Page 27 - 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”

Indo-Gangetic plains are one of the most populous region of the country. The area of the IGP is nearly
13 % of the total geographical area of the country, and it produces about 50 % of the total food grains to
feed 40 % of the population of the country. Rice-wheat system is very common and popular system of the
region. The continuous cropping of rice-wheat system degraded soil health dramatically over the years.
Hence incorporation of trees in agriculture would be better option to improve soil as well as livelihood of the
famers in IGP.

Agriculture is the major enterprise of the region that is most vulnerable to climate change particularly
smallholder farmers because they do not have adequate resources to adapt to climate change. While
agroforestry may play a significant role in mitigating the atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases
(GHG), it also has a role to play in helping smallholder farmers adapt to climate change. Since agroforestry
systems fulfill both the productive and service role. In productive role, the agroforestry system provides
pulpwood, fuelwood, timber, fodder and fruit. Of the service functions, that of soil conservation is without
doubt the most important. Besides that trees in agroforestry system produces adequate amount of leaf litter
that is sufficient to maintain soil organic carbon, if litter is not removed from the field. These are the reasons
for recognizing agroforestry as a viable alternative to prevent and mitigate climate change. A considerable
proportion of agroforestry area located in IGP and some of the promising tree species like poplar, eucalyptus,
Melia, mango, shisham and babul are very common on farmer’s fields. The farmers of Punjab, Haryana
and western Uttar Pradesh are commercially growing eucalyptus and poplar under agroforestry system that
attracted the timber market in these area.

Agroforestry in Humid and Sub-humid Region
In Tripura tree component is used along with livestock and poultry component, whereas in irrigated areas
fish component is also incorporated. Agrisilviculture is common in Raipur and Ranchi areas. Acacia nilotica,
Terminalia arjuna, Butea monosperma, Albizia spp. are grown in Raipur area while Zizyphus mauritiana, B.
monosperma, Aegle marmelos, Mangifera indica, Schleichera oleosa (Kusum) in Ranchi area. Homestead
Agroforestry is also being practised using Gmelina arborea, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Madhuca latifolia,
Zizyphus mauritiana etc.. In Bhubaneswar area agrisilviculture (Cocos nucifera for boundary plantation,
block plantation of Casuarina equisetifolia, Anacardium occidentale) and homesteads are being practised.
At both the centres (Raipur and Ranchi) Gmelina arborea is also used as timber while Tectona grandis,
Acacia nilotica are used as timber trees at Raipur and Shorea robusta at Ranchi. Leucaena leucocephala is
used at Raipur and Ranchi for fodder and Pongamia pinnata, Acacia nilotica and Dalbergia sissoo are also
used as fodder at Raipur. Mangifera indica and Artocarpus heterophyllus are grown for fruits. Other fruit
trees are Moringa oleifera and Syzygium cumini, in Raipur area and Psidium guajava, Carica papaya in and
around Ranchi. Terminalia arjuna for raising silk worm and Butea monosperma, Schleichera oleosa for Lac
cultivation are being used by the farmers in Ranchi area.
Agroforestry in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

In most of the arid region of the north-western India, Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) based silvi-agriculture
system is prominent. Almost in all the fields’ most useful khejri trees and small fruit yielding Zizyphus
nummularia are found grown in association with rainfed crops. Zizyphus nummularia is used for its leaves

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