This extremely informative medium-length monograph documents the experience of farm forestry in north-west India i.e. Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Motivated by the prospect of large financial profits and of escaping rising labour costs, farmers in this region took up large-scale planting of Eucalyptus on private lands in the early 1980s. The dramatic expansion of such plantations was also encouraged by State Forest Departments through the provision of subsidised seedlings and extension services under major, often internationally-aided, social forestry projects. By 1986, however, farmers in north-west India were increasingly disillusioned with Eucalyptus farming: anticipated profits failed to materialise for a number of reasons, including falling pole and fuelwood prices, distribution and marketing difficulties and a restrictive legal and procedural framework for private tree-growing and sale.

The report concludes with several key recommendations for promoting forestry on private lands, including: the need to identify additional short-rotation, high-value species that would suit local requirements for planting on marginal lands and bunds and complement existing agricultural production; removing incentives which promote the achievement of high physical targets of tree-planting rather than social goals; developing security of tenure over land and trees and secure access to markets, including links between farmers and forest-based industries and analyses of future demand, supply and prices of forest products; and policy and legal reform to promote private tree cultivation and sale. The report also includes a useful bibliography.