AGROFORESTRY
- ENVIRONMENT
News:
Increase agroforestry to
meet demand, curb CO2 emissions
What's
in the news?
●
Various state governments were trying to
augment agroforestry as it contributed to the environment, helped in reducing
carbon footprint, and caused rainfall.
Key
takeaways:
●
The increased forest cover would result in
about 190 million cubic metres of additional agroforestry.
●
In agroforestry systems, there are both
ecological and economical interactions between the different components.
Agroforestry:
●
Agroforestry is defined as the cultivation
and use of trees and shrubs with crops and livestock in agricultural systems.
Features:
●
It aims at achieving a more ecologically diverse and socially
productive output from the land than is possible through conventional
agriculture.
●
Agroforestry seeks positive interactions
between its components and is also known as ‘social forestry’.
●
It applies agricultural practices that are
compatible with the cultural patterns of the local population and has many
benefits.
Benefits
of Agroforestry:
1.
Green economy:
●
Agroforestry positively contributes to a
green economy.
●
It promotes long-term, sustainable, and
renewable forest management, especially for small-scale producers.
2.
Reduce human impact on land:
●
Agroforestry is a practical and low-cost
means of implementing many forms of integrated land management.
● Therefore, it seeks to reduce human impact on the land.
3.
Practiced in different ecosystem:
●
Agroforestry is applied to a variety of
landscapes like a field, farms, watersheds etc., in different ecosystems and
cultures.
4.
Sustainable livelihoods:
●
It has the potential to improve
livelihoods through enhanced health and nutrition, increased economic growth,
and strengthened environmental
resilience and ecosystem sustainability.
5.
Climate mitigation:
●
Agroforestry systems are also beneficial
as they are important for long-term
carbon sequestration, soil enrichment, soil moisture conservation, biodiversity
conservation, air- and water-quality improvements, protection of arable
land from wind and water erosion, etc.
6.
Integrated farming:
●
Agroforestry derives from the interactions
between trees and shrubs and crops and livestock.
●
In the process, it optimizes positive interactions, such as mutualism and commensalism.
●
It minimizes predation on crops and
livestock and competition within and between species.
●
Positive interactions may reduce stress on
plants and animals, enhance yields, retain soil, and capture water.
●
For example, the moist shaded microclimate
under certain crop trees is beneficial for shade-tolerant crops such as
turmeric or pineapple.
7.
Income to farmers and rural communities:
●
Agroforestry enables the farmer to get food, fodder, fuel, fruit, and timber from
his land.
●
The land becomes fit to give maximum
production and provides employment to rural masses.
Agroforestry
in India:
●
India became the world's first country to
adopt a comprehensive agroforestry policy.
Submission
on Agroforestry:
●
To tap the potential of agroforestry, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare is implementing the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF) Scheme from
2016-17.
●
Provision of financial assistance to farmers under the Scheme for plantation
activities along with the development of various types of nurseries for
producing quality planting materials like seeds, seedlings, clones, and
improved varieties to meet the requirement of quality planting materials/seeds
for the farmers.
●
Capacity
building and training are also important interventions of the
scheme to support the agroforestry sector.
Agroforestry has the
potential to improve the condition of
the farmer's socio-economic structure as well as increase in green cover and reduce the impact of climate change by
improving the environmental conditions.