Abstract
An agroforestry system comprising of Poplar (Populus deltoides clone AY-48), wheat and fodder maize
crops was designed, in order to compare the economics of agroforestry system with conventional
agricultural system. Poplar (Populus deltoides clone AY-48) was planted at a density of 455trees/ha,
305trees/ha, and 230trees/ha at the spacing of 3.66 x 6.10m (D1), 3.66 x 9.10m (D2) and 3.66 x 12.10m
(D3) respectively. Agricultural crops namely, wheat (Triticum aestivum) variety Inqalab-91 and fodder
maize (Zea mays) variety Neelum were sown alternately during “Rabi” and “Kharif” seasons each year
throughout the entire study periods in poplar plots. To compare the differences between sole crop and
intercropping the wheat and fodder-maize were also sown in separate plots (Dw/f). Highest net benefits
(51495 Rs./ha) was observed in the treatment D2 while lowest net benefits (10904 Rs./ha) was observed
in sole wheat, fodder maize treatment (Dw). The highest BCR (1.10) was recorded in treatment D2 and
lowest BCR (0.65) was observed for sole poplar tree planting in treatment D4.The highest IRR was also
(21.91%) observed in treatment D2 and lowest (0.78%) for treatment D4. In the dominance analysis it was
that Treatments D4, D1 and D5 were dominated. The net benefit curve showed that net benefits were
highest in treatment D2 while lowest in treatment D1 with the increase in cost. The marginal rate of return
was highest in treatment D2 and lowest in treatment Dw. It was observed in the sensitivity analysis that if
the future input prices increased by10% or the future output prices decreased by 10% even then it was
economical to recommend the treatment D2 and D3
