Agroforestry and the Environment

By: Sivakumaran Sivaramanan

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Human population in a hike, thus deforestation and establishment of new agricultural lands are unavoidable, at the same time environmental hazards such as global warming, climate change, desertification of land and various types of pollution are threatening the human society today. In 1960 the scientists first began to understand that agroforestry systems could provide a sustainable land use and to solve most of the environmental issues by its environmental services such as sequester greenhouse gases, improve soil fertility and conservation of the soil, conservation of biodiversity, provide physical buffer to the effect of climate change such as flood, drought events, storms and forest fires. It diversifies the products such as agriculture, dairy/ pasture and non-timber forest products. In 1978 with the formation of International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) or today’s World Agroforestry Centre, thousands of agroforestry projects were conducted with the investment of millions of dollars which were coupled with sustainable development projects in rural areas. Many now begins to agree that mechanized agriculture is a crime and slash and burn farmers are responsible for most of the deforestation and loss of species diversity all over the world. Agroforestry helps to prevent destruction of forestland in Amazon, Central Africa and parts of Indonesia. Addition to environmental benefits agroforestry provides income from multiple sources to landlords and silvopasture reduces the environmental stress on animals and it considerably reduces cost of maintenance. It also used in connecting natural forests via biological corridors, protects threatens, endangered and vulnerable species by keeping their habitats unaltered. It also provide better replacement for slash and burn agriculture or crop rotation. Comparatively cheap, environmentally friendly and much more profitable than conducting mono cropping, animal farming, silviculture or forestry practices alone. This book reviews environmental aspects of agroforestry systems and briefly describes common features of five kinds of major agroforestry practices.