Agro-forestry-practices and Prospects as a Combined Land-use System

Agro-forestry is the new name for an old practice which has come into prominence once again because of increasing demand for land for growing food crops and scope for production of food crops and trees together on the same land. The concept has now broadened to include forage production for live stock. A suggested definition for agro-forestry on the basis of generally accepted practices in most countries is-multiple land-use practices involving trees, food and forage crops and Iive-stock raising, simultaneously or sequentially in a singe farming system. Agro-foestry has now received added impetus with the establishment of the International Council for Research in Agro-forestry at Nairobi in 1978 under the auspices of FAO. The paper describes common agro-forestry practices of some countries of the humid tropics. The laungya system is the earliest example of adoption of agro-forestry by Government Forest departments in many countries. But the system as applied in the past was inadequate for solving some of the basic problems of the forest dwellers who were engaged to raise taungya plantations. Taungya has now been modified in some countries for meeting the requirement of agricultural land and at the same time for preventing forest destruction. Agroforestry now plays an important role in settling shifting cultivators. In Thailand, it is now accepted as an instrument for rural development. Research has been in progress for centuries for crops and trees grown seperately. But answers are needed for many questions which arise when corps and trees are grown together. Silviculture of "non-forest species" also needs to be studied. Agronomists also have to be conversant with non-food trees and accept that mono-culture of food crops is not the best way in all circumstances. Agro-forestry system is now a viable alternative for meeting apparently conflicting demands and obtaining maximum benefits from the land where it is scarce.