38 ENVIS

*AS = Agri-silviculture, AHS = Agri-horti-silviculture, AH = Agri-horticulture, HP = Horti-pastoral, SP = Silvi-pastoral.

Agriculture Forestry Animals (A) (B) (C) A + B B + C (Agri-silviculture) (Silvi-pastoral) A + B + C (Agri-silvi-pastoral)

What is Agroforestry?

Agroforestry establishes a symbiosis among agriculturalcrops, tree species and raising livestock. In other words, theseare complementary and beneficial to each other. Agroforestryhas been defined in different ways:

‘Agroforestry as a sustainable land managementsystem, which increases the yield of the land, combinesproduction of crops (including tree crops) and forest plantsand or animals simultaneously or sequentially, on the sameunit of land, and applies management practices that arecompatible with cultural practices of the local population’.

Agroforestry has three basic components.1. Agricultural crops/herbaceous plants2. Woody perennials (tree crops/forest plants)3. Animals

When combined the above mentioned threecomponents together form three basic agroforestry systems:

Agroforestry systems are widely classified based on thenature and arrangement of the components and ecological orsocio-economic criteria. But no single classification schemecan be accepted as universally applicable. The complexity ofthe problem can be reduced if the structural and functionalaspects of the systems are taken as the criteria for categorizingthe system and agro-ecological and socio-economic aspectsas the basis for continuing them further.

Agroforestry Systems

The main systems of agroforestry are as below:(i) Agri-silviculture systems(ii) Silvi-pastoral systems(iii) Silvi-medico systems(iv) Agri-silvi-medico systems(v) Agri-silvi-pastoral systems(vi) Silvi-horticulture systems(vii) Agri-horticulture systems(viii) Agri-silvi-horticulture systems(ix) Multipurpose forest tree production(x) Apiculture with trees (Flowering trees + bee

keeping)(xi) Aqua-silviculture or aquaforestry (Fish + tree)(xii) Agri-silvi-aquaculture (Tree + crop + fish)

These agroforestry systems provide food, fuel,fodder, manure, paper, pulp and packing materials. Agroforestrysystems can be practiced in all regions and are landmanagement systems in themselves, wherein the interspacesbetween two rows of forest tree species are utilized for

Table 1. Prominent agroforestry systems in different regions of the countryAgroforestry system * S. no. Agroclimatic zone/region

AS AH S AH H P SP Specialized 1. W estern Himalaya 4 4 5 4 4 - 2. Eastern Himalaya 5 3 5 4 3 Jhum (Shifting cultivation) 3. Lower Gangetic plains 5 - 3 2 2 Energy 4. M iddle Gangetic plains 4 - 2 - - Homestead 5. Upper Gangetic plains 5 - 5 - - Agri-horticulture 6. Trans-Gangetic plains 5 - 5 - - Agri-horti-silviculture 7. Eastern plateau and hills 5 - 4 3 4 Block plantation 8. Central plateau and hills 4 - 5 4 4 Block plantation 9. W estern plateau and hills 4 - 5 2 4 - 10. Southern plateau and hills 5 - 3 2 4 - 11. East coast plateau and hills 4 5 4 4 2 Home garden/shelterbelt 12. W est coast plains and ghats 4 5 4 2 2 Home garden 13. Gujarat plains and hills 4 2 4 3 5 Block plantation 14. W estern dry area 5 3 4 - 5 Shelterbelt 15. The islands 4 5 4 1 2 Home garden

Source: Solanki (2006).

These three main agroforestry systems constituteanother system as per requirements and availability of theresources particular to the different regions in India.

