Page 139 - 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”

Macaranga peltata, Thespesia populnea, Gliricidia sepium were the other preferred tree species in Kerala
homesteads. They also observed that the species diversity and size of homegardens strike an inverse trend.
However, such patterns are not true for many homegarden types. For instance, the Brazilian homegardens
show higher species diversity associated with larges homesteads (Albuquerqu, et al. 2005). They reported a
total of 54 woody species distributed among 46 genera and 23 families. A. squamosa, P. juliflora, P. guajava
were the most abundant tree species. Reports also suggest species number and structural complexity is greater
in humid areas than arid (George and Christopher, 2020).

It is observable that the functional priority often changes with regional preferences. E.g., homegardens
in Peruvian Amazon regions consists more of fruit trees such as Mangifera indica L., Eryngium foetidum
L., Syzygium sp., Cocos nucifera L., Persea americana Mill, Citrus sinensis, Anacardium occidentale L.,
Artocarpus altilis, Annona squamosa, Spondias purpurea L., Cedrela odorata L, Theobroma cacao (Perrault-
Archambault and Coomes, 2008). Gebauer (2005) from central Sudan also reported on the preference for fruit
trees. As per their report, the five most common fruit trees were lime (Citrus aurantifolia), guava (Psidium
guajava), mango (Mangifera indica), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and grapefruit (Citrus paradisi). In
general, plant species composition within the homegardens is the result of continuous selection in which the
family usually favors the planting of fruit trees with high productivity.

Agricultural crop diversity also varies considerably among homegardens. Crop diversity in homegardens
of southwest Uganda reported diversity as high as 209 crop species (Whitney et al. 2017). Prominent understorey
crops in the Kerala homegardens include vegetables such as brinjal, ladies finger, cow pea, ash guard, bitter
guard, snake guard, black pepper, tuber crops such as colocasia, elephant food yam, diascoria. Banana is the
common intercrop in homegardens throughout Kerala. Cassava, papaya, fodder grasses, pineapple, Curcuma
longa, C. aromatic, Zingiber officinale, are the other common intercrops (Kumar and Nair, 2004).

Structural attributes
The high diversity in the tree-crop and animal components in the homegardens is often coupled with
their characteristic structural arrangement (Nair, 1993). The layered canopy stratification and admixture
of compatible species often mimicking evergreen forests, is the most conspicuous characteristics of all
homegardens. They are carefully structured systems with every component having a specific place and
function. The gradient of light and relative humidity creates different spatial niche enabling various species
groups to exploit them. The stratification is often dictated by the life history of the different species. In general,
all homegardens consist of an herbaceous layer near the ground, a tree layer at upper levels, and intermediate
layers in between. The lower layer can usually be partitioned into two, with the lowermost dominated by
different vegetable and medicinal plants and second layer being composed of food plants such as cassava,
banana, papaya, yam etc. However, there can be changes in the vertical stratification and composition of
components for different homegarden types.

Typical Kerala homegardens show 3-4 strata with ground layer consisting of herbaceous food crops,
forage, medicinal and other crops while fruit trees and spice crops dominate the middle storey (Nair, 1993;
Kumar and Nair, 2004; Peyre, et al. 2006). The upper canopies constitute mostly tall trees/palms such as
coconut, teak, mahogany, and other fast growing multi-purpose trees. Michon (1983) reported typical Javanese

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