LECTURE-1

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: TO KNOW ABOUT AGROFORESTRY DEFINITIONS,

OBJECTIVES, POTENTIAL AND DISTINCTION BETWEEN AGROFORESTRY AND
SOCIAL FORESTRY

CONCEPT OF AGROFORESTRY

Agroforestry is an age old practice, indeed very old. Farmers of the tropical area have
long tradition of growing food crops, tress and animals together as well as exploiting a multiple
range of production from natural wood lots. Trees and forests are an integral part of the Indian
culture. The best of Indian culture was born in the forests. Our rishis who evolved the Hindu
philosophy, lived in forests in complete harmony with the nature. In fact, so much has been said
about trees in our ancient literature that planting tree was being done by individuals on their own
along with agriculture crops. “Krishishukti” written by Maharishi Kashyap, classifies land into
several categories and identifies areas which are sustainable for planting trees, all wet and dry
lands and areas around houses, wells, tanks are specifically identified for tree planting. But
foresters and agriculturists, who have traditionally operated within rather rigid disciplinary
boundaries concentrating on monoculture production of their preferred commodities of crops,
animals and trees used to ignore such combined integrated production systems.

More recently, however, the forest area has receded and resources have shrunk
considerably. The people are no longer able to meet their requirements of firewood, fodder,
timber, bamboo, etc. from the forest. Due to shortage of wood the prices of these commodities
have, therefore, increased substantially. Many forest based industries have been facing problems
in supply of raw material. Many farmers quite recently started planting trees on their farm lands
to meet these shortages along with agriculture crop; thus from the concept of agroforestry it
emerged out

 Agroforestry is collective name for land use systems involving trees combined with
crops and/or animals on the same unit of land. Further it,

 Combines production of multiple outputs with protection of resource base

 Places emphasis on the use of multiple indigenous trees and shrubs

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  Is particularly suitable for low-input conditions and fragile environments

 Involves the interplay of sociocultural values more than in most other land-use
systems

 Is structurally and functionally more complex than monoculture

AGROFORESTRY DEFINITIONS: -

 Agroforestry means practice of agriculture and forest/ horticulture tree on the same piece
of land. However, the agroforestry has been defined by various workers working in the
field of agroforestry. Some of the definitions given by different workers are as follows:

 Bene et al. (1977) defined agroforestry as a sustainable management system for land that
increases overall production, combines agriculture crops, forest plants and tree crop and/or
animals simultaneously or sequentially and applies management practices that are
compatible with the cultural patterns of a local population.

 King and Chandler (1978): “Agroforestry is a sustainable land management system which
increases the overall yield of the land, combines the production of crops (including tree
crops) and forest plants and/or animals simultaneously or sequentially, on the same unit of
land and applies management practices that are compatible with the cultural practices of
the local population.
 Nair (1979) defines agroforestry as a land use system that integrates trees, crops and
animals in a way that is scientifically sound, ecologically desirable, practically feasible and
socially acceptable to the farmers.
 According to Lundgren and Raintree (1982), agroforestry is a collective name for land use
systems and technologies, where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palm bamboos, etc.) are
deliberately used in the same piece of land management units as agriculture crops and/or
animals in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry
systems, there are both ecological and economical interactions between the different
components.

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Some of the basic ideas emerging from the definition of AGROFORESTRY
 AF normally involves two or more species of plants (or plants and animals), at least one of
which is woody
 An *AFS always has two or more outputs
 Cycle of the AFS is always more than one year
 Positive and negative interactions are exhibited among components (tree, crop)
 Even the simplest AFS is more complex ecologically (structurally and functionally) and
economically, than a monocropping system

Plate1.1 Agroforestry components/Basic components of agroforestry

OBJECTIVES OF AGROFORESTRY

In all agroforestry land management there are two essential and related aims such as
 The AFS should conserve and improve the site
 Optimize the combine production of tress, agricultural crops and animals
ATTRIBUTES OF AGROFORESTRY

There are three attributes which, theoretically, all agroforestry system possess, these are:

 Productivity

Most, if not all, agroforestry systems aim to maintain or increase production (of preferred
commodities as well as productivity (of the land). Agroforestry can improve productivity

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 in many different ways. These include: increased output of tree products, improved yields
of associated crops, reduction of cropping system inputs, and increased labour efficiency.

