Source [71]
Ensuring environmental stability, restoring the ecological balance, and preserving the remaining
forestscan be easilydone withthe VPA.Fuelwood consumption will drastically decrease with the
establishmentof VPA andutilizationof solarenergytothe maximum.Utilizationof Small timber by
the rural and tribal people will be completelystoppedwiththe establishmentof MV.The process of
afforestationcanbe minimizedwithVPA.Presentannual fallandthe growth rate of the forest land
can be reversedwithVPA.The total area consumed by the village proper, roads and so on is going
to decrease ascomparedto the presentareaconsumedandthus they will be utilized to create the
forest.
2.4. Chipko movement.
[Forestry in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chipko Movement
Since the early 1970s, as they realized that
deforestation threatened not only the ecology but
their livelihood in a variety of ways, people have
become more interested and involved in
conservation. The best known popular activist
movementis the Chipko Movement, in which local
women decided to fight the government and the
vested interests to save trees. The women of
Chamoli District, Uttar Pradesh, declared that they
would embrace--literally "to stick to" (chipkna in
Hindi)--trees if a sporting goods manufacturer
attempted to cut down ash trees in their district.
Since initial activism in 1973, the movement has
spread and become an ecological movement
leading to similar actions in other forest areas. The
movement has slowed down the process of
deforestation,exposed vested interests, increased
ecological awareness, and demonstrated the
viability of people power. Source [71]
The necessityof the wood itself becomes nil with the complete establishment of VPA, and no one
will be the customers for the forest products except the products like honey and herbal product

6. used in daily life and no one will be cutting any trees with the complete establishment of VPA –
MMV – MN, because they will not have any place to use the same. Cutting trees for paper factory
will also decrease as the usage of paper will decrease in offices and will be replaced by the digital
activity.
2.5. Timber mafia.
[Forestry in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timber mafia
Main article: Mafia raj
Protectedforestareasinseveral partsof India, such
as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka and Jharkhand, are vulnerable to illegal
logging by timber mafias that have co-opted or
intimidated forestry officials, local politicians,
businessesandcitizenry.Clear-cuttingissometimes
covered-up by conniving officials who report
fictitious forest fires. Source [71]
Timber mafia will completely stop with the establishment of VPA – MV – MN, it is because the
people of the village itself will asknottotouch any treeswhichcomesintheirVPA limitand in their
surroundings. There will not be any customers available for the timber because no one gets the
chance to use the timber in any way and everything is well set in the MV.
2.6. Dense forest is decreasing.
Forest cover in India
Source [72]

7. We are seeingthatthe area covered by the dense forest is decreasing day by day. There are many
reasons for it like there is lot of construction activity is going on which consumes lot of wood,
deforestation in a legal way for creation – widening of roads which is taking a longer path and
consuming wider surface area of the forest as we are not following the principle of short and
convenient distance between two point, expansion of urban – rural residential area which also
consumes some forest area and may be in a illegal way by the people to make money out of it.
With the establishment of VPA the people will actively involve with the forest department to
expand the forest area and we can implant the trees that we what for our future use like
implantation of teak, rose, sandal, neem trees. Expansion or residential area will not happen
because all are going to stay inside the model village and we can have better control over the
population that is maximum two children per parents. No illegal cutting of trees will happen
because there will not be any customers to by that product. The path will be short as compared to
the present long path because it can pass on any one’s land but no one will go for loss with VPA
system,surveyiswiththe helpof satellite picturesthe landsurveyisdone whichdecrease about 50
% of the distance of the present road (Details are in CRS – CRTS system). Thus we can increase the
forest area and can better atmosphere for us and prevent global warming.
Sources:
[70] Internet: Forestry in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
[71] India-IntroductionForestry in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestry_in_India"
Categories: Forestry by country | Environment of India.
[72] State of forest report, 2001, 2003, 2005. News paper.