Agroforestry Research Essay

Agroforestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock. It combines boorish and forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, and sustainable land-use systems.1 A narrow definition of agroforestry is trees on farms.As a scienceThe theoretical base for agroforestry returns from ecology, via agroecology.3 From this perspective, agroforestry is one of the three principal land-use sciences. The other two are floriculture and forestry.4 The efficiency of p calefactoryosynthesis drops off with increasing light intensity, and the rate of photosynthesis hardly increases once the light intensity is everyplace about one tenth that of direct bash sun. This means that plants under trees feces still grow well even though they get less light. By having more than one level of vegetation, it is practical to get more photosynthesis than with a single layer. Agroforestry has a lot in c ommon with intercropping. Both hold up two or more plant species (such as north-fixing plants) in close interaction, both provide multiple outputs, as a consequence, higher overall yields and, because a single application or input is shared, cost are reduced. Beyond these, there are gains specific to agroforestry.BenefitsFurther information EcoscapingAgroforestry systems can be advantageous over conventional agricultural and forest output methods. They can offer increased productivity, economic benefits, and more diversity in the ecological goods and services provided.5 Biodiversity in agroforestry systems is typically higher than in conventional agricultural systems. With two or more interacting plant species in a given land area, it creates a more complex habitat that can second a wider variety of birds, insects, and other animals. Depending upon the application, potential impacts of agroforestry can implicate Reducing poverty through increased production of wood and other t ree products for home use and sale Contributing to food security by restoring the soil fertility for food crops Cleaner water through reduced nutrient and soil overflowCountering global warming and the risk of hunger by increasing the number of drought- disgustful trees and the subsequent production of fruits, nuts and edible oils Reducing deforestation and pressure on woodlands by providing farm-grown fuelwood Reducing or eliminating the need for toxic chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, etc.) Through more diverse farm outputs, improved human nutrition In situations where pot have limited access to mainstream medicines, providing growing space for medicinal plants Agroforestry practices may also realize a number of other associated environmental goals, such as atomic number 6 sequestrationOdour, dust, and noise reductionGreen space and visual aestheticsEnhancement or maintenance of wildlife habitatAdaptation to Climate Change at that place is some evidence that, especially in r ecent years, poor smallholder farmers are turning to agroforestry as a mean to adapt to the impacts of climate change. A plain from the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) found from a survey of over 700 households in East Africa that at least(prenominal) 50% of those households had begun planting trees on their farms in a change from their practices 10 years ago.6 The trees ameliorate the effects of climate change by helping to alter erosion, improving water and soil quality and providing yields of fruit, tea, coffee, oil, fodder and medicinal products in addition to their usual harvest. Agroforestry was one of the most widely adopted adaptation strategies in the study, on with the use of improved crop varieties and intercropping.6ApplicationsAgroforestry represents a wide diversity in application and in practice. One listing includes over 40 unequivocal uses.3 The 40 or so applications can be roughly classified under a few broad hea dings. There are visual similarities betwixt practices in different categories. This is expected as categorization is based around the problems addressed (countering winds, high rainfall, nocent insects, etc.) and the overall economic constraints and objectives (labor and other inputs costs, yield requirements, etc.). The categories include ParklandsShade systemsCrop-over-tree systemsAlley croppingStrip croppingFauna-based systemsBoundary systemsTaungyasPhysical support systemsAgroforests.ParklandParklands are visually defined by the presence of trees widely scattered over a large agricultural plot or pasture. The trees are usually of a single species with clear regional favorites. Among the benefits, the trees offer shade to grazing animals, comfort crops against strong wind bursts, provide tree prunings for firewood, and are a roost for insect or rodent-eating birds. There are other gains. Research with Faidherbia albida in Zambia showed that be on trees can sustain gamboge y ields of 4.1 tonnes per hectare compared to 1.3 tonnes per hectare without these trees. Unlike other trees, Faidherbia sheds its nitrogen-rich leaves during the rainy crop growing season so it does not compete with the crop for light, nutrients and water. The leaves then get during the dry season and provide land cover and shade for crops.7Shade systemsWith shade applications, crops are purposely raised under tree canopies