Springs are the most important source of water for millions of people in the mid-hills of the Himalaya. Both rural and urban communities depend on springs for meeting their drinking, domestic, and agricultural water needs.

This publication seeks to document the findings of a study on the general characteristics of agrodiversity, its significance, status, rate of change, and causal factors; the ecological, social, and policy dimensions of agrodiversity and their impact on the loss of agrobiodiversity; and existing strategies for the management of agroecosystems in

Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) is an important cash crop and livelihood option for people in Sikkim. This high-value, minimally labour-intensive, and non-perishable crop is cultivated as an understory perennial crop in association with Himalayan alder (Alnus nepalensis) and other forest tree species that provide shade.

Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) is a perennial cash crop grown under the Himalayan alder (Alnus nepalensis) or mix forest tree species in the hills of Nepal, Darjeeling hills, Sikkim and Bhutan. The cardamom based agroforestry system in the Himalayas has proved to be a sustainable land use practice at the landscape level supporting multiple functions and ecosystem services.