Page 133 - Agroforestry system - book inner (web) - 9-3-21_Neat

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

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
strengthened by innovations in domestication of useful species and crafting market regimes for the products
derived from agroforestry and ethnoforestry systems (Pangging and Arunachalam, 2008). Future research
is required to eliminate many of the uncertainties that remain, and also carefully test the main functions

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