and within the resulting sable environment. For most uses, the understory crops are shade tolerant or the overstory trees have fairly open canopies. A conspicuous example is shade-grown coffee. This practice reduces weeding costs and increases the quality and essay of the coffee.89Crop-over-tree systemsNot commonly encountered, crop-over-tree systems employ woody perennials in the role of a cover crop. For this, small shrubs or trees pruned to near ground level are employ. The purpose, as with any cover crop, is to increase in-soil nutrients and/or to reduce s oil erosion.Alley croppingWith track cropping, crop strips alternate with rows of closely spaced tree or shelve species. Normally, the trees are pruned before planting the crop. The cut leafy material is spread over the crop area to provide nutrients for the crop. In addition to nutrients, the hedges serve as windbreaks and eliminate soil erosion. Alley cropping has been shown to be advantagous in Africa, particularly in relation to improving maize yields in the sub-Saharan region. Use here relies upon the nitrogen fixing tree species Sesbania sesban, Tephrosia vogelii, Gliricidia sepium and Faidherbia albida. In one example, a ten-year experiment in Malawi showed that, by using fertilizer trees such as Tephrosia vogelii and Gliricidia sepium, maize yields averaged 3.7 tonnes per hectare as compared to one tonne per hectare in plots without fertilizer trees or mineral fertilizer.10Strip croppingStrip cropping is similar to alley cropping in that trees alternate with crops. The dif ference is that, with alley cropping, the trees are in single row. With strip cropping, the trees or shrubs are planted in wide strip. The purpose can be, as with alley cropping, to provide nutrients, in leaf form, to the crop. With strip cropping, the trees can have a purely productive role, providing fruits, nuts, etc. while, at the same time, protecting nearby crops from soil erosion and harmful winds.Fauna-based systemsSilvopasture over the years (Australia).There are situations where trees benefit fauna. The most common examples are the silvopasture where cattle, goats, or sheep browse on grasses grown under trees.11 In hot climates, the animals are less stressed and put on weight faster when grazing in a cooler, shaded environment. Other variations have these animals directly eating the leaves of trees or shrubs. There are similar systems for other types of fauna. Deer and hogs gain when living and feeding in a forest ecosystem, especially when the tree forage suits their die tetic needs. Another variation, aquaforestry, is where trees shade fish ponds. In many cases, the fish eat the leaves or fruit from the trees.Boundary systemsA riparian buffer bordering a river in Iowa.The are a number of applications that fall under the heading of a boundary system. These include the living fences, the riparian buffer, and windbreaks. A living fence can be a thick hedge or fencing wire strung on living trees. In addition to restricting the movement of people and animals, living fences offer habitat to insect-eating birds and, in the case of a boundary hedge, slow soil erosion. Riparian buffers are strips of permanent vegetation located along or near active watercourses or in ditches where water runoff concentrates. The purpose is to keep nutrients and soil from contaminating surface water. Windbreaks reduce the velocity of the winds over and around crops. This increases yields through reduced drying of the crop and/or by preventing the crop from toppling in strong wind gusts.TaungyasTaungya is a system originating in Burma. In the sign stages of an orchard or tree plantation, the trees are small and widely spaced. The free space between the newly planted trees can accommodate a seasonal crop. Instead of costly weeding, the underutilized area provides an additional output and income. More complex taungyas use the between-tree space for a series of crops. The crops become more shade resistant as the tree canopies grow and the amount of sunlight reaching the ground declines. If a plantation is thinned in the latter stages, this opens further the between-tree cropping opportunities.Physical support systemsIn the long history of agriculture, trellises are comparatively recent. Before this, grapes and other vine crops were raised atop pruned trees. Variations of the physical support theme depend upon the type of vine. The advantages come through greater in-field biodiversity. In many cases, the control of weeds, diseases, and insect pests are a p rimary motive.AgroforestsThese are widely found in the humid tropics and are referenced by different names (forest gardening, forest farming, tropical home gardens and, where short-statured trees or shrubs dominate, shrub gardens). Agroforests, in many ways, epitomize agroforestry. Through a complex, disarrayed mix of trees, shrubs, vines, and seasonal crops, these systems, through their high levels of biodiversity, achieve the ecological dynamics of a forest ecosystem. Because of the internal ecology, they tend to be less amenable to harmful insects, plant diseases, drought, and wind damage. Although they can be high yielding, complex systems tend to produce a large number of outputs. These are not utilized when a large volume of a single crop or output is required.