Forestry Bulletin, 12(2), 2012 39

cultivation of grasses, legumes, medicinal plants and otheragricultural crops (Table 2). Under arid conditions of Rajasthan,

Zone rainfall (mm)

Climate Representative soil Major crop* Agroforestry system**

1271-1436 Moist sub-humid to dry sub-humid

Red sandy, red and yellow R, W, M, Ra Agri-horticulture and silvipasture

490-1570 Semi-arid (drier half) to dry sub-humid

Mixed red and black, red and yellow, medium black, alluvial medium black, deep black, medium black, deep black, red sandy, red loamy

W, G, J, R, B Silvi-pasture, horti-silvipasture and agri-silvipasture

602-1040 Semi-arid J, B, C, W Silvi-pasture and agri-silviculture 677-1001 Semi-arid J, R, Ra, Gr Silvipasture and agri-silviculture 780-1287 Semi-arid to dry sub-

humid Deltaic alluvium, red loamy, coastal alluvium

R, Gr, Ra Horticulture, silvipasture and agri-silviculture

2226-3640 Dry sub-humid to humid

Laterite, red loamy, coastal alluvium

R, Ra, G Agri-horti-silviculture, agri- horticulture, homestead agroforestry

340-1793 Arid to dry sub-humid

Deep black, coastal alluvium medium black

R, Gr, C, B, W Agri-silviculture, silvipasture, agri-silvi-pasture

395 Arid to extremely arid

Desert, grey B, G, W, Ra Silvipasture, agri-silviculture and horti-pasture

1500-3086 Humid Desert, grey brown Coconut Agri-silvipasture, homestead agroforestry

Table 3. Potential of agroforestry systems in various agro-climatic zones of India

B= Bajra, C= Cotton, G= Gram, Gr= Groundnut, J= Jowar, M= Maize, P= Potato, R= Rice, Ra= Ragi, R&M= Rapeseed and Mustard, W= Wheat.

Sesbania grandiflora and S. sesban increase the storageproduction of Cenchrus cilaris, Setaria anceps andChrysopogon fulvus and provide higher yields when grownwith Eucalyptus hybrid.

In some agroforestry practices, trees serve as windbreaks and shelterbelts, delineate boundaries, and provideshade, ornamentation and seclusion around homesteads.They supply not only poles, stakes, timber and fuel, but alsocash crops, fodder fruits and nuts, dyes, gums, resins, fiberand medicines for providing sustainable livelihood to therural people.

The agro-climatic approach is, thus, treated as aneffective means for natural resource management.Agricultural and rural development or sustainable livelihoodmay be achieved through an appropriate mix of cropproduction along with allied activities like horticulture,agroforestry, animal husbandry, processing of agroforestryproduce and a host of other combinations (Table 3). Eachagro-climatic zone has immense technical and economicpotential for agroforestry to address the production andsustainability problems in the country. This statement isbecoming more and more indisputable as results come infrom a growing number of studies and developmentprogrammes. However, several problems and constraintsremain to be overcome before the full potential ofagroforestry can be realized for sustainable development ofthe farmers in general.

Table 2. Some common traditional agroforestry systems/practices in India

S. no.

System/Practice

Agro-ecological adaptation woody perennial + crop

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

1. 2. 3. 1. 2.

A. Agrisilvicultural system Shifting cultivation Taungya Homegardens Plantation based cropping systems Scattered trees on farm lands Shelterbelts and wind breaks Boundary plantations and live hedge Woodlots for soil conservation Trees on rangelands Plantation crops with pastures and animals Industrial plantations with crops B. Agri-silvipastoral system Seasonal forest grazing Aquaforestry Agriculture with trees C. Silvipastoral Silvipastures Hortipastoral

In tropical forest areas In all regions Mainly humid tropics Mainly humid tropics In all regions specially semi-arid and arid regions In wind prone areas, all regions, viz., coastal, arid In all regions In hilly areas, along sea coast and ravine lands In all regions Humid and sub-humid regions with less grazing Intensively cropped areas in north India Semi-arid and mountainous ecosystem Low lying lands All regions Sub tropics and tropics with bio-edaphic climaxes In hilly orchards for soil conservation and forage

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Agroforestry Systems Research for Livelihood andResources UtilizationThe impact of agroforestry research/technologies generatedin the last 25 years is visible in many areas. The area undervarious tree plantations is estimated to be 25.72 million haand small holders have emerged as timber suppliers of the21st century (Table 4). Recently, Dhyani et al. (2006) reportedthat 7.45 million ha. land are under agroforestry in the country.The task force on Greening India (PC, 2001) has also identifieda potential of 10 million ha in irrigated lands and another 18million ha in rainfed areas that could be developed throughagroforestry on a watershed basis.

