1) Agroforestry is a land use system where trees are combined with crops and/or livestock on the same land area, providing ecological and economic interactions between tree and agricultural components.
2) Agroforestry can help manage water stress and floods by increasing soil porosity and organic matter, slowing rainfall and overland flow to improve water infiltration. Tree roots stabilize soil and trees act as water pumps.
3) Research shows agroforestry can reduce nitrogen leaching by up to 50% compared to arable land, as trees capture nitrogen not used by crops to improve water quality.
4. But .......
โข Climate change
โข Pressure on land use
โข Food production
โข Regulation WFD,CAP etc
โข Global markets
โข Finance
5. โข Land use where trees are combined with crops and/or
livestock on the same unit of land and where there is
significant ecological or economic interaction between
the tree and the agricultural components
AGROFORESTRY
11. Flood plain Agroforestry at Gardon dโAlรจs river, (Southern France)
diverting flood water away from the river and trapping detritus within the tree rows
14. Soil, Nutrient & Water management
Source : Research by INRA Restincliรจres, France
AgricultureAgroforestry Forestry
Average nitrate leaching
Kg / ha / yrUp to 50% less N
lost under
Agroforestry than
arable
Trees capture N
not used by crops
Reduced Nitrogen leaching & improved water quality
15. Improved sun & water utilisation
Greater overall productivity
LERโs
1.1 to 1.4
Tree and crop yields for
42 tree-crop combinations
http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/naturalresources/research/projects/safe.jsp
Balancing productivity with environment management
16. โขImproved soil & water quality protection
โขWind speeds reduced
โขReduced evaporation and water loss from crops
โขMicroclimate modified
โขCarbon capture (1.5 โ 4.0 t carbon/ha/yr)
20. Policy
โข Agroforestry eligible under new CAP
โ Greening measures
โ Ecological Focus Area (EFA) option
โข Pillar II schemes
โ ERDP or similar options
โข Article 23 Pillar II 80% funding (5yr plant & Maintenance)
โข Defra has not implemented measures in England
22. Farmers could
easily adopt
agroforestry on
10-20% of their
land
Trees grow
in most
places
Agroforestry is one of the few
options with the potential to
help reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, help protect
natural resources, reduce
flood impact - whilst at the
same time produce more
food and biomass