Land use pattern and ecology in the Madi Valley

This paper was prepared to analyse land use pattern in the Madi valley from the ecological viewpoint. Though the Madi valley is the biggest agricultural land in the Tinau watershed area, due to ecological and environmental problems, the land use pattern has been adversely affected, which led to low agricultural production and frequent crop failure. Due to rapid population growth, there has been a marked increase in deforestation,soil erosion, landslides and flood hazards in recent years. The process of environmental degradation and ecological deterioration has resulted in loss of topsoil and landslides along the surrounding hill slopes and the loss of agricultural land, fertility of soil and siltation problems in the fertile valley. These critical problems have led to investigation and analysis of the various causes responsible for the adverse effect on land use pattern in the Madi valley, which lies in the Tinanu watershed area of Palpa district.