GS Paper III

News Excerpt:

Agroforestry, which may improve farmer livelihoods and the environment, is gradually gaining traction following decades of monocropping, which was encouraged by the Green Revolution.

What is agroforestry?

• Agroforestry is defined as the cultivation and use of trees and shrubs with crops and livestock in agricultural systems. 
• Simply put, it involves raising trees and agricultural crops either on the same land or in close association in such a way that all land including the waste patches is put to good use. 
• It aims at achieving a more ecologically diverse and socially productive output from the land than is possible through conventional agriculture. 
• Agroforestry seeks positive interactions between its components and is also known as ‘social forestry’.

What are the benefits of agroforestry?

• Growing trees on farms is a triple-win strategy for combating simultaneously the challenges of increasing food production, mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to climate change. 
• It has the potential to improve livelihoods through enhanced health and nutrition, increased economic growth, and strengthened environmental resilience and ecosystem sustainability. 
• When strategically applied on a large scale, with appropriate mix of tree species, agroforestry promotes productive and resilient cropping environments, prevents deforestation, protects watersheds and enables agricultural land to withstand extreme weather events, and climate change.
• For Environment:
  • It promotes long-term, sustainable, and renewable forest management, especially for small-scale producers and contributes to a green economy. 
  • Agroforestry systems are also beneficial for ecology as they are important for long-term carbon sequestration, soil enrichment, soil moisture conservation, biodiversity conservation, air- and water-quality improvements, protection of arable land from wind and water erosion, etc.
  • It is also recognised that agroforestry is perhaps the only alternative to meeting the target of increasing forest green cover.
• For sustainable agriculture:
• One of the benefits of agroforestry is that it derives from the interactions between trees and shrubs and crops and livestock. 
• In the process, it optimises positive interactions, such as mutualism and commensalism. 
• It minimises predation on crops and livestock and competition within and between species. Positive interactions may reduce stress on plants and animals, enhance yields, retain soil, and capture water. 
• For example, the moist shaded microclimate under certain crop trees is beneficial for shade-tolerant crops such as turmeric or pineapple.

Benefits of agroforestry for Farmers:

• Tree-based systems contribute robustly to livelihoods by providing both tree products and tree services. 
• The bounties they offer include tree products such as fruit, fodder, fuel, fibre, fertiliser and timber which add to food and nutritional security, and income generation and insurance against crop failure.
• Current estimates show that about 64% of the country’s timber requirement is met from the trees grown on farms. 
• Agroforestry has significant potential to provide employment to rural and urban populations through production, industrial application and value addition ventures. 
• It has the potential for augmenting energy capacity through biomass, biodiesel, biochar and biogas production. 
• Trees also generate wealth through the services they provide in the form of soil and water conservation, nutrient recycling, carbon storage and biodiversity preservation. 
• These services are intangible, not easy to quantify, and do not lend themselves to monetary valuation. 
• At present there is no payment for eco-services provided by tree-based farming systems.

Agroforestry policy framework in India:

• In 2014, the Government introduced the National Agroforestry Policy to improve sustainability and profitability through alternative land use systems.
• The policy aligns with global and national commitments such as the Paris Agreement, Bonn Challenge, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Green India Mission. 
• NITI Aayog has also published- Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW) Report.
• The report has been prepared using remote sensing and GIS to assess agroforestry suitable across all Indian districts. 
• GROW mapping is uploaded on the newly developed Bhuvan portal.
• It allows universal access to state and district-level data, Currently, agroforestry covers 8.65% of India's total geographical area, totalling about 28.42 million hectares.
• The GROW initiative aligns with national commitments, aiming to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 and create an additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. 
• The government also launched the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (Har Medh Par Ped) Scheme in 2016-17.
• The objective of the mission is to encourage tree plantation on farm land along with crops/ cropping systems to help the farmers get additional income and make their farming systems more climate resilient and adaptive.

Challenges with agroforestry in India:

• Despite all its benefits, agroforestry has not become the movement it should have and the value and position of agroforestry in the national system remains ambiguous and undervalued. 
• A key factor preventing the growth of agroforestry is the scarcity of water.
• The National Agroforestry Policy, 2014 has identified water availability as an issue in the growth of agroforestry.
• Water availability is critical during the sapling stage but remains a constant concern if the trees compete with crops for water in water-constrained environments (e.g. hard rock aquifers and low-rainfall regions).
• Its adoption by tenant-farmers is constrained due to insecurity of tenure. 
• Inadequate investment in the sector is also a cause for neglect. 
• Unlike the credit and insurance products available for the crop sector, the provisions for growing trees-on-farms are minimal. 
• Weak marketing infrastructure, absence of price discovery mechanisms and lack of post-harvest processing technologies further compound the situation.

How to overcome these challenges?

• One way to overcome the scarcity of water  is to grow trees that don’t compete with the crops for water. 
• Bengaluru-based WELL Labs has introduced an open-source water-accounting tool called ‘Jaltol’ to assess instances when these trade-offs occur. The tool provided valuable insights. 
• For example, mango plantations don’t compete with kharif crops in the central Karnataka plateau whereas coconut trees in Tamil Nadu’s uplands demand more water than crops throughout the year.
• Such tools enable restoration practitioners and civil society organisations to select appropriate tree-crop combinations for agroforestry in water-stressed regions.
• Choosing the right species for the right place and the right reason is elemental for agroforestry to enhance the sustainability of livelihoods. 
• Farmers, however, are drawn to tree species that are fast-growing and repel herbivores, but such species are also generally non-native and threaten soil health and human well-being.
• For example, casuarina and eucalyptus trees – both non-native timber species – are known to tolerate saline soils and grow fast with very low labour inputs. But both species are also primarily grown as large mono-crop block plantations rather than as an intercrop or a tree-crop combination, which would be essential for small landholdings
• Finding native species that fit multiple criteria is admittedly challenging but necessary to arrest or reverse land degradation while diversifying livelihood opportunities. 
• Diversity for Restoration is a tool that provides a tailored list of climate-resilient species while aligning with the restoration objectives. 
• Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme 2023 certifies agroforestry and wood-based products as sustainable, and has an exhaustive list of eligibility criteria for farmers and industries.

Case study:

• In the aftermath of Cyclone Gaja's devastation in Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu, when coconut trees were destroyed and the soil became saline, some farmers opted for collective crop diversification, transitioning from coconut to jackfruit and mango cultivation. 
• Six years later, their initiative has not only yielded promising profits but also demonstrated the resilience and adaptability of rural communities in the face of environmental challenges. 
• This case study highlights the transformative power of agroforestry in safeguarding livelihoods and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.

Way Forward:

• Small farmers, who own the majority of India's agricultural land, must be involved in the widespread adoption of agroforestry; however, socioeconomic and ecological factors are currently impeding this. 
• Although secure land tenure is a prerequisite for agroforestry uptake, ensuring economic viability through market linkages while meeting the criteria of sustainable agroforestry is crucial to empower these farmers.
• Agroforestry has the potential to serve as a common ground for conservationists, agro-economists, and policymakers, promoting both vibrant ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods. This approach can facilitate widespread adoption among small-scale farmers by fostering an environment conducive to rapid uptake.