Table 4. Area under various types of tree plantations inIndia

Source: Dhyani et al. (2009).

Potential of Agroforestry for Employment/IncomeGenerationThe farmers of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh andTerai belt of Uttarakhand have adopted a poplar-eucalyptsbased agroforestry system in a big way, covering an area of11.48 million ha. The poplars planted on agricultural fieldsand field boundaries have a rotation period of 6-8 years.Punjab, having 2-3 per cent of its geographical area underforests, has now become a major wood surplus state and issupplying wood to Himachal Pradesh for making packingboxes for fruits and also to some other southern states formaking paper. Poplar planted in agroforestry systems isestimated to provide gross returns of Rs. 3.27 lakhs per acrefor seven years or a net discounted return of Rs. 88.749 peracre in 7 years at 12 per cent rate of interest on investment.Without intercropping, the net discounted return fromgrowing poplar is only Rs. 53.476 per acre. The cost benefitratio is estimated to be 1: 1.92 with intercropping and 1: 2.13without intercropping. The returns are substantially higherwhen compared to raising sole agricultural crops.

Agroforestry has not only uplifted the socio-economic statusof the farmers but has also contributed towards the overalldevelopment of the region (Kumar et al., 2004).

In regions of high fertility and rainfall like Kerala,small farmers usually maximize returns from land throughmulti-storied cropping where perennial crops such ascoconut, areca nut, rubber and pepper are intercropped withseasonal and annual crops like tapioca, bananas, pulses andvegetables.

Prosopis juliflora, in addition to providing fuelwood,is also creating a large market of high value products. InRamnathpuram, district of Tamil Nadu 15,000 tonnes ofcharcoal, produced from P. juliflora is transported to Chennai.Charcoal making is now a cottage industry in parts of southernTamil Nadu. As source of fuelwood and charcoal, P. julifloraprovides employment to the tune of 6.34 million man days and7.03 million women days per annum in southern Tamil Nadu.Apart from charcoal making, it has the potential to be useful ingassifiers for generating power and thereby having the potentialfor improving sustainable livelihoods of the rural population.Three power plants in Andhra Pradesh have developed captiveplantations of P. juliflora for producing bio-energy. Thecommissioned biomass based power plant capacity inKarnataka and Andhra Pradesh is 266 MW with 46 powergeneration units in operation.

Agroforestry has a large role to play through itsproducts and environmental services to meet the subsistenceneeds of low income households and also provides employmentwith relatively lower investments, that too for the unskilledrural sector. Products like pole/bamboo and small timber forrural housing, timber for manufacturing, sawn wood and woodcomposites, e.g., plywood/particle boards/block boards,bamboos for housing, construction, transport sectors,bamboos for all types of paper and pulp products, medicinalplant extracts, etc. can absorb millions of unemployed people.It is estimated that on an average, 3,104 persons could beemployed on a sustained basis in the North-East Himalayanregion through selling of bamboo shoots with the highest (1,615persons/year) in Arunachal Pradesh and the lowest (45persons/year) in Sikkim. Most of the studies reported bettereconomic returns from bamboo based agroforestry systemsas compared to sole cropping. Bamboos play an importantrole in the economy of the Asia-Pacific region. They aremultipurpose plants, with more than 1,500 documented uses.The most important traditional uses include housing, foodand material for handicrafts. Worldwide, more than 2.5 billionpeople are employed in the domestic trade and subsistencewhich is estimated to be worth US $ 4.5 billion per year(INBAR, 1996).

