Jagdish Chander Dagar

Vindhya Prasad Tewari

Agroforestry (AF) is a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resources management system that, by integrating trees on farms, ranches, and in other landscapes, diversifies and increases production and promotes social, economic, and environmental benefits for land users. Further, it is receiving increasing attention as a sustainable land-management option worldwide because of its ecological, economic, and social attributes. Advances have been achieved by building on past research accomplishments and expanding AF’s stakeholder base, which now includes private/public partnerships, communities, ecologists, farmers, indigenous peoples, and policymakers in both temperate and tropical countries. AF has now been recognized as a valuable problem-solving approach to ensuring food security and rebuilding resilient rural environments. Recent studies have shown that more than 1 billion hectares of agricultural land have more than 10% tree cover. Of this area, 160 million hectares have more than 50% tree cover. Agricultural ecosystems can be further improved through AF to achieve environmental restoration, greater farm productivity, and key ecological services, including climate change mitigation and adaptation for improved rural livelihood. In fact, it is largely considered synonymous with climate smart agriculture and a remedy for many modern environmental challenges. Consequently, AF’s knowledge base is being expanded at a rapid rate, as illustrated by the increasing number and quality of scientific publications on various forms and different aspects of AF. This book offers state-of-the-art information on the fundamental concepts and history of AF and its evolution as a science, presenting a wealth of advanced research results and evaluations relating to different aspects of AF. Accordingly, it will be useful for a broad readership, including students, foresters, farmers, local communities, indigenous peoples, civil society institutions, media, policymakers and the general public.

Anecdotal to Modern Science

Agroforestry

Anil Kumar Singh

This book, the only one of its kind on ravine lands, reflects the significant advances made over the past two decades in our understanding of gully erosion, its controlling factors, and various aspects of gully erosion. It also addresses central research gaps and unanswered questions, which include historical studies on gully erosion to better understand the different stages of their formation; appropriate measuring techniques for monitoring or assessing the geological and hydrological parameters and processes involved in gully development; interaction of hydrological and other soil degradation processes; ecology and biodiversity of fragile ravines; impact of climate and environmental changes on soil erosion processes; development of effective and reliable gully erosion models; effective gully prevention and control measures; watershed-based management options; and ravine rehabilitation policies. The present book is a highly timely publication and deals with various aspects of ravine ecology and rehabilitation of degraded lands, particularly with the aid of biological approaches. As such, it offers a valuable guide for all scientists working in the fields of soil conservation / rehabilitation and agroforestry, students, environmentalists, educationists, and policymakers. More importantly, it focuses on the rehabilitation of one of the world’s most degraded and fragile ecosystems, ensuring the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers and landless families living in harsh ecologies that are more vulnerable to climate change.

Ravine Lands: Greening for Livelihood and Environmental Security

Ayyanadar Arunachalam

Agroforestry, the word coined in early seventies, has made its place in all the developed and the developing countries of the world and is now recognized as an important approach to ensuring food security and rebuilding resilient rural environments. India has been an all-time leader in agroforestry. The South and Southeast Asia region comprising India is often described as the cradle of agroforestry. Almost all forms of agroforestry systems exist across India in ecozones ranging from humid tropical lowlands to high-altitude and temperate biomes, and perhumid rainforest zones to parched drylands. The country ranks foremost among the community of nations not only in terms of this enormous diversity and long tradition of the practice of agroforestry, but also in fostering scientific developments in the subject. Agroforestry applies to private agricultural and forest lands and communities that also include highly erodible, flood-prone, economically marginal and environmentally sensitive lands. The typical situation is agricultural, where trees are added to create desired benefits. Agroforestry allows for the diversification of farm activities and makes better use of environmental resources. Owing to an increase in the population of human and cattle, there is increasing demand of food as well as fodder, particularly in developing countries like India. So far, there is no policy that deals with specifics in agroforestry in India. But, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has been discussing on the scope of having a National Agroforestry Policy in appropriate platforms. However, evolving a policy requires good and reliable datasets from different corners of the country on the subject matter. This synthesis volume containing 13 chapters is an attempt to collate available information in a classified manner into different system ecologies, problems and solutions, and converging them into a policy support.

Agroforestry Systems in India: Livelihood Security & Ecosystem Services

Rajender Kumar Yadav

Parbodh Chander Sharma

Soil and water salinity is a major challenge for the agricultural community and policy makers in terms of meeting the burgeoning population’s demand for food and other agricultural commodities. In coastal regions, climate change and sea level rise will aggravate the problem with more and more areas becoming saline due to intrusion of sea water. As such there is a pressing need for modern tools and innovative techniques for the identification of salty soils and poor-quality waters, crop production, soil reclamation and lowering the water table in waterlogged areas. Tackling next-generation problems such as contamination of soil and underground water due to fluoride and arsenic, as well as developing multi-stress tolerant crops is also a high priority. Further, techniques for domesticating halophytes, mangrove-based aquacultures, using seaweed cultures as agricultural crops and integrated farming systems need to be perfected. This book addresses all these aspects in detail, highlighting the diverse solutions to tackle the complex problem of salinity and waterlogging and safer management of poor-quality waters. With chapters written by leading experts, it is a valuable resource for researchers planning future investigations, policy makers, farmers and other stakeholders, and for students wanting insights into vital issues of environment.

Jagdish Chander Dagar

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