Scope and Implication of Agro-Forestry in India

With functional allocation of 46.4% land area under agriculture and 22.7% under forestry, the country is not able to meet the requirements of its growing human and cattle population for food, fuel, fodder etc. and huge ammount or money has to be spent on imports Poverty and unemploymeat are rampant, Extensive areas are suffering denudation as a result of heavy biotic pressure. Agro-forestry, which is a multiple was concept of land management, is capable of meeting the challenge at least partially through eschewing the false dicotomy of agriculture and forestry resulting in optiomal land use and conservation of eco-system. Agro-forestry systems have tremendous scope and potential for rural development and can serve as base for various social forestry shemes. Need for intensive reaearch for developing the package of agro-forestry technology to suit different agro-climatic zones in India has be stressed Management implications have been indicated.