S. no.

Plantation type Area (m ha)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Agroforestry and social forestry Externally aided social forestry

a) Farm forestry/agroforestry b) Village woodlots c) Strip plantations d) Rehabilitation of degraded forests

Sub total By NGOs/Vas Tree growers co-operatives Conservative forestry Afforestation (windbreaks/shelterbelt) under irrigation region development program of the IGCP Total

23.00

1.24 0.50 0.07 0.24 2.05 0.04 0.04 0.19 0.40

25.72

Forestry Bulletin, 12(2), 2012 41

Potential of Agroforestry in Carbon SequestrationAgroforestry related interventions helps in stabilizing thegreenhouse effects to a large extent. Agroforestry holdconsiderable potential for improving carbon sequestrationand carbon storage in both soils and the biomass. Thechanging climate of the earth has adversely affected thesustainability of rural livelihoods due to the loss ofproductivity of crops and may be improved throughcarbon sequestration by reducing carbon-dioxide level inthe atmosphere. Agroforestry provides twin advantagesby storing carbon through enhanced build-up of soilorganic matter and increased wood biomass productionthat could absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.Biomass production through multi species stands inagroforestry on degraded lands may be a priority forproviding a cleaner environment. Poplar exhibits some ofthe highest CO2 exchange rates and photosyntheticcapacities among woody plants and therefore, forms aunique combination with agricultural crops forsequestration atmosphere carbon.

According to the recent projections, the area inIndia under agroforestry will increase substantially inthe near future (IARI, 2006). Undoubtedly, this will havea great impact on the flux and long term storage of carbonas the inclusion of trees in the agricultural landscapeoften improves the productivity of land use systems whileproviding opportunities to create carbon sinks (Winjumet al., 1992; Dixon et al., 1993; Dixon, 1995, Krankina andDixon, 1995). The amount of carbon sequestered largelydepends on the agroforestry system being practiced.Other factors influencing carbon storage in agroforestrysystems include tree species, system management,environment and socio-economic aspects. The carbonstorage potential of agroforestry systems in differentregions of the world varies from 12 to 228 mg C per ha(Dixon et al., 1993; Krankina and Dixon, 1995; Winjum etal., 1992) Table 5.

Table 5. Potential carbon storage for agroforestry systems indifferent eco-regions of the world

Country Eco-region System mg C ha-1 Africa Humid tropic high Agrosilvicultural 29-53 South America Humid tropic low Agrosilvicultural 39-102* Dry low land 39-195 South-East Asia Humid tropical Agrosilvicultural 12-228 Dry low land 68-81 Australia Humid tropics low Silvopastoral 28-51 North America Humid tropics high Silvopastoral 133-154 Humid tropics low 104-198 Dry low land 90-175 Northern Asia Humid tropical low Silvopastoral 15-18

* Carbon storage value were standardized to 50 year rotation.Source: IARI (2006).

Potential of Agroforestry in Biofuel ProductionIn India, the energy demand is expected to grow at the rate of4.8 per cent annually. Further, in view of the increasing gapbetween demand and domestically produced petroleum ourdependence on import of oil will increase in the foreseeablefuture. Biofuels are renewable liquid fuels derived frombiological raw materials and have proven to be goodsubstitute for oil in the transportation sector and as suchbiofuels are gaining worldwide acceptance as a solution forproblems of environmental degradation, energy security,restricting imports, generating rural employment and theagricultural economy. The Planning Commission of India hasestimated that the total production potential of tree borneoilseeds (TBOs) in India is 5.253 million tons or 25 per cent oftotal production potential of about 23 million tons. It has thepotential for providing employment to 0.44 millions @ 40 kgseed collection per day per person. The potential tree borneoilseeds (TBOs) holding promises for biofuel production areJatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata, Simarouba spps.,Azadiracta indica, Madhuca spp., etc. in agroforestrysystems. J. curcas has been intercropped with annual cropssuch as cowpea, sesame, sunflower, French bean, black gram,green gram and groundnut, etc. at various places.

