Page 77 - 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”

Grasses: Canegrass, smooth brome (Bromus inermis),
tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), cock’s-foot (Dactylis
glomerata), kobretia (Kobretia spp.), lemon grass
(Cymbopogon distans), chrysopogon (Chrysopogon
royleanus), heathgrass (Danthonia cachemyriana)
Dry temperate Agri-silviculture, horti- Forest trees: Sea-buckthorn, birch, willow, etc.
zone (>2500 m) silviculture, silvi-pasture
Horticulture trees: Apple, apricot, almond, pistachio nut,
etc.
Crops: Wheat, cabbage, barley, tomato, potato, buckwheat
Grasses: Sheda grass (Dichanthium spp.), June
grass (Koeleria cristata), reed grass (Calamagrostis
emodensis), fescue (Festuca lucida), slender false brome
(Brachypodium sylvaticum), spike trisetum (Trisetum
spicatum), andropogon (Andropogon tristis), timothy
(Phleum pretense)
Feed and Fodder- Gaps and Production

Adequate feeds and fodder is essential for productivity of the livestock. The growing gaps between
demand and supply warrant concern. Livestock rearing is a key livelihood and risk mitigation strategy,
especially for small and marginal farmers in the rain-fed regions of the country. As per the 20th Livestock
Census released last year, the total livestock population in India is 535.78 million, which is an increase of
4.6 per cent over the previous Census in 2012. The livestock’s growth and development is conditioned by the
adequate availability of feed and fodder. The production of milk has significantly increased over the last few
decades, and India has emerged as the biggest milk producer in the world (187.7 million tonnes in 2018-19)
since the last 20 years.

Temperate AFS did not receive the consideration it warrants, given the extent and coverage of these
systems in the mountainous regions of the country. Various forms of hill agriculture co-exist with diverse
kinds of tree species in about 13.6% of the geographical area of the Indian Himalayan region. Apart from
meeting the household requirements of fodder, fuel, timber, fruit and numerous other non-timber forest
produces (NTFPs) and providing livelihood security, agroforestry practices provide environmental services,
such as watershed protection and hydrological benefits, carbon sequestration, and adaptation to and mitigation
of climate change. Need of the hour is to focus on how agroforestry might be sustained and promoted as
improved land-use strategies amidst competing interests and pressures. Meeting diverse needs of people
and livestock from limited land resources is only possible, when agroforestry becomes common land use
on majority of arable and non-arable lands. This will not only avert degradation, but also enhance total
productivity and restore eco-balance simultaneously. Agroforestry answers many problems that are faced by
today’s agriculture in terms of stability in production, regular returns, restoration of fertility, indiscriminate
deforestation, drought mitigation and environmental pollution.

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