Agroforestry not only improves the ecology of the agricultural domain but can salvage the economic and social condition of farmers

Agroforestry in simple terms is a "sustainable land-use management system” that combines the cultivation of food crops (annuals) with woody perennials (such as trees, shrubs, palms, bamboo etc.) and/or livestock on the same land-management units.

The path to the introduction of agroforestry was in fact paved by the Forest Policy itself when it declared that the community’s requirement, not possible to be provided through the recorded rights and concessions on the forests, should be met by social forestry outside the reserved forests. The diversion of good and productive agricultural lands to forestry was discouraged highlighting the need for increased food production, it simultaneously emphasized that forests should not be looked upon as a source of revenue. It rather professed to encourage farmers, particularly small and marginal ones, to grow on their marginal/degraded lands wood species required for industries. The policy further advocated that the farmers be supported by forest-based industries with inputs including credit, constant technical advice, harvesting and transport services, and even by the adequate strengthening of the research base for better outputs.

The forest policy declared that the derivation of direct economic benefit from forest must be subordinated to the need for environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance, an overriding imperative for the sustenance of ecosystem services that support crop production and humanity. The overall attempt was towards strengthening agricultural systems along with appropriate diversification to meet the growing needs and expectations of the country and its economy. Forest, the foster mother of agriculture, had to play its role in a subtle but definite way.

India’s Agroforestry Policy 2014 acknowledges that agroforestry is the only alternative to meeting the target of increasing forest or tree cover to 33 per cent of its geographical area, as envisaged in the National Forest Policy 1988. It describes agroforestry as an ecologically based natural resource management system that sustains production and has the potential to improve ecosystem services through carbon storage, reduction in damage to forests, conservation of biodiversity, and soil and water conservation enabling agricultural land to withstand extreme weather events like floods and droughts, and climate change. The emphasis on Agroforestry perhaps also came as a response to the statement in National Agriculture Policy 2000 which said, "Agriculture has become a relatively unrewarding profession." It stressed, "Farmers will be encouraged to take up farm/agro forestry".

The field situation, however, shows that economic considerations have pushed agriculture in a big way towards industrial agriculture which, in its present exploitative form, is robbing the future generations of their entitlement to resources that they are not here to defend. Intensive sugarcane cultivation dependent on water mining in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra is a case in point. Agroforestry is conspicuously different from this. As a land use system with long-term sustainability and relatively lower risks, its true potential of providing unyielding support to the economy and well-being of our farmers is yet to be realized. The operationalization of site-specific treatment models; duly developed using local species combinations within the broadly conceptualized agri-Silvi, agri-horti, and agri-silvi-pasture systems in combination with animal husbandry; remains to be firmly institutionalized.

The Agroforestry policy outlined several obstacles that plagued agroforestry in the country. Some of these have been attempted to be addressed but a lot has still to be done. Some of the learnings from the field may help in taking future action on various aspects.

On the regulatory framework aspect, while the Policy recommended the creation of simple mechanisms/procedures to regulate the harvesting and transit of agroforestry produce, the Tree Felling Regulation Acts in many states have been amended to exempt species mostly grown on private lands. Interestingly, as per the India State of Forest Report 2021 by the Forest Survey of India, the tree cover outside the recorded forest area is a significant contributor (721 sq. km) to the increase of 2,261 sq. km of total forest and tree cover in the country. The impact of generously removing ‘Bamboo’ from the definition of the tree under the Indian Forest Act 1927 just with the objective of deregulating the transit of farm-grown bamboo, however, provides a lesson. The result is the decriminalization of bamboo felling even in the Reserved Forest areas and a loss of 10,594 sq. km of bamboo-bearing area in the country as per this report. Further, there are reports from Maharashtra where farm-grown farm-grown bamboo is difficult to sell because of the easy availability of bamboo from forests on account of unregulated removals in the name of community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006. Needless to say, prior to legal interventions all possible implications on the ground must be assessed.