 Sustainability

By conserving the production potential of the resource base, mainly through the
beneficial effects of woody perennials on soils, agroforestry can achieve and indefinitely
maintain conservation and fertility goals

 Adoptability

The word “adopt” here means “accept” and it may be distinguished from another
commonly used word adapt, which implies “modify” or “change.” The fact that
agroforestry is a relatively new word for an old set of practices means that, in some cases,
agroforestry already been accepted by the farming community. However, the implication
here is that improved or new agroforestry technologies that are introduced into new areas
should also conform to local farming practices

POTENTIAL OF AGROFORESTRY:

The different aspects in which agroforestry can help in enhancing the productivity of our
lands to meet the demand of ever- growing human and livestock population. are as follows:
Meeting the demand of food & fodder
 Enhanced food production from crops associated with trees through nitrogen fixation,
better access to soil nutrients brought to surface from deep tree roots, improved
availability of nutrients due to high cation-exchange capacity of the soil and its organic
matter and mycorrhizal associations
 Food for man from trees as fruits, nuts and cereal substitutes
 Fodder for meeting rural needs

Water conservation
 Improvement of soil-moisture retention in rainfed croplands and pastures through
improved soil structure and micro-climate effect of trees
 Regulation of stream flow, reducing flood hazards and a more even supply of water
through reduction of run-off and improvement of interception and storage in infiltration

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 galleries.
 Improvement in drainage from waterlogged or saline soils by trees with high water
requirements.

Fuelwood and energy

 Fuel-wood for direct combustion
 Pyrolytic conversion products such as charcoal. oil and gas
 Ethanol produced from fermentation of high-carbohydrate fruits
 Oils, latex and other combustible saps and resins

Shelter from trees

 Building materials for shelter construction
 Shade trees for people, livestock and shade-loving crops
 Wind-breaks and shelter-belts for protection of settlements, crop lands, pastures and
roadways
 Fencing: live fences and fence posts

Raw material for industries

 Raw material for pulp and paper industry
 Tannins. essential oils and medicinal ingredients
 Wood for agricultural implements and various crafts
 Fibre for weaving

Cash benefits
 Direct cash benefits from sale of tree products
 Indirect cash benefits from increased productivity

Increased yield and maximized production:

Combining agriculture crops with trees helps in increasing the productivity of the land by:
 Utilizing available solar radiations throughout the year and thus enhancing total
productivity
 Many leguminous tree species fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and return much more in
leaf fall than they take from soil.

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  Leaves of tree species could be used as green manure and help the farmer to increase soil
productivity at optimum levels over a long period of time.
Diversified products:
 Several trees, shrubs, herbs and climbers yield a substantial quantity of food materials
which are used by rural poor and particularly by tribal.
 About 213 species of large and small trees, 17 species of palm, 128 species of shrubs, 116
species of herbs, 4 species of fern and 15 species of fungi are known to yield edible/food
material.
 Thus, by adopting agroforestry one can get diversified products viz. fuel, fodder, fruits,
fibre, timber, etc.
 Agroforestry aims to maximize production of biomass of trees and agricultural crops.
 Tree and agriculture crop production system is more productive and is capable of meeting
almost all the demands of timber, fodder, fruits, fiber and firewood.
Utilization of wasteland and degraded land:

 In India approx 100 million ha area is under different kinds of waste land.
 These lands can be gainfully utilized for the cultivation of trees.
 Once the area is vegetated, ecological restoration process starts by means of leaf litter
decomposition etc., which leads to improvement in soil condition.
 Once the soil is improved, this land can be utilized for agricultural production.
Provides employment opportunities:

 Unemployment is the country‟s main problem.

 Agroforestry systems increase the employment opportunities.
 Plantation, including seed collection and nursery raising generate employment of about
200-500 man days/yr.
 Wood based industries such as saw milling, furniture, sports goods, pulp and paper, Match
splints, bamboo and cane furniture, etc. are the important sectors where rural youth get
employment.

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Increased farm income:

Agroforestry provides the farmers with large number of alternatives of agricultural,

forestry and horticultural crops and thus gives more income to the farmers per unit of land than
monoculture.

Carbon sequestration services and its influence on climate change.

One of the most important contributions of agroforestry in general is to respond to

climate change through sequestration of carbon in above ground plant biomass and below ground
biomass in the soils.

Potential reduction in the rate of deforestation

 Agroforestry reduced the annual rate of deforestation to a great extent.

 The ready availability of fuel wood in own farm reduces the burden on the natural forests.

 The time that household/family members especially women would have spent walking
long distances in search of fuelwood in forests can be saved.

Improvement in soil health and insurance against climatic hazards

 Trees and shrubs improve the physical properties of soils.

 In particular aggregation is higher in fields where trees are being grown, and this enhances
water infiltration and water holding capacity of soils thereby reducing surface run-off and
soil erosion.

 As a result, trees /shrubs have the potential to reduce the impact of droughts, a common
seasonal phenomenon in most of the developing countries where agriculture is mainly rain-
fed.

 The repeated application of tree biomass increases the soil organic matter that leads to
important increase in soil water retention capacity.

 The trees biomass also provide favourable environment for soil microbes and fauna which
in turn break down the biomass and release plant nutrients.

