Orissa state, which lies in the eastern part of India, is well endowed with forests

inhabited by different tribes. About 7 million tribes of different ethnic groups

live in the forested areas. . The forest products and agricultural yields meet the
basic energy requirements of the tribal people and their domestic animals. A tribal
village can be considered as an ecosystem by taking into account its biomass
production and consumption, and energy dynamics in terms of imports and exports The
traditional hill agro-ecosystems in India are mostly sustainable from an ecological
point of view. In such ecosystems human labour is the main energy input ). Farming
activities within the village ecosystems relate to many other activities such as
land use pattern, animal husbandry, domestic subsystem and forest ecosystemThe
systems such as agriculture, forest, domestic and animal husbandry contribute,
individually or in combination, to the functioning of the traditional village
ecosystems. But over the past several years there has been tremendous pressure upon
these natural resources due to several forces including industrialization and
unprecedented human growth. Agro-ecosystems defined as ‘ecological systems modified
by human beings to produce food, fibre or other agricultural products’on the
Eastern Ghats of Orissa are based chiefly on indigenous knowledge and have been
maintained as such since time immemorial to meet the basic food requirements. Three
typical tribal villages viz., Rajikakhola, Nediguda and Badruguda of Phulbani
district in Orissa, India, were selected for the present study. These villages are
situated on the Eastern Ghats of India (84°21′E, 20°15′N) at an altitude of 730 m.
Rajikakhola is situated on the foot hills and at a distance of 3 km from the
Berhampur–Phulbani state highway, while the other two villages lie to the other
side of the highway about half a kilometer from it and 1.5 km apart from each
other. Based on the topography and the availability of water, the land was
traditionally classified into six categories viz. (i) wetland, (ii) rain-fed land,
(iii) upland, (iv) fallow land or pasture, (v) land for settlement, and (vi)
community land.

Conclusion
The analysis of structure and function of the traditional agro-ecosystems revealed
that the subsistence farming is still continuing in these areas and modern
technology has not yet touched the systems. Moreover, these agro-ecosystems still
harbour a variety of crop (germplasm) that need careful protection and maintenance,
for its conservation. This is possible only by reducing pressure on the nearby
forest ecosystems, on which these agro-ecosystems directly or indirectly depend,
through fuel