Agroforestry - Science topic

It’s apparently Ok. But the title chosen suggests there are positive contributions to soil fertility from agroforestry. Is the null necessary?

Or compare different models :)

Shivam Trivedi, I would recommend that you peruse this work (link provided below). It may be helpful. All the best.

I have one publication regarding allometric equations entitled "moisture content, density and allometric model for estimation above-ground biomass of peronema canescens jack in the private forest". i hope it will help you. thank you

Kindly find the link provided below, the link is valid for 72hrs. http://dataservices.efi.int/casfor/CO2FIX/download/6ae38f6f6793c17a/setup_CO2Fix_V3.2.exe

Thank you @Shuraik Kader for sharing this useful paper.

The following RG links are also very useful:

Dear @Mohammad Kheiri You may also access the following links:

Very interesting question @ Elaheh Daghighi. In Asia perspective I would say Prosopis Juliflora and Leucaena leucocephala are some effective tree species that can be suitable for soil health improvement. Also you can go for Azadirachta indica that tree sp. has good insecticidal properties, air purification properties and also improves soil health.

You sample c. 5% of the area using a minimum of 30 quadrats or trees to fulfil the central limit theorem :)

A declining trend with an increase in altitude reported at Himalayan regions by several workers.

Indeed, Ecosystem Services Valuation (ESV) with Circular Economy Valuation (CEV) are perfectly bridging ecology of agroforestry with economics. Indicative research works are the following:

Kyriakopoulos G.L. et al. (2017). Ecosystems Services Valuation (ESV) Then and Now: A Review. Chapter 1, In: Advances in Energy Research vol. 27, 1–61. Nova Science Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-53612-305-0.

Kyriakopoulos G.L. (2021). Environmental Legislation in European and International Contexts: Legal Practices and Social Planning toward the Circular Economy. Laws 10(1), 3; 15 pp. doi: 10.3390/laws10010003. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/10/1/3

Zamparas M., Kyriakopoulos G.L. (2021). A New Method for Lake Restoration, Impacting on Circular Economy (CE). Chapter 8, In: Chemical Lake Restoration – Technologies, Innovations and Economic Perspectives, 1st Edition, Editors: Miltiadis G. Zamparas and Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos, 195-203. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-76380-0. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76380-0_8

Kyriakopoulos, G.L., Kapsalis, V.C., Aravossis, K.G., Zamparas, M., Mitsikas, A. (2019). Evaluating circular economy under a multi-parametric approach: A technological review. Sustainability, 11 (21), 6139. DOI: 10.3390/su11216139

Journal of Horticulture and Forestry

Thomas Fungenzi i guess the attached document might be of your help

There are plenty of them. Can be easily browsed . Tree species like Tamarix aphylla, Acacia modesta and Acacia nilotica, as well as exotic species such as Acacia stenophylla, Acacia ampliceps, Casuarina obesa, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Prosopis chilensis, Prosopis siliquestrum and Prosopis alba exhibited high survival rates under waterlogged conditions.

I think these papers help

Yes. Certainly!

It depends on soil moisture conditions, tree density, drought stress, and many other factors. So, you have to calculate the quantity of water based on the local conditions and environments.

Availability of market is major concern for Melia dubia in non-traditional states. No doubt that Melia has huge potential being fast growing, high productivity and matching farmers need but as like Tamil Nadu, AP, KN, Gujarat and some extend in Haryana, we do not have market in other states. In case of Tectona grandis, the zeal of planting is more as it take more than 20 years for rotation. Because, small scale industry is present even at village level to big cities for furniture of teak. The using teak furniture in house is considered as status symbol even among poor people too.

Any species distribution modelling method (e.g. MAXENT, GLM,... read ) can be used for tree distribution modelling. However, precaution needs to be taken in tree presence data available, bioclimatic, geographic, landuse, and soil data available. Evaluation of the SDM is very important for better results. (check - h ; ; ) For the Tree-crop interaction, the WaNuLCAS model is suitable.

- Sailesh

A combination of soil scientists, who typically inventory and map soils, their physical, biological, chemical and moisture regimes and botanists who work to identify native species as well as any desirable or allowable non-native species (ie, non invasive) do typically inventory and map conditions as you suggest. If you have maps of soils series and native species boundaries, you may find some of the available information desired. When analyzing specific activities, such as silvipasture, frequent biomass removal or specialized wildlife treatments, then the activities and actions may necessitate avoiding some species that are sensitive, such as are damaged by compaction, fire, animal damage, too much sunlight (intolerant species selected), too little sunlight (shade tolerant species selected), etc.