Conclusions

Agroforestry system plays a vital role in the Indian economyby way of providing tangible and intangible contributions.Agroforestry has received much attention from theresearchers, policy makers, NGOs and others for its perceivedability to contribute significantly to economic growth, socio-economic upliftment and environmental sustainability.Significant progress has been made during the past decadesin understanding interactions amongst the differentcomponents of agroforestry systems to achieve effectiveresources utilization and their ameliorative effects on soiland microclimate.

Owing to an increase in supply of wood in the market,there has been a significant increase in the number offactories/industries dealing with wood and wood basedventures. Such industries have promoted employment.Agroforestry (through bamboo, poplar and eucalypts) hascontributed significantly in increasing the area underagroforestry. Most of the studies reported better economicreturns from bamboo based agroforestry systems ascompared to sole cropping.

Natural resources such as land, water and vegetationoccupy centre-stage for the welfare and development of people.Carbon sequestration is emerging as a major international policy

42 ENVIS

goal in the context of increasing knowledge about climatechange. Carbon sequestration through agroforestry is apotentially viable option to add to the trees on the farm lands,alone or in association with crops, because India’s presentforest cover is 20.5 per cent of the total geographical areaswhereas the targets fixed were to achieve tree cover to theextent of 25 per cent by 2007 and 33 per cent by 2012. This canonly be achieved by planting trees in agricultural fields byadopting agroforestry systems. Besides increasing the treecover and restoration of degraded lands, agroforestry hasimmense potential for carbon sequestration, improving soilquality and increasing its productivity. Substitution of fossilfuels has a mitigating potential in the long term and at presentproduction of bio-fuel and ethanol is the priority to substitutefor fossil fuels. This approach involves extending theproduction of bio-diesel through cultivation of tree bearingoilseed species like Jatropha, neem, karanj, etc. and diversifyin the co-production of ethanol by the sugar industries.

References

Dhyani, S.K.; Kareemulla, K.; Ajit and Handa, A.K. 2009.Agroforestry potential and scope for developmentacross agroclimatic zones in India. Indian Journalof Forestry, 32(20): 181-191.

Dixon, R.K. 1995. Agroforestry systems: Sources or sinks ofgreenhouse gases? Agroforestry Systems, 31(2): 99-116.

Dixon, R.K.; Andrasko, K.J.; Sussman, F.A.; Lavinso, M.A.;Trexler, M.C. and Vinson, T.S. 1993. Forest sector

carbon offset programs: Near-term opportunities toreduce greenhouse gas emissions. Water Air andSoil Pollution, 70(1-4): 561-577.

IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute). 2006. IARIperspective plan: Vision 2025. New Delhi, IARI.

INBAR (International Network for Bamboo and Rattan). 1996.Bamboo people and the environment. Vol. 3:Engineering and utilization. INBAR Technical ReportNo.8. New Delhi, INBAR.

Krankina, O.N. and Dixon, R.K. 1995. Forest managementoptions to conserve and sequester terrestrialcarbon in the Russian Federation. World ResourcesReview, 6: 88-101.

Kumar, R.; Gupta, P.K. and Gulati, A. 2004. Viable agroforestrymodels and their economics Yamunanagar districtof Haryana and Haridwar district of Uttaranchal.Indian Forester, 130(2): 131-148.

PC (India. Planning Commission). 2001. Report of the taskforce on greening india for livelihood security andsustainable development. New Delhi, PlanningCommission. 231p.

Solanki, K.R. 2006. Agroforestry-opportunities andchallenges. In: Chauhan, S.K.; Gill, S.S.; Khajuria,H.N. and Chauhan, R. Eds. Production technologyand management of agroforestry models. Udaipur,Agrotech Publishing Academy. pp. 14-15.

Winjum, J.K.; Dixon, R.K. and Schroeder, P.E. 1992. Estimatingthe global potential of forest and agroforestrymanagement practices to sequester carbon. WaterAir and Soil Pollution, 64(1-2): 213-228.