Agroforestry: Systems and Practices

Agroforestry is a practice that has been around for a long time all over the world, but it was only recognized as a science about three decades ago. The scientific study of tree-crop interactions in India began in the late 1970s and gained significant momentum with the establishment of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Agroforestry in 1983 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Today, the AICRP on Agroforestry has a network throughout the country. Through the efforts of the State Agricultural Universities and the AICRP, location-specific agroforestry systems have been recommended to suit the agro-climatic zones, landholdings, and economic status of each region. Although extensive research has been conducted, it is not readily available to the scientific community, farming communities (who are the backbone of Indian rural development), students, and inquisitive readers in one comprehensive manuscript. To address this, the authors have compiled information on agroforestry systems and practices prevalent in India into a book. To facilitate better understanding, the agroforestry systems in India have been divided into four broad sections: i) Agroforestry in India, ii) Agroforestry systems and practices in North, West, and Central India, iii) Agroforestry systems and practices in East, North-East, and Southern India, and iv) Allied topics related to Agroforestry. Section one covers agroforestry-related experiences, research, and extension efforts made in the last 25 years in India. Section two comprises 13 chapters, while section three covers 14 chapters, discussing agroforestry research in relation to the agroclimatic zones of various states in India. The last section, consisting of eight chapters, includes topics related to the role of agroforestry in soil conservation, womens development, agroforestry management, modeling, rehabilitation of mine spoils, and breeding of agroforestry tree species.