Page 135 - Agroforestry system - book inner (final corrected) - 9.-3-21_Neat

National level e-symposium on “Agroforestry system for augmenting livestock
productivity and empowering resource poor rural farmers”

agriculture, incidence of diseases, local weather, rise in sea level, more heat waves etc. Some of the
major outcomes of climate change are likewise - over 16,000 were killed in earthquakes in Kutch
and other parts of Gujarat in June 2001; annual disaster loss is about $ 1883.93 million and average
damage to crops is about Rs. 972 crores (Sources-Reuters, IPCC, WWF). Recent studies reveal that
it is likely to have a deleterious impact on the hilly terrains in the Himalayan belt which are more
susceptible to glaciation. To combat this problem, accumulation and absorpion of more carbon in
the soil is the only viable option we are left with. It is estimated that the green cover in the forests
could sequester significant proportion of carbon that could be viably used for carbon trading. For
instance, it is estimated that forests of Meghalaya in the north-east India sequester about 1470
million tonnes of carbon (IPCC). Yet, we are not able to fully harness its economic potential to
contribute to the State’s revenue. In addition, the traditional practices do contribute to the overall
carbon sequestration in the eco-region. One of the notable practices in the hilly region in the country
is agroforestry and/or traditional homegardens, that is presently considered to be a greenhouse gas
mitigation strategy under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nationals Framework Convention on
Climate Change. The deliberate growing of woody and non-woody components in the same unit of
land, at the same time harmonises the production and also restores ecosystem function.

Survey reports reveal that in northeast India, the agroforestry practices are widely adopted as a
viable livelihood option in all the ethnic communities. The adoption of traditional agroforestry
practices secures much importance and is linked not only with people’s socio-cultural, economic
and traditional sentiments but also restores ecosystem processes by acting as an endless reservoir
of carbon as well. Moreover, greater plant diversities in the form of trees and crops lead to efficient
conversion of carbon-di-oxide to organic form during photosynthesis, thus contributing to the
reduction in global warming. Moreover, litter fall also acts as a stable and steady production zone
for a fair amount of organic carbon in the ecosystem is recycled for sustainable production.

When it is very clear that removing atmospheric carbon and storing it in the terrestrial
biosphere is one of the viable options to compensate greenhouse gas emissions, the agro-ecosystems
could be the potential sink and could absorb large quantities of C, if trees are judiciously managed
in this system along with agricultural crops and/or animals in an integrated manner. Nonetheless,
afforestation/reforestation is yet another viable option to increase carbon stock, but may fail to
address the issues of diversity and livelihood security directly. Thus, traditional agroforests need to
be explored and given wider consideration for propagation as a socio-cultural enterprise that can
sustain livelihood requirements and also restore the environmental condition in the longer run by
mitigating the ill-effects of global warming, and shall have economic value to contribute to overall
social development in the country.

Socio-economic perspective

Agroforestry systems in India contribute variously to ecological, social and economic functions, but
they are only complementary – and not as an alternative – to natural ecosystems (Deb et al., 2009; Pangging
et al., 2009). To promote well-being of the society, management of multifunctional agroforestry needs to be

116 Institute of Animal Nutrition, Centre for Animal Production Studies, TANUVAS
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development