Notes on Agroforestry

Agroforestry - Definitions, Objectives, Potential and Distinction between Agroforestry and Social Forestry

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Source: ICAR Web

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Concept of Agroforestry:

• Agroforestry is an age-old practice.
• Farmers in warmer regions have a tradition of growing food crops, trees, and animals together.
• Trees and forests are integral to Indian culture.
• Rishis who evolved Hindu philosophy lived in forests in harmony with nature.
• Planting trees was practiced alongside agriculture crops.
• "Krishishukti" by Maharishi Kashyap classified suitable areas for tree planting.
• Traditional foresters and agriculturists focused on monoculture production.
• Recent forest area reduction led to resource scarcity.
• Shortage of wood increased commodity prices.
• Farmers started planting trees on their lands to meet shortages.
• Agroforestry is a collective name for land use systems involving trees, crops, and/or animals.
• Agroforestry combines production of multiple outputs with protection of the production base.
• It emphasizes the use of indigenous trees and shrubs.
• Suitable for low-input conditions and fragile environments.
• Involves sociocultural values more than other land-use systems.
• Structurally and functionally more complex than monoculture.

AGROFORESTRY DEFINITIONS:

• Agroforestry is a relatively new name for old land use practices.
• Different definitions proposed worldwide.
• Accepted as a land use system.
• Bene et al. (1977) defined agroforestry as a sustainable management system.
• King and Chandler (1978): "Agroforestry is a sustainable land management system."
• Nair (1979) defines agroforestry as a land use system that integrates trees, crops, and animals.
• Lundgren and Raintree (1982) define agroforestry as a collective name for land use systems.
• Agroforestry systems have ecological and economical interactions between components.

Objectives of Agroforestry:

• Two essential aims: conserve and improve the site, optimize combined production.
• Three attributes: productivity, sustainability, adoptability.

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