Better and farmer-friendly institutional credit and insurance are a must for promoting agroforestry. The major issue of non-participation of small farmers needs optimization of farm productivity coupled with the creation of a mix of livelihood opportunities and mechanisms to address gestation and market access-related issues. The prevailing perception of high-output monoculture systems must be replaced by multiple-produce-based sustainable options provided by agroforestry. Over 30 research centres of the ICAR involved in agroforestry research, with the adoption of the latest technologies, have a crucial role to play in this regard apart from the extension wing of the agriculture department.

To raise agroforestry taken up by small farmers at economies of scale, the pathbreaking example created in villages of Palamau district of Jharkhand using ‘Chakriya Vikas Yojana’ to aggregate the farm-related interests of farmers (including that of absentee landlords) in a transparent manner is certainly replicable. In many areas, support can be got from industries including Ayurvedic Drug Manufactures for the supply of inputs, buying back of outputs and marketing. Certification of farm-grown produce and a pro-actively functional canalizing agency at export points will go a long way in providing better markets to the practitioners of agroforestry. The returns can also be augmented by connecting agroforestry initiatives with REDD+.

India has taken a great step by notifying the draft Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules, 2023. The concept of the Green Credit Programme in the country has identified activities for increasing the green cover as eligible for credit by naming it ‘Tree Plantation-based Green Credit’. In addition, all entities registered for ‘Accredited Compensatory Afforestation’ as per MoEFCC guidelines, are registered with the Green Credit Registry under the Programme. This should give a boost to tree plantations under agroforestry. Needless to say, maintaining fungibility across the eight sectors identified for the programme is going to be extremely essential for sustaining the programme.

Agroforestry has a tremendous potential of not only salvaging the economic and social condition of farmers but also promises to improve the ecology of the agricultural domain making it sustainable and climate change resilient. The most crucial points, however, especially while promoting and dealing with agroforestry models adopted by farmers will be to ensure integrity, and transparency so that real benefits for local communities and biodiversity are guaranteed. Agroforestry in simple terms is a "sustainable land-use management system” that combines the cultivation of food crops (annuals) with woody perennials (such as trees, shrubs, palms, bamboo etc.) and/or livestock on the same land-management units.

The path to the introduction of agroforestry was in fact paved by the Forest Policy itself when it declared that the community’s requirement, not possible to be provided through the recorded rights and concessions on the forests, should be met by social forestry outside the reserved forests. The diversion of good and productive agricultural lands to forestry was discouraged highlighting the need for increased food production, it simultaneously emphasized that forests should not be looked upon as a source of revenue. It rather professed to encourage farmers, particularly small and marginal ones, to grow on their marginal/degraded lands wood species required for industries. The policy further advocated that the farmers be supported by forest-based industries with inputs including credit, constant technical advice, harvesting and transport services, and even by the adequate strengthening of the research base for better outputs.

The forest policy declared that the derivation of direct economic benefit from forest must be subordinated to the need for environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance, an overriding imperative for the sustenance of ecosystem services that support crop production and humanity. The overall attempt was towards strengthening agricultural systems along with appropriate diversification to meet the growing needs and expectations of the country and its economy. Forest, the foster mother of agriculture, had to play its role in a subtle but definite way.

India’s Agroforestry Policy 2014 acknowledges that agroforestry is the only alternative to meeting the target of increasing forest or tree cover to 33 per cent of its geographical area, as envisaged in the National Forest Policy 1988. It describes agroforestry as an ecologically based natural resource management system that sustains production and has the potential to improve ecosystem services through carbon storage, reduction in damage to forests, conservation of biodiversity, and soil and water conservation enabling agricultural land to withstand extreme weather events like floods and droughts, and climate change. The emphasis on Agroforestry perhaps also came as a response to the statement in National Agriculture Policy 2000 which said, "Agriculture has become a relatively unrewarding profession." It stressed, "Farmers will be encouraged to take up farm/agro forestry".

