AGROFORESTRY
AGROFORESTRY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
Alok Kumar Patra Associate Professor (Agronomy) All India Coordinated Research Project on Agroforestry Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha India
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Preface Agroforestry, as an age-old land use system has been in practice for thousands of years by farmers all over the world. But only in recent years, it has been developed as a science to help farmers increase the productivity, profitability and sustainability of production on their land by combining the best attributes of forestry and agriculture. Today, agroforestry has established itself as a viable approach of integrated land management system not only for meeting the deficits of food, fodder, firewood and timber but also for ecological considerations like soil conservation, biodiversity preservation, watershed protection, wasteland management, carbon sequestration and mitigation of climate change effects. In this backdrop, agroforestry has been recommended as a core subject in the curriculum of the state agricultural universities. Keeping this in view, an effort has been made to write a textbook on agroforestry which would be useful to the students as well as the teachers. The common people, who love trees, would also find it worth reading. This book is primarily based on the syllabus of my course ‘Introduction to Agroforestry’ taught to under-graduate forestry students. This book has been divided into sixteen chapters covering all aspects of agroforestry including concepts, definition, history, benefits and limitations, systems classifications, soil productivity, tree-crop interaction, multipurpose trees and their propagation, agroforestry management, watershed and wasteland management through agroforestry, climate change adaptation and mitigation, agroforestry diagnosis and design, experimental analysis, economics and extension of agroforestry. Any suggestion to improve the contents of the book will be highly appreciated. I take full responsibility for any errors in this book. Any shortcomings may be intimated so that it will be taken care of in the next edition.
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Agroforestry: Principles and Practices
In writing this book, the literature on agroforestry developed by various organizations and agencies like ICFRE, FAO, AFNETA, ICRISAT, ICAR, NRCAF, CAZRI, IGFRI, etc. is freely used. I extend my sincere thanks to the authors and editors of various books, journals and periodicals which have been used as reference material in this book. Every care has been taken to cite the bibliographic references. However, any omissions, misrepresentations, incorrect citations or other mistakes that may have occurred are regretted. The preparation of this book was not supported by any research grant, fellowship or other form of financial support. I am indebted to my friend Dr Ranjan Kumar Patra, Associate Professor (Soil Science), OUAT who has meticulously edited every word of the manuscript. I am also grateful to my colleagues in the AICRP on Agroforestry, AICRP on Integrated Farming System, College of Forestry, and College of Agriculture, OUAT, Bhubaneswar for their help in various ways during the preparation of this textbook. I express my gratitude to the New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi for bringing out the book timely and nicely. I am thankful to my wife Jharashree and daughter Prachurya for their constant support and encouragement. This book is dedicated to my parents who are a constant source of inspiration to me throughout my academic journey. Alok Kumar Patra
Contents Preface ....................................................................................................... v Glossary .................................................................................................... xi 1.
Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Definitions of agroforestry .................................................................... 2 Key Traits of agroforestry practices ..................................................... 3 Premises of agroforestry ..................................................................... 4 Need of agroforestry ............................................................................ 6 Scope of agroforestry in India .............................................................. 7 Benefits from agroforestry ................................................................... 9 Limitations of agroforestry ................................................................. 10 History of agroforestry ....................................................................... 11 History of agroforestry in India ........................................................... 13 Agroforestry and the future ................................................................ 15
2.
Agroforestry Systems and Their Classification ....................... 17 Structural classification of agroforestry systems ................................ 18 Agrisilvicultural systems ..................................................................... 18 Silvipastoral system ........................................................................... 35 Agrisilvipastoral system ..................................................................... 38 Other agroforestry systems ............................................................... 41 Functional classification of agroforestry systems .............................. 43 Socioeconomic classification of agroforestry systems ...................... 44 Ecological classification of agroforestry systems .............................. 44
3.
Social Forestry ............................................................................. 47 Characteristics of social forestry ........................................................ 47 Objectives of social forestry ............................................................... 48 Scope of social forestry ..................................................................... 49 Components of social forestry ........................................................... 50 Strategies for implementation of social forestry ................................. 53 Pre-requisites for implementation of social forestry ........................... 53
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Agroforestry: Principles and Practices
Steps for establishment of a social forestry plantation ....................... 54 Roadside plantation ........................................................................... 58 Railway line plantation ....................................................................... 59 Canal banks plantation ...................................................................... 60
4.