Tree improvement programs don't always yield the long term results desired. Taller and faster growing trees may be weaker in strength and subjected to more storm or other damage in some circumstances, such as a National Forest where old growth, storm resilience and longer rotations become more important.

Have a look at this useful RG link.

In Tanzania this can best e described i the context of agroforestry systems which are land management practices in which trees and shrubs are produced on the same land area as agricultural crops or livestock. Agroforestry is designed to help local communities and cultures thrive. With the help of agroforestry specialists, indigenous people and local communities (IPLC) like the indigenous Maasai and hadzabe living in Yaida Chini and Olduvai Gorge in Ngorogoro Conservation Area respectively can continue with their local beliefs and culture while ensuring long term sustainability of the traditional systems. Furthermore, by preserving indigenous working techniques and species, agroforestry also helps to protect humankind’s agricultural heritage.

Allelopathy plays a significant role in the agroecosystems, forest plantations and agroforestry systems altering competitive interactions between plant species in the community and affecting crop yield. These interactions are mostly deleterious to the receiver plants but provide a selective advantage to the donor.

We have a series of teaching and training options at CATIE, focussing on agroforestry systems with coffee or cacao. Some background information is included in the global review on the potential of agroforestry for climate-smart production:

What makes you think that I, a modest Medical Anthropologist with some experience in medical aspects of people's migration, am an expert in this particular matter?

Please take a look at the following RG links.

Dear Henry

Thanks a lot for your responce. I have a Phd student ho have a problem in genetic caracterization (not financial suport in Algeria). I need any help can resolve this situation by collaboration on any agroforestry tree grown in Algeria.

Best regards

Suheil

its true sir but it need to time to build carbon credits by raising tree and more over it is subsidiary benefit as he will grow it for direct economic gain by selling timber produce.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/can-agroforestry-save-indias-rivers-and-the-farms-that-depend-on-them/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/can-agroforestry-save-indias-rivers-and-the-farms-that-depend-on-them/

Farmers are becoming more independent from the Government. And can earn significantly more money. To do this, they need not only to grow energy crops for biomass but also to join efforts with businessmen who are ready to transfer gas-fired boiler houses to work on wood chips (biomass). Because it is even more profitable to produce heat from biomass than to grow biomass itself. And the money for the coolants are not paid to other countries, but remain in the region where biomass is grown (energy willow).

@ Laurent, please check the below websites:

http://ec.europa.eu>eurostat>statistics.explained>index.php>Agri-env

http://ourworldindata.org>fertilizer

www.fao.org>faostat

One can use the methodological framework developed by IIFM for evolving C&I for SFM. we can modify accordingly and use for agroforestry. More over we can use filters to evolve the C&I for Agroforestry systems.

Small work has been carried out by Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, Maharashtra India on Development of C&I for Sustainable Management of Agroforestry

Don't forget that the chemical energy in biomass fulfils a natural function in assisting its biodegradation and recycling without the release of excess CO2 into the environment. Intercepting or bypassing this part of the natural cycle produces much larger amounts of CO2 and leaves behind an ash residue that is not so easily reconverted into quality soil. Basically biomass isn't "waste" at all - it's just part of the natural carbon cycle, and treating it as waste ignores this important point.

Hi Karen,

The version I had did not have cocoa fully parametrized. I recently met someone with a newer version, and cocoa has now been parametrized.

Could you share with us the download link of the version you use?

Thanks

Nice response Dr Dobriyal. How do you see a empirical relation between carbon footprint and net primary productivity vis- a- via plant biomass...

Thanks again Brunu Martin ..... I have removed the tag C++....

Briefly, traditional agroforestry systems are agricultural systems developed by traditional peoples or communities. I believe that the term "Ethnoagroforestry" represents a branch of the ethnosciences that is responsible for the study of traditional agroforestry systems.

In fact agroforestry practices have a long history in temperate climates (see this link: http://orgprints.org/18173/1/History_of_agroforestry_v1.0.pdf).

I believe that greater importance is given to these systems in tropical countries, this may be related to the attempt to contain tropical forest deforestation and to overcome rural poverty in these countries, this is seen in the very history of agroforestry systems research and in the itself "agroforestry".

