A Paradigm Shift in Agroforestry Practices in Uttar Pradesh

Agroforestry is a dynamic and sustainable land management system of deliberately growing woody perennials along with agricultural crops on farmlands to secure both tangible and intangible benefits to the farmers. Uttar Pradesh (UP), one of the largest and densely populated state of India in the Indo-Gangetic Plain with large agrarian communities, had a paradigm shift in the adoption of agroforestry. After successful adoption and commercialization of poplar and eucalyptus-based agroforestry models over two decades in western UP, other parts of central and eastern UP have also been attracted towards remunerative agroforestry projects in the past few years. In UP, agroforestry practices vary according to different agro-climatic zones, land capability and socio-economic status of farmers. The variation is reflected in terms of diversity in agroforestry practices, and comparative advantage prompted a renewed interest to harness the vivid potential. Drawing on the representative literature, we have reviewed the status and pattern of tree- crop combinations of agroforestry practices across various regions of the state as well as productivity under different agroforestry systems, which shows traditional agriculture transforming to multifunctional agroforestry in UP.