The field situation, however, shows that economic considerations have pushed agriculture in a big way towards industrial agriculture which, in its present exploitative form, is robbing the future generations of their entitlement to resources that they are not here to defend. Intensive sugarcane cultivation dependent on water mining in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra is a case in point. Agroforestry is conspicuously different from this. As a land use system with long-term sustainability and relatively lower risks, its true potential of providing unyielding support to the economy and well-being of our farmers is yet to be realized. The operationalization of site-specific treatment models; duly developed using local species combinations within the broadly conceptualized agri-Silvi, agri-horti, and agri-silvi-pasture systems in combination with animal husbandry; remains to be firmly institutionalized.

The Agroforestry policy outlined several obstacles that plagued agroforestry in the country. Some of these have been attempted to be addressed but a lot has still to be done. Some of the learnings from the field may help in taking future action on various aspects.

On the regulatory framework aspect, while the Policy recommended the creation of simple mechanisms/procedures to regulate the harvesting and transit of agroforestry produce, the Tree Felling Regulation Acts in many states have been amended to exempt species mostly grown on private lands. Interestingly, as per the India State of Forest Report 2021 by the Forest Survey of India, the tree cover outside the recorded forest area is a significant contributor (721 sq. km) to the increase of 2,261 sq. km of total forest and tree cover in the country. The impact of generously removing ‘Bamboo’ from the definition of the tree under the Indian Forest Act 1927 just with the objective of deregulating the transit of farm-grown bamboo, however, provides a lesson. The result is the decriminalization of bamboo felling even in the Reserved Forest areas and a loss of 10,594 sq. km of bamboo-bearing area in the country as per this report. Further, there are reports from Maharashtra where farm-grown farm-grown bamboo is difficult to sell because of the easy availability of bamboo from forests on account of unregulated removals in the name of community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006. Needless to say, prior to legal interventions all possible implications on the ground must be assessed.

Better and farmer-friendly institutional credit and insurance are a must for promoting agroforestry. The major issue of non-participation of small farmers needs optimization of farm productivity coupled with the creation of a mix of livelihood opportunities and mechanisms to address gestation and market access-related issues. The prevailing perception of high-output monoculture systems must be replaced by multiple-produce-based sustainable options provided by agroforestry. Over 30 research centres of the ICAR involved in agroforestry research, with the adoption of the latest technologies, have a crucial role to play in this regard apart from the extension wing of the agriculture department.

To raise agroforestry taken up by small farmers at economies of scale, the pathbreaking example created in villages of Palamau district of Jharkhand using ‘Chakriya Vikas Yojana’ to aggregate the farm-related interests of farmers (including that of absentee landlords) in a transparent manner is certainly replicable. In many areas, support can be got from industries including Ayurvedic Drug Manufactures for the supply of inputs, buying back of outputs and marketing. Certification of farm-grown produce and a pro-actively functional canalizing agency at export points will go a long way in providing better markets to the practitioners of agroforestry. The returns can also be augmented by connecting agroforestry initiatives with REDD+.

India has taken a great step by notifying the draft Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules, 2023. The concept of the Green Credit Programme in the country has identified activities for increasing the green cover as eligible for credit by naming it ‘Tree Plantation-based Green Credit’. In addition, all entities registered for ‘Accredited Compensatory Afforestation’ as per MoEFCC guidelines, are registered with the Green Credit Registry under the Programme. This should give a boost to tree plantations under agroforestry. Needless to say, maintaining fungibility across the eight sectors identified for the programme is going to be extremely essential for sustaining the programme.

Agroforestry has a tremendous potential of not only salvaging the economic and social condition of farmers but also promises to improve the ecology of the agricultural domain making it sustainable and climate change resilient. The most crucial points, however, especially while promoting and dealing with agroforestry models adopted by farmers will be to ensure integrity, and transparency so that real benefits for local communities and biodiversity are guaranteed.

(The writers are Former IFS officers and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of UP, Maharashtra)