In the 1970s there was a growing concern about land use and the devastation of tropical forests, socio-environmental problems resulting from deforestation for fuel production and expansion of agriculture and livestock were already evident, and poverty was concentrated in the rural areas of countries. In that decade the FAO redirected its policies in search of solutions to poverty and the rapid conversion of forest ecosystems. However, it was the International Development Research Center of Canada (IDRC) that took the first steps in pursuing these solutions.

IDRC subsidized research and expeditions, led by forestry engineer John Bene, to develop agricultural models that would allow the integration of forests into agricultural systems. As a result of their research, in 1977 John Bene and his team published the Trees, Food and People (Link - https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/930/IDL-930.pdf?sequence=1) report, identifying the priority themes for forestry and agricultural research in the tropics, arguing that greater attention should be given to forestry, agriculture and / or livestock farming, emphasizing that this was the key issue for food production and forest conservation. In reference to the integration practices between crops, livestock and forest, the authors suggested the term "agroforestry".

In the 1980s the main focus of the ICRAF was the research with these systems in Africa, from 1990 its area of ​​action expanded to South America and Asia, tropical regions and that much of the population lived in poverty. Other institutions directed also directed more research efforts to these regions, influencing the generation of knowledge and also in a greater popularization of these practices in tropical countries.

Merci de cette pertinente réponse.

Je suis d'accord.

Mr Souleye BADIANE

Propagation Technology

Through Seeds

The ripened fruits are orange in colour, harvested from the trees

during September to December by climbing or shaking the branches

after spreading collection sheets on the ground. The seeds are mature

when the fruit has changed colour to dark brown. The collected fruits

can be allowed to rot for three to four days and pulp is then washed

off by hand in a bucket of water; seeds settled at the bottom are taken

out and dried well. Or, the fruits may be rubbed to form a paste like

slurry, which is passed through a 0.50 mm sieve plate and shaken vigorously (Vijayaraghavan, 2014). The blackish paste sieved

through the plate is collected into a pan and dried to extract seeds.

Each fruit on an average yields 456 mg of seeds. Another method is

by cutting the fruits into small parts and allowing them to dry and

after a few days crush the small parts and separate the seeds. One

gram has around 23,000 to 25,000 seeds..

Seeds can remain viable for up to 6 months at an ambient

temperature (Joker, 2000). According to Martawijaya et al. (1989),

dried seeds stored in airtight containers in a moist room will retain

viability for about one year. The germination rate of fresh seeds is

variable, but generally low at about 25%. When seeds are stored in

cool, airtight boxes for about 2.5 months, a much higher germination

rate (up to 95%) can be obtained.

Because of their small size, the seeds are mixed with fine sand

(1:10) and sown in seedbeds. The sieved seeds need no pre-sowing

treatment. Seeds of about 0.1g (about 2500 seeds) can be sown in

galvanized or wooden trays filled with fine river sand and soil and

treated with fungicide. The seeds better be mixed with sterilized sand

before sowing. They are sown in February at the rate of about 0.2 gm

of seed per m2 of bed. Winter sowing is not successful. Percentage of

germination is high.

The germination of A.cadamba seeds in open beds is generally

difficult. Therefore, plants are invariably raised in shaded beds to

exclude insolation and splashing effects of rain water. Before sowing,

the beds are thoroughly wetted and seeds are broadcast on the top

taking care that they do not get buried in the soil, instead they are

patted with hand. Germination takes place in about three weeks. The

germination percentage is 60-90. The seedlings from the tray can be

pricked and transplanted in polybag containers with fungicide after

attaining a height of 5 cm. Shade cover is needed after transplanting.

Growth is fast under tropical conditions and seedlings could reach

plantable size (30 cm) in 4 to 5 months. Seedlings require periodic

watering in the first stages of development. Common mistakes in

propagation are over-watering and associated disease problems,

over-shading and allowing the germinants to become too large for

easy transplanting leading to malformed tap roots or root curling

in the pots. About 200,000 seedlings can be obtained from 1 kg of seeds in nurseries. Out planting is done with 35-50 cm tall seedlings.

The seedbeds should be protected from heavy rain and not watered

too much as damping-off can be a problem. To prevent damping-off

disease, seedlings should be placed in well-ventilated conditions. A

mild fungicidal spray may also be used to prevent the damping-off

disease (Vijayaraghavan, 2014).