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Agroforestry as a habitat for wild species

 Agroforestry can enhance connectivity and landscape heterogeneity in multi-functional

conservation landscape.

 Zomer et al., (2001) found that an agroforestry system viz Alnus nepalensis and cardamom
contributed to the integrity of riparian corridors for wildlife conservation around the
Makalu Barun National Park and Conservation Area of eastern Nepal.

SOCIAL FORESTRY:

 Social forestry is the practice of forestry on lands outside the conventional forest area for
the benefit of the rural and urban communities.
 The term was coined by J.C. Westoby. It was first recognized as an important component
of forestry for meeting rural needs in the interim report of the National Commission on
Agriculture (NCA), 1976.
 The objectives of social forestry adopted by the NCA were to fulfill the basic and
economic needs of the community.
 The scope of social forestry defined by the NCA included farm forestry, community
woodlots and reforestation in degraded lands. By mid-1980, the concept of social forestry
was firmly established as forestry „for the people, with the people and by the people‟ or
forestry of the people, by the people and for the people.

Social forestry includes within its scope the following:

a) Farm Forestry: Farm forestry is the practice of forestry on farms in the form of raising rows
of tree on bunds or boundaries of field and individual trees in private agriculture land as well
as creation of wind breaks, which are protective vegetal screens created round a farm or an
orchard by raising one or two lines of trees fairly close with shrubs in between.

b) Extension Forestry—Extension forestry is the practice of forestry in areas devoid of tree

growth and other vegetation and situated in places away from the conventional forest areas
with the object of increasing the area under tree growth. It includes within its scope the
following:

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 i. Mixed forestry: Mixed forestry is practice of forestry for raising fodder grass with
scattered fodder trees, fruit trees and fuel-wood trees on suitable waste lands, panchayat
land and village commons land.

ii. Shelterbelts: Shelterbelts is defined as „a belt of trees and/or shrubs maintained for the
purpose of shelter from wind, sun, snow-drift, etc. they are generally more extensive than
the wind-breaks covering areas larger than a single farm and sometimes whole regions on a
planned pattern.‟ Or

Shelterbelt is wide belt of tree, shrubs and grasses which goes right across the land at right
angle to the direction of prevailing wind in order to

 Reduce wind velocity

 Deflect wind current
 Protect public properly in leeward side

iii. Linear Strip Plantation: These are plantations of fast-growing species on linear strips of
land on the sides of public roads, canals and railway lines.

c) Community Woodlots: The community woodlots, consists of plantations of fuelwood species

on community village lands, with intended objective of increasing a villager‟s access to fuel
wood, fruits and fodder.

d) Rehabilitation of Degraded Forests

As a third component, the interim report of the NCA, 1976 suggested reforestation of degraded
forests to achieve the following objectives:

1. To grow short rotation fuel and timber species for meeting the requirements.
2. To organize fuelwood supplies at reasonable rates, this will prevent pilferage from
neighbouring commercial forests.
3. To tie up degraded forest areas with the nearby rural and semi-urban centers for their
requirements of fuelwood.
4. To provide employment.
5. To rehabilitate the degraded forests in the process.

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e) Recreation Forestry

Recreation forestry is the practice of forestry with the object of raising avenue/flowering
trees and shrubs mainly to serve as recreation forests for the urban and rural population. This type
of forestry is also known as Aesthetic forestry which is defined as the practice of forestry with the
object of developing or maintaining a forest of high scenic value.

DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN SOCIAL FORESTRY AND AGROFORESTRY

SOCIAL FORESTRY AGROFORESTRY

1. Social forestry is a plantation made on lands 1. Agroforestry is a sustainable Land

outside conventional forest areas for the management system that increases the
benefit of rural and urban communities, with overall production, combines agricultural
objectives to supply fuel wood to divert cow crops, tree crops and forest plants and/or
dung from village hearths to village fields, animals simultaneously or sequentially, and
small timber for housing and agricultural applies management practices that are
implements and fodder for cattle of the rural compatible with the cultural patterns of the
population, living far away from the forest local population.
area, protection of agriculture by creation of
diverse ecosystem, and arresting wind and
water erosion.
2. It is thus the forestry of the people, by the 2. Agroforestry is a system which is rather
people and for the people. localized in its concept for managing the unit
of land for maximizes production of
agricultural crop and forest trees
complimentary with each other.
3. Planting of trees on massive scale is done on 3. Agroforestry is practiced mostly in farmers‟
vacant land community land, roadside railway field/own land.
track and even degraded reserve forest.
4. Trees and shrubs are to be used to harvest 4. It involves integration of two or more than
multiple products. two components in a cultivated land.
5. Social forestry is a short rotation investment. 5. Agroforestry is also short rotation forestry.

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