Socio-economic and Forest Resource Attributes Affecting Fodder Extraction and Consumption in Rural Kashmir

The study investigated the extraction and consumption situation of fodder and their socio-economic and forest resource correlates in district Ganderbal of Kashmir. Multi-stage random sampling technique was administered to select villages and households for field study employing interviews, observations and PRA tools. Results revealed that fodder requirement per household was 35.21 kg/day-1 with total requirement of 1464.46 tons annum-1. Agricultural field was the major (52.09%) contributor of fodder extraction followed by forest (33.70%) and others (14.21%). Cattle alone consumed the maximum (58.25%) while the rest (41.75%) was consumed by others. People are underprivileged regarding socio-economic attributes while they are prosperous concerning forest resource characteristics. Correlation and multiple regression analysis established robust relationship between fodder consumption and socio-economic and forest resource attributes. Excessive fodder flow from forests is a threat to biodiversity conservation and ecological stability; hence, some alternative interventions must be implemented efficiently to keep pace with current development and future challenges.