Through Vegetative Propagation

It has been reported that Indole butyric acid (IBA) and Napthale￾neacetic acid (NAA) at 500 ppm treatments give better results than

other treatments (Vijayaraghavan, 2014). Sometimes the treatment

with 5000 ppm of IBA during rooting and survival in air layering

can be valuable. Coppicing is another method used for regeneration

in A. cadamba

Hello, At the same time, agroforestry practices can increase energy security considerably in the short run because they can deliver additional fuelwood within a few years, increase agricultural productivity and restore land properties and services .

@ Ratnayake, the major limitations for such developments are: lack of knowledge of the technology, availability of suitable seeds and appropriate skills for development of agroforestry.

@Moussa, in addition to suggestions above you may also consider chemical and structural improvement of soil, soil stability and erosion control, crop diversity, micro-climate improvement, microbial and beneficial enzyme activities, shelter habitat for wildlife and economics as an indicator.

Hello Dana. This is a good question.

There are some field-level techniques that you can do, which I learned about during my research.

First is to have barrier and non-barrier plots. The barrier is made by digging (preferably mechanically) a trench along both sides of the plot (say, 1 m belowground), and lining it with black plastic sheeting up to the surface. This helps to prevent interspecies root competition.

Second, in order to measure for water differences, you can use a couple of techniques. For water, you can install ceramic-tipped lysimeters, which draw up the water, which can be tested. (You can make the lysimeters yourself, or buy them commercially). You can also install tensiometers, which will show you how dry the soil is in various places and depths.

Third, to measure for nutrient differences, you can use N15 isotopic-enriched fertilizer. This can be bought commercially (it's pretty costly). You apply the N15 fertilizer to different plots, and you can follow the fate of the fertilizer into soil, water, crops and trees, by having those samples analyzed in the lab (the N15 will still be present in the samples, even months later). There may be some other fertilizer method that could yield similar results.

Anyway, there are other techniques I'm sure, but those worked pretty well for our research. You can read more about it in some of our research:

Water competition:

Nutrient competition (and evidence for positive phytoremediation effect):

Hope this is helpful. Wish you the best with your research.

Best,

Sam Allen

Dear Thomas Fungenzi

Have a look at these published papers about biochemical composition of cocoa leaves:

Some Neotropical Inga spp produce large pods with very tasty aril. The genus also tolerates a wide range of soils.

Perhaps you find something at GARDIAN http://gardian.bigdata.cgiar.org/#!/

In 2011 2 authors from Costarica has done some good work on this and have published it.It is available publicly on RG. However,I am attaching it in case you can not locate it.

Paper suggested by Dr Anil high useful for calculating the the ecosystem services

Some articles are recommended for reference.

Hi Eltson,

To contribute to the reasons for higher fertilizer response in full sun than agroforestry,

- Light limitation is a major limitation to the fertilizer response in the agroforestry system. With the shade trees having the optimum access to light, one could also speculate that; shade trees effectively uptake and out-compete the cocoa plant for the applied nutrients. What could be interesting is to evaluate the fertilizer effect in the agroforestry system through the overall cocoa and shade tree biomass against the full sun.

- Another important factor is soil water availability. Water dynamics are clearly a factor of shade tree species water use characteristics, site rainfall characteristics and importantly soil characteristics as you rightly mentioned.

- Just remember, issue of fertilizer in perennial systems are quite complex and as you could read from Van Vliet et al, (2015), the early studies had some limitations experimental design.

awesome! very thank to everyone!

all responses will be closely observed and will collaborate for the project!

Obrigada!

Agroforestry systems are much diverse and I guess labor in perenial vs annual crops debate should consider the location/site context.

Some of the literature below:

1. Armengot, L., Barbieri, P., Andres, C., Milz, J., & Schneider, M. (2016). Cacao agroforestry systems have higher return on labor compared to full-sun monocultures. Agronomy for sustainable development, 36(4), 70.

2. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/PP07211.pdf

3. Ajayi, O. C., Akinnifesi, F. K., Sileshi, G., & Kanjipite, W. (2009). Labour inputs and financial profitability of conventional and agroforestry-based soil fertility management practices in Zambia. Agrekon, 48(3), 276-292.

thanks Keenath. ok. you are right silviculture is same but as per silvicultural practices need to be modified to yield desired produce here medicinal produce

Dear Ian, any literature on your shared experience?

