Agroforestry is a collective name for sustainable land-use systems involving trees combined with arable crops and/or livestock on the same unit of land, either spatially or temporally.

Agroforestry can be classified into Agrosilvicultural systems, Silvipastoral systems and  Agrisilvipastoral systems.

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Features of Agroforestry

• It has more than one crop at a time in which atleast one crop must be tree crops
• It produces multiple outputs such as food, fodder, fuel and timber.
• Crops are arranged in a multi-storey in such a way that it reduces competition among plants

Agroforestry Classfication

• Agrisilvicultural systems:
  • Arable crops are suitably mixed with tree crops under Taungya System.
  • In another method, fuel wood species are inter-planted around agricultural lands. This system acts both as fence as well as shelter-belts besides providing fuel wood to local community. Eg : Acacia Nilotica, Dalbergia sisoo (Shisham) etc.
  • Alley cropping where woody plants are grown in rows with annual crops is also a type under this system.
• Silvipastoral system : It refers to the production of woody plants in pasture lands.

Eg : Live fence of fodder trees and hedges.

• Agrisilvipastural system : It refers to the production of woody perennial along with annuals and pastures.

Agroforestry and solution to Climate crisis

Farming is responsible for almost 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture is the root cause of 80% of tropical deforestation. Regenerative agroforestry, an agricultural method that mimics natural ecosystems, could help reverse these trends.

• Carbon Sink : Regenerative agroforestry sequesters significantly more carbon than industrial agriculture and can help to restore degraded land. According to UN Scientists, restoring 900 million hectares could stabilize global GHG emissions for 15-20 years. With agroforestry, we can transform degraded land into food-growing carbon sinks.
• Microclimate : It improves the microclimate of a region by lowering of soil temperature, reduction of evaporation and maintenance of soil moisture.
• Improve soil management; deep-rooting trees improve soil stability; trees increase the soil’s ability to absorb and retain water, produce nutrients, improve and maintain organic soil matter and manage soil temperature.
• Improve carbon sequestration; during the photosynthesis process, the tree absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. Studies have shown that a tropical tree absorbs about 22kg of carbon each year. By using this practice, farmers can significantly mitigate climate change;
• Lessen the risk of salinization in coastal areas
• Protecting the biodiversity : The diversity of plants creates biomass throughout the year, fertilizing the soil and increasing crop yields while providing fodder for livestock. Moreover, planting trees on a farm protects crops from wind and sunlight. It increases efficiency of land and eliminates need to expand into biodiversity rich areas.

Conclusion

Agroforestry is a resilient and future-proof agricultural method that could help solve the climate crisis. This smart farming system enables economically viable production while restoring land, mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity and enhancing food security for growing populations.

It’s a nature-based practice that is globally applicable and an affordable promising solution to today and tomorrow’s biggest global challenges.