Page 134 - 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”

attributed to agroforestry against alternative land-use options in order to know unequivocally as to what
extent agroforestry served these purposes.

Box 2. Traditional agroforestry in conserving animal biodiversity
Livestock integrated agroforestry is perhaps one of the oldest forms of agroforestry. Cattle, goats
and sheeps have been fed with browse (tree, fodder) or from pastures grown on wooded rangelands since
immemorial times. If browse is produced, animals can themselves browse the trees, as for goats and camels, or
the browse can be cut and carried for stall feeding, as in fodder banks. A diversity of crop and animal species,
at the community, farm, or field level adds to social and economic consistency through reducing dependence
on a single enterprise. Such diversity can also guide to a more resourceful use of natural resources, for
example, through providing greater opportunity for nutrient recycling (Carroll et al, 1990).

Sericulture is yet another vacating being practiced since time immemorial as a part time occupation
of this region in agroforesty systems (Gargi et al. 1994). All the four commercially known varieties of silk
viz, mulberry, eri, muga and tasar are produced in many parts of the region (Prasad et al. 1996). It provides
multiple outputs, generates income as well as employment and also protects the soil. Its large adoption in
the region will achieve conservation-linked sustainable production goals. Fish-ponds are an important and
intensive form of production in this region. Planting of Sesbania sp. around fish-ponds augments the fish diet.
In hedge row intercropping after a period of intercropping with annual crops, the crop land is allowed to revert
to pasture and animals are put on the land to graze and browse, returning manure directly to the soil.

Livestock occupies an important position in the northeast India. Here it may be mentioned that northeast
hill region accounts for 60% of the total pig population of India (Verma et al. 2001). The traditional
agroforestry is a system where farmers can rear both wild and domestic animals, so it can be considered as
a home for many wild and domestic animals. Any animal or plant diversity conservation process, however,
cannot succeed without the involvement of the local people. It is imperative that the local knowledge helps in
scenario analysis, data collection, management planning, designing of the adaptive strategies to learn and get
feedback and institutional support to put policies in to practice (Getz et al. 1999).

Over all, the agroforestry functionally enables climate resilience and help mitigate the growing carbon
concentrations in the atmosphere by sequestering carbon in the plant biomass, particularly the tree component
of the agroforestry systems. At the same time, several intangible benefits are also accorded to the association
of trees in the agricultural systems such as soil and water conservation, increased soil biological activity, etc.
that sustains the overall ecological productivity of the system. Thus, more awareness and interventions are
required to popularize this eco-friendly technology by providing tree-based farming solutions. Nonetheless, the
research and development process should also be carried out to solve the problems in introducing agroforestry
practice along the temporal and spatial scales in different agro-ecological regime for food, fodder, fuel, fruits
and flowers.

Institute of Animal Nutrition, Centre for Animal Production Studies, TANUVAS
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development 111