Agroforestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock. It combines
agricultural and
forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems.
According to the
World Agroforestry Centre, Agroforestry is a collective name for
land use systems and practices in which woody
perennials are deliberately integrated with crops and/or animals on the same land management unit.
The integration can be either in a
spatial mixture or in a
temporal sequence. There are normally both
ecological and
economic interactions between woody and non-woody components in agroforestry.
In agroforestry systems, trees or shrubs are intentionally used within agricultural systems, or
non-timber forest products are cultured in forest settings.
Knowledge, careful selection of species and good management of trees and crops are needed to optimize the production and positive effects within the system and to minimize negative competitive effects.
In some areas, a narrow definition of agroforestry might simply be:
trees on farms.
Hence, agroforestry, farm forestry and
family forestry can be broadly understood as the commitment of farmers, alone or in partnerships, towards the establishment and management of forests on their land.
Where many landholders are involved the result is a diversity of activity that reflects the diversity of aspirations and interests within the community.
Impacts
Agroforestry systems can be advantageous over conventional agricultural and forest production methods through increased productivity, economic benefits, social outcomes and the ecological goods and services provided.
Biodiversity in agroforestry systems is typically higher than in conventional agricultural systems. Agroforestry incorporates at least several plant species into a given land area and creates a more complex habitat that can support a wider variety of birds, insects, and other animals.
Agroforestry also has the potential to help reduce climate change since trees take up and store carbon at a faster rate than crop.
Alley Cropping
Alley cropping, sometimes referred to as 'sun systems', is a form of
intercropping, and can be applied by
farmers as a strategy to combat
soil erosion, to increase the diversity of farmland, as a means for crop diversification and to derive other integrated benefits.
In this practice,
crops are planted in strips in the alleys formed between rows of
trees and/or
shrubs. The potential benefits of this
design include the provision of shade in hot, dry environments (reducing water loss from
evaporation), retention of
soil moisture, increase in the structural diversity of the site and wildlife habitat.
The woody perennials in these systems can produce
fruit, fuelwood, fodder, or trimmings to be made into
mulch.
Potential impacts of agroforestry can include:
-Reducing poverty through increased production of agroforestry products for home consumption and sale
-Contributing to food security by restoring farm soil fertility for food crops and production of fruits, nuts and edible oils
-Reducing deforestation and pressure on woodlands by providing fuelwood grown on farms
-Increasing diversity of on-farm tree crops and tree cover to buffer farmers against the effects of global climate change
-Improving nutrition to lessen the impacts of hunger and chronic illness associated with HIV/AIDS
-Augmenting accessibility to medicinal trees, the main source of medication for 80% of Africa's population.
Forest Farming
Forest farming, also known as 'shade systems', is the sustainable, integrated cultivation of both timber and non-timber forest products in a forest setting. Forest farming is separate and distinct from the opportunistic exploitation / wild harvest of non-timber forest products.
Successful forest farming operations produce: mushrooms, maple and birch syrup, native plants used for landscaping and floral greenery (e.g. salal, sword fern, bear grass, cedar boughs and others), medicinal and pharmaceutical products (e.g. ginseng, goldenseal, cascara or yew bark), wild berries and fruit.
Permaforestry
Permaforestry is an approach to the
wildcrafting and
harvesting of the forest
biomass that uses
cultivation to improve the natural harmonious systems. It is a relationship of
interdependence between humans and the natural systems in which the amount of biomass available from the forest increases with the health of its natural systems.
Examples of
bioproducts derived from
biomass that are created through permaforestry:
Honey, maple syrup and other tree saps, gourmet foods,
functional foods, berries, wild mushrooms, ginseng, wild rice, herbs, fiddleheads, fish, frogs and crustaceans, pharmaceuticals, natural health products, essential oils, educational products, arts and crafts, decorative products, floral and greenery, garden horticultural products, woodworking, lumber, biochemicals, biofuels and bioenergy.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lew Godfrey
Green Harlow Productions
