Introduction
Agroforestry is a collective name for land use systems involving trees combined with crops and/or animals on the same unit of land. It actually involves cycling of nutrients and flow of energy through various trophic levels interacting positively act higher ecological efficiency. From the early taungya systems to scattered trees on farm lands, agrisilviculture, silvipasture, agrihorticulture, hortipasture, energy farms, farm boundary planting, aquaforestry, home garden, slash and burn agriculture etc. are various forms of Agroforestry practised throughout India. Land for agriculture is a shrinking source because some land is being taken out of production all the time and diverted to uses such as roads, housing and industry, care for the soil is a priority tasks. Unscientific land use practices on such marginal soil lead to many problems notably soil erosion. A major part of soil erosion is deforestation over cutting for fuelwood, grazing arid and semi-arid regions, unknown suitable resource use system commercial greed and careless technologies are some of the important reasons for desertification which directly affects agriculture. These leads to having problems soils viz. Acidic soils, Saline and Alkaline soils, deforestation and unsuitable for crop cultivation.
Land use systems
Land use systems focussed on the cropping system and Agroforestry. Suitable location, specific crop production technologies having been developed for tillage, seeding, weed control, water and fertilizer application and crop management for enhanced productivity. Land use systems having been developed for desert areas involving suitable trees, grasses and legumes. Land degradation is the biggest challenge affecting healthy environment and reducing the basic live support systems. Agroforestry is being viewed as a restoration agent, rehabilitation process, bio remediation, and mechanism to high input agriculture on fragile lands.
Management systems
This systems involves the conscious and deliberate use of land for the concurrent production of agricultural crops including tree crops and forest crops
- Improved Fallow Species in Shifting Cultivation
The objective is to recover depleted soil nutrients. The best species for the fallow system should include good nitrogen fixation in soil. Plants included should be compatible with future crops, free of any negative physical or chemical effects on the soil and not in competition with the crops to be planted later on the same site. This include direct seeding of clean tilled, harvested plots, selective cutting of bush, followed by enrichment planting with tall seedlings. Introducing tall seedlings and cuttings into poor quality fallow on degraded land e.g. shorea robusta, Acacia catechu, Dalbergia sissoo, Anacardium occidentale (Cashew), Bombax ceiba, Santalum album, Acacia nilotica, Schima wallichii, Michelia doltsopa, Pterocarpus dalbergioides,Albizia lebbek,etc.
Soil conservation hedges
To stabilize the structure and to make productive use of the land, in steepy slopping lands the risers or terraces are densely planted with trees, with multiple use for fruit, fodder and fuelwood. The following trees species are Grevillea robusta, Acacia catechu, Pinus roxburghii, Acacia modesta, Prosopis juliflora, Alnus nepalensis, Leucaena leucocephala etc. Fruit trees planted are ber, papaya dwarf mango, guava, citrus etc.
Management of arid and semi-arid lands
The region is spread over the Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. These lines are characterized by hostile environmental conditions viz. Productivity potential of the land is low, soils are immature, structureless, coarse in texture and poor nutrient status with low water holding capacity. Correct selection of trees is of prime significant in this region for the development of Agroforestry. The trees should have following characters
- Drought tolerance mechanism like deep root system, leaf shading in summer to conserve moisture, water binding mechanism and other like deep root system, leaf shading in summer to conserve moisture, water binding mechanism and other xerophytic characteristics.
- Tree crops should have tolerance to salinity and saline water and alkalinity which are
common features are these areas. The following tree and grass species recommended for
various types of lands.
- Sandy soils
Acacia tortilis, Prosopis cineraria, Albizia lebbek, Azadirachta indica, Leucaena leucocephala, Grass species: cenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setigerus.
- Shallow soils
Acacia tortilis, Prosopis juliflora, Dichrostachys glomerata, Ailathus excelsa, Zizyphus mauritiana, grass species: Cenchrus ciliaris, Dichanthium annulatum, Panicum antidotale etc.
- Sandstone rocky sites
Albizia lebbek, Boswellia serrata, grasses: Cenchrus ciliaris and Cenchrus setigerus, Acacia senegal, Cassia auriculata
- Saline areas
Tamarix auriculata, Prosopis juliflora, Prosopis tamarugo, Salvadora oleoides, Chenopodium, Grass species: Sporobolus, species and chloris species.
- Shifting sand-dunes
Prosopis juliflora, Prosopis cineraria, Acacia senegal, Albizia lebbek, Tamarix articulata, Cenchrus ciliaris, Sacharum munja.
- Horticultural fruit trees for arid areas
Zizphus mauritiana, Punica granatum, Psidium guajava, Phoenix dactylifera, Aegle marmelos, Annona squamosa.
- Agricultural crops for arid areas
Pearl-millet, cowpea, sorghum, cluster bean, black gram, green gram.
- Planting in arid areas
At the beginning of the rainy season.
- Trees for wetlands
Salix babylonica (water willow), Alnus cremastogyne (long peduncled alder), Alnus trabeculosa (trobeculate alder), Morus alba (mulberry), Taxpdoium distichum (swamp cypress), Taxodium scandens (pond cypress)
Ag.
Technologies
(Agro Forestry)
