Role of Forestry Extension in Enhancing the Livelihood of a Rural Artisan

Increasing the forest and vegetation covers could mitigate the global warming and its allied problems. In this study, Bambusa vulgaris raised in 3/4 of an acre of a farm land in Aaarupatti village of Dharmangalam Taluk of Salem District in Tamil Nadu, India mustered profit for a farmer. The trained farmer planted 111 seedlings during 2004 and obtained 1050 culms with the net income of Rs. 52, 500 per annum. This was made possible as the Forestry Extension Centre, Salem District trained the farmer for bamboo cultivation and also educated about its utility value. The case study reported here may serve as a sample where perennial crop like Bamboo, cultivated even in a smaller scale, could fetch profit to a farmer while meeting the requirement of carbon sink. Like Bamboo cultivation and training, many niche areas do exist that should be fully tapped for enhancing green cover but at the same time should bring good economic returns to the farmers.