The Green Alchemy

Agroforestry basically combines agriculture and forestry to improve the ecosystem and provide benefits such as increased biodiversity and prevention of soil erosion. It exploits the complementarity that exists between the planting of woody trees/shrubs and crops. As a result, agroforestry increases the resilience of the farmer. Let us discuss some of the popular agroforestry techniques and the benefits they provide in more detail below.

Agroforestry Techniques and Benefits

Some of the popular agroforestry techniques are:

• Alley cropping, which involves the intercropping of trees and shrubs with crops.
• Silvopasture, which allows the co-existence of agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry on the same patch of land. These components of the silvopasture system feed off each other in a symbiotic manner. Silvopasture is popular in Europe, Central America, and South America. The world-famous pork jamón ibérico, raised in Portugal, is the result of pigs farmed in the surrounding forests and farmland.
• Hedgerows and windbreaks, which involve the planting of woody trees or shrubs on the borders of croplands, reduce wind speed and protect the crops.
• Forest farming (also called multistrata agroforestry), which involves growing specialty crops such as coffee, cocoa, coconut, black pepper, and cardamom under the canopy of trees. (Shade-grown coffee, also called Arabica coffee, is far more valued than Robusta coffee grown in the open. The same is true of shade-grown cocoa.)

Of course, the practice of agroforestry would vary depending on the nature of the forests, the crops grown in the area, the geography, and the rainfall.

The importance of agroforestry as an adaptation strategy has also been highlighted by various reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In an article in the journal Current Opinions in Environmental Sustainability, published in February 2023, authors Amy Quandt, Henry Neufeldt, and Kayla Gorman highlighted the socioeconomic and biophysical benefits of agroforestry in adaptation. Some of the biophysical benefits include the creation of microclimates with lower air temperatures, reduction in evapotranspiration by shading crops, windbreaks to minimize soil loss and erosion, and protection of crops from strong winds. Agroforestry also improves soil quality by increasing soil nitrogen and carbon. The socioeconomic benefits include improved food security and increased resilience of farmers by providing a varied source of income—through crops, forestry, and animal husbandry.

Of the various agroforestry techniques, silvopasture has been the most discussed and debated. As noted above, silvopasture is a land management practice that brings together tree planting, agriculture, and pastures for animal husbandry in one place. This can take many forms, such as trees acting as a natural barrier between pasture land and other crops, or trees planted in alternate rows with other crops, or trees spaced out over the pasture land. Silvopasture, in its various avatars, provides a large number of ecological benefits such as improvement in soil and water quality, increased water retention by the roots, enhanced carbon sequestration in trees and soil, and better microclimatic conditions by moderating extreme heat, etc. These benefits also extend to higher productivity of animals and more shaded areas for them, which is a great support during periods of intense heat.

Well-managed silvopasture farms can therefore cater to the needs of food, fodder, fuel, and fiber. In addition to the ecological benefits discussed above, it also greatly supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN, such as food security for a rising population and both adaptation (making the farmer more resilient and risk-averse) and mitigation (increased carbon sequestration in trees and soils) measures in the fight against climate change.

Even though silvopasture provides many benefits, there are challenges as well. For one, it requires resources as well as information, which many poor farmers in both developing and developed countries lack. For example, the trees planted should be woody, shade-providing, and drought-resistant. However, such trees have long growth cycles and require time and patience to tend to.

Conclusion

Agroforestry in general, and silvopasture in particular, offer great ecological benefits by integrating agriculture, tree plantations, and pastures on the same land in a symbiotic relationship. They also contribute to mitigation efforts (increasing carbon sequestration in trees and soils) and adaptation efforts (reducing farmers’ risk and increasing their resilience). Even though the benefits are great, adoption has been slow due to the costs involved and an inclination to continue with traditional farming methods.

The writer is Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Cooperation, Government of West Bengal