User:Hcbjoshi/Temp/AGF Manual.doc

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 * multiple crops and markets
 * short, medium, and long term crops
 * food and resources for home and local use
 * innovative products
 * spatial efficiency
 * makes use of natural fertility cycles
 * Mixed cropping/agroforestry: cons
 * Management complexity
 * knowledge intensive
 * labor intensive: difficult to mechanize
 * more “expensive” to operate

Values of agroforestry

Biodiversity conservation: We now know that diverse agroforestry systems support biodiversity whereas monocultures do not.

Food security: Diverse agroforestry systems can provide food security, whereas western landscapes do not.

Leave a legacy: A legacy of a healthy environment is something we all would like to leave behind.

Meeting places/sacred sites: Many people are not aware that trees are associated with some of the most important meeting places and landmarks.

The Role of Agro-Forestry in Relieving Pressure from Forest

Tables 4 and 5 shows the weigh and income of harvested forest products of priority species derived from farm and forest lands across the communities sampled. A correlation analysis made on the data set at aggregate levels reveal a high degree of positive correlation (R-0.82) between the weight of harvested products from farm and that from the forest. The correlation is significant at 0.01 levels. The analysis suggests that the quantity and volume of harvested forest products in farmlands compares favourably with those of the same products harvested from forest lands. The above analysis on the capacity of Agroforestry to relieve the pressure of dependence on forest expressed purely in quantitative terms (i.e. the weight in Kg of harvested products) can also be expressed in socio-economic terms. The fundamental research hypothesis to be tested is that the income derivable from harvested forest products from agricultural lands compares favorably with same products harvested from forestlands. Table 5 shows income data from harvested forest products in agricultural and forestlands.

A correlation analysis of income data as presented in table 5 shows that income derived from the harvesting of forest products from farm lands was highly positively correlated with those derived from the harvesting of same products from forestlands. The correlation coefficient r-0.93 is significant at 0.01 levels. This further confirms the notion of the potential of indigenous agro-forestry practice to reduce dependence on forest/ protected area.

Importance of Agro forestry

The strides of human evolution have been through forests. Man learnt the art of domesticating plants and animals after leaving the hunting and gathering habit. Man’s desire to live in co-existence in a community created settled agriculture. Acceleration in human and livestock population necessitated acquisition of more and more land under cultivation continued to meet the ever increasing demand for food, fodder, vegetables, fuel wood, timber, medicines etc. Further, demographic pressure has forced man to seek unconventional methods of agriculture to utilize land to the maximum extent. National Forest Policy (1988) has set a goal that 33% of the country’s geographical area should be under forest and tree cover. Under Tenth Five Year Plan, the Government of India has set a target to increase the country’s forest cover up to 25%. According to the latest report of Forest Survey of India (2001), the forest cover in the country is 675,538 km2, constituting 20.55% of its total geographical area. Out of this, dense forest constitutes 12.68 % and open forest 7.87 %. The forest cover in the hills districts is only 38.34 % compared with the desired 66% area. The only solution to achieve these targets is through the practice of agro-forestry. Therefore in the quest of optimizing productivity, the multi-tier system came into existence.

The ashrams were the centers which harmonized agriculture and pasture with trees, animals and birds. It was widely believed that destruction of forests and cutting of trees created famine conditions, where as planting and maintaining trees were regarded as noble acts. In fact, so much has been written in our ancient literature that individuals on their own agricultural fields were doing planting tree in ancient times. Gradually, the population of the country has started increasing and it resulted into a gap in demand and supply. With the increase in population, the condition of forests further worsened due to accelerated demand of fuel, fodder and timber for growing population. Further, in order to meet the food requirement man started cutting forests and converted them into agricultural lands. To overcome this huge burden upon our existing forests, some alternative steps have to be taken to meet the increasing demand of forest produce i.e. production of such items have to be carried outside the forest areas as well. Hence, in the light of ever increasing demand, concept of multiple use of land with multipurpose tree species has become immensely important. In this context, agro-forestry, which is a form of multiple land/use system, needs to be adopted and encouraged.

The reasons for higher production under agro forestry system include:


 * Greater efficiency of tree species for photosynthesis.
 * Improved soil structure and fertility with increasing effects on crop yield.
 * Reduce losses from soil erosion and more closed cycling of organic matter and nutrients.
 * Creating better micro climatic conditions for the growth of agricultural crops.