I also agree with you in the context of silvopastoral systems. However, in crop-tree systems, high moisture content under tree-crops vs open could indicate less transpiration of crops, lower/slow crop growth and eventually poor yields. But again as Ashok mentioned, the effect is crop specific, wheat and other photosensitive crops could benefit from the prolonged higher moisture and elongate their grain filling period which increases crop yields under trees (e.g. Tesfaye et al. 2017 Climate-smart agroforestry: Faidherbia albida trees buffer wheat against climatic extremes in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia ).

see the link

https://ay14-15.moodle.wisc.edu/prod/mod/resource/view.php?id=29481

shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/88936/15/15_chapter%206.pdf

https://www.ijcmas.com/6-7-2017/S.S.%20Kaushik%20and%20T.D.%20Sharma2.pdf

Interesting query@ Anil Shankhwar

No I don't have

The tree is the main component. There can be agroforestry without crops or without animals, but not without trees (for example: multistrata agroforestry system).

Ecological interactions between trees and crops are examined in terms of above and below ground utilizations of physical resources. Above ground interactions for light, temperature, and humidity and below ground for nutrient and water are analyzed in terms of possible effects on understory crops.

also have a look to attached file.

One of the main focuses of the forestry discipline is optimizing the felling age (rotation period).

There are similar age one species, mixed age one species and multiple species forest in both categories (it is a better description than natural or man made from productivity perspective.

The mixed age multiple species ('natural') forest productivity is the same for centuries. Even if you extract timber (up to a level) it remain the same. There is no more net carbon sequestration, the sequestered carbon and the released from decomposition are in balance.

In the case of single age forests, the growth curve is species specific, but usually start slow (from biomass perspective) accelerates and reach the full potential when all area is covered by the trees' crowns. From that point, until the trees health affected, the yearly growth is approximately the same. The highest economic value growth is somewhat later than the peak of the mass growth since higher diameter timber is more valuable. The thinning (earlier wood extraction from the forest) influences the growth curve (drop in mass the accelerating growth).

After the harvest, you leave around the 50% of the extracted biomass in the soil. The decomposition cab be slower than the rotation period, so you accumulate soil carbon up to 3 rotation periods. If you use the extracted wood in durable products, you optimize the net sequestered carbon.

The decomposing trees are lost opportunities, you could use them for replacing fossil energy.

I do not want to refer an article, because it is an entire discipline.

Thanks Dr. Even in new draft of forest policy 2018 is also silent on wood marketing. like forest laws the market rate are not open by forest corporations barring the few states which shows there timber rates on websites.

Respected sir also have a look at this important attachment.

Kindly look at this link-

Dear friend, a fundamental hypothesis of agroforestry is that different plant life forms such as trees and herbaceous crops or pastures occupy to some extent different soil strata with their root systems when grown in association, leading to a degree of complementarity in their use of soil resources. For this reason,rooting depth and the vertical distribution of root systems are of particular interest for agroforestry. Rooting depth determines to which extent plants (e.g. trees) can use subsoil water and nutrients which make them less dependent from the supply in the topsoil and may also be made available to associated plants (e.g. crops) with shallower root systems through nutrient pumping and hydraulic lift.

Sir, my opinion said, these parameters will be components of Agroforestry, soil carbon stock, Biomass production, GHG emissions

Dear also go through this link

Silvopasture is an agroforestry practice that integrates livestock, forage production, and forestry on the same land-management unit. Silvopasture systems are deliberately designed and managed to produce a high-value timber product in the long term while providing short-term annual economic benefit from a livestock component through the management of forage or an annual crop component. S ilvopasture can be a way for landowners to diversify income sources. A possible win-win situation providing annual income from grazing as well as long term profits for fast growing, high value saw-logs.

While dealing with livestocks in a pasture, grazing animals should be moved from pasture to pasture in a rotational grazing system. Animals are typically left in a pasture for 3 to 4 days. The animals are removed and the forage is then allowed to grow for at least 30 days before grazing again. Animals should not be left in the same area for long periods of time because soil compaction can damage the roots and promote insect and disease damage of the trees. These are just a few of the many basic principles of silvopasture.

I agree with Kenneth Towe. No one can control or change climate. All that humans can do is to adapt to it. Note that during the Ice Ages, or earlier during the Paleocene -Eocene Thermal Maximum, tropical climate extended to Europe, yet man was not there. The climatic regimes ran into thousands and millions of years. Climate change is just normal to the earth. Man can destroy his environment but cannot control climate. Fill up the land lying below sea level and build cities. Millenia later, global warming, ice-melting causing sea level rise will simply drown the city.

Obianuju P. Umeji

Dear, also have a look at these useful attachments.

Thanks sir for your valuable answer....but still i want to know whether it will be effective for both (Economical as well as ecological).