Uttarakhand is an agrarian state situated in the northern region of India. More than 80 percent of all the croplands are in the plains and the remaining are in the hills. The local residents of hilly areas are facing problems to ensure a sustainable source of income due to fragmented land holding, unfavourable weather conditions, natural calamities, lack of irrigation facilities and wild animal’s attack. There is a dire need for diversifying farm activities and agritourism is one such activity that could supplement farm income with the available resources. Uttarakhand is divided into two divisions’ viz. Kumaon and Garhwal. Pauri Garhwal district was selected from Garhwal division of Uttarakhand using simple random sampling and agritourism centre run by Gauri Self Help Group was selected through snowball sampling. Here an attempt has been made to document features of agritourism venture situated in Gaurikot that is assisting 18 families to sustain in hilly areas of Uttarakhand that are managing the issue of migration with innovative approaches. It incorporated integrated farming model and also added agritourismin which they opened their farms for tourists, visits and trainings to supplement the farm income without additional inputs. This paper highlights that hilly regions having adversities for agriculture can evolve into areas of socio-economic adaptations and could create income through the amalgamation of agriculture and tourism.

Agritourism, Self-help Group, Integrated farming, sustainable livelihood

As agritourism is in the nascent stage in Uttarakhand and the tourism department does not have any specific institution working for identification and registration of all such centers. Gauri Self Help Group is collaboratively working towards insertion of several activities besides farming and supplementing the farm income. It has also exhibited that addition of agritourism in the integrated farming model can be proven utilitarian and should be taken up as a farm diversification strategy. Although agritourism activities have been recently included by this group and a main reason behind this is that agritourism is in nascent stage in Uttarakhand and there is a lack of awareness. Majority of the SHGs across the country are working dedicatedly to improve their living condition but the activities are limited to food processing, art and craft. So, SHGs can include agritourism for diversifying their income in an innovative way.

Kawita Bhatt and V.L.V. Kameshwari (2022). Agritourism to Enhance Integrated Farming Model: A Case of Agritourism Centre in Uttarakhand. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 449-454.