Chandigarh, Aug. 14 -- Punjab's ambitious plan to bring two lakh hectares of farmland under agroforestry over the next five years faces a critical challenge - ensuring farmers receive a fair share of returns from the timber trade, according to a draft report by the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, issued last month.

The report has flagged inadequate marketing infrastructure, fluctuating timber prices, and the continued dominance of middlemen as factors that could erode farmer incomes even as the state scales up its agroforestry drive. The concerns come at a time when Punjab is pushing agroforestry under its Green Punjab Mission, distributing improved eucalyptus and poplar planting material to farmers to encourage adoption.

Agr...