Agroforestry and Soil Productivity ............................................. 61 Trees improve soils ............................................................................ 62 Effects of trees on soils ...................................................................... 64 Nutrient cycling in agroforestry systems ............................................ 68 Soil organic matter in agroforestry systems ....................................... 69 Biological nitrogen fixation in agroforestry systems ........................... 70 Effect of agroforestry on soil erosion ................................................. 71 Agroforestry for problem soils ............................................................ 72
5.
Tree-Crop Interactions in Agroforestry ..................................... 75 Nature of interactions ........................................................................ 76 Factors affecting interactions ............................................................. 77 Types of interactions .......................................................................... 79 Management options to neutralize negative interactions ................... 85 Method for quantifying interactions .................................................... 86
6.
Multipurpose Trees for Agroforestry ......................................... 89 Benefits from multipurpose trees ....................................................... 90 Selection of appropriate species ........................................................ 91 Characteristics of MPTs suitable for agroforestry .............................. 92 Role of MPTs in agroforestry ............................................................. 93 Improving MPTs for agroforestry systems ....................................... 100
7.
Tree Propagation and Nursery Management .......................... 103 Propagation methods ....................................................................... 103 Nursery ............................................................................................ 107 Field planting ................................................................................... 112
8.
Agroforestry Management ........................................................ 115 Factors affecting the selection of tree species ................................ 115 Tree management ........................................................................... 117 Agricultural crops management ....................................................... 125 Management of fruit trees in agroforestry systems ......................... 128
9.
Agroforestry for Different Agroecological Zones .................. 131 Agroforestry for humid and subhumid tropics .................................. 131 Agroforestry for arid and semiarid tropics ........................................ 134 Agroforestry for tropical wetlands .................................................... 138 Agroforestry for hill lands ................................................................. 142
10.
Agroforestry for Watershed Management ................................ 145 Principles of watershed management ............................................. 145 Objectives of watershed management ............................................ 146 Agroforestry- a sustainable option for watershed management ...... 147
Contents
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Contribution of trees towards improvement of soil water regime ..... 148 Biological measures for watershed management ............................ 149 Conservation measures for watershed management ...................... 152
11.
Agroforestry for Wasteland Development ................................ 153 Management of wastelands ............................................................. 155
12.
Agroforestry for Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation ............................................................................. 163 Effects of climate change ................................................................ 164 Agroforestry for adaptation to climate change ................................. 165 Role of agroforestry in adapting and mitigating climate change ...... 167
13.
Agroforestry: Diagnosis and Design ........................................ 171 Macro D & D .................................................................................... 173 Micro D & D ..................................................................................... 176 Methodological considerations in D & D .......................................... 179
14.
Design and Analysis of Agroforestry Experiments ................ 183 Design requirements ........................................................................ 184 Principles of field experimentation ................................................... 185 Types of agroforestry field experiments ........................................... 186 Plot size and arrangement ............................................................... 187 Experimental designs ...................................................................... 188 On-farm research in agroforestry .................................................... 191
15.
Economics of Agroforestry ....................................................... 195 Principles of economic analysis ....................................................... 195 Principle benefits and costs of agroforestry ..................................... 197 Important terms in economic analysis ............................................. 198 Financial measures ......................................................................... 199 Agroforestry economic analysis ....................................................... 200 Quantification and valuation of inputs and outputs .......................... 201 Agroforestry budgeting .................................................................... 203 Risk analysis .................................................................................... 207 Re-assessment ................................................................................ 207
16.
Agroforestry Extension .............................................................. 209 What is Agroforestry extension? ...................................................... 210 Innovation-decision approach .......................................................... 212 Constraints in adoption of agroforestry technology .......................... 215 Role of the extension worker ........................................................... 217 Selected References ........................................................................ 221 Web Link ........................................................................................ 231 Subject Index .................................................................................... 233
Fi r s tf e wp a g e so ft h i sb o o ka r ep u b l i s h e d o nk i s a n . c o mb yi t sp u b l i s h e r . I fy o uwi s ht op u r c h a s eah a r d c o p y o ft h i sb o o k , p l e a s ec o n t a c tt h ep u b l i s h e r .
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