2. Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services - Benefits that people obtain from ecosystems
Provisioning services-Products obtained from ecosystems
Regulating services- Benefits from regulation of ecosystem
Supporting services- Necessary for production of all ecosystems
Cultural services- Nonmaterial benefits obtain from ecosystems
3. Agro-forestry
Dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system
Diversifies and sustains production
Increased social, economic and environmental benefits
Agro-forestry helps in-
Carbon sequestration
Bio diversity conservation
Improved air and water quality
Soil conservation and enrichment
Soil amelioration
Bio-fuel production
Fodder production
4. Carbon-sequestration : Agro-forestry
Carbon sequestration- Removal and storage of carbon from atmosphere
in carbon sinks through physical or biological processes
Poplar agro-forestry in NW India increases SOC and aggregation
In south India home gardens increases soil carbon sequestration
5. Bio-diversity Conservation : Agro-forestry
Provides habitat for species
Helps preserving germplasm of sensitive species
Helps by reducing conversion rate of natural habitat by
providing a more productive, sustainable systems
Provides conservation of area-sensitive floral and faunal
species
Helps to conserve biological diversity by providing ecosystem
6. Improved Air & Water Quality: Agro-forestry
Vegetative buffers can filter by removing dust, gas etc
Reducing velocity of runoff and sediment deposition on water
bodies
Reduce nutrient movement into ground water by taking up excess
nutrients
7. Soil conservation & Enrichment : Agro-forestry
Incorporation of trees able to biologically fix nitrogen
Non N-fixing trees add organic matter
Reduce soil loss
Alley cropping system - Higher soil organic matter and microbial
biomass
8. (Source: Singh & Gill , 1992)
Species Original After 20 years
pH Organic C
(%)
Ph Organic C
(%)
Eucalyptus tereticomis 10.3 0.12 9.18 0.33
Acacia milotica 10.3 0.12 9.03 0.55
Albizzia lebbeck 10.3 0.12 8.67 0.47
Teminalia arjuma 10.3 0.12 8.15 0.58
Prosopis juliflora 10.3 0.12 8.03 0.58
Soil Amelioration: Agro-forestry
9. Pongamia pinnata, Azadirachta indica ,Calophyllum, Jatropha curcas
etc adapted in dry land to semi wet crop fields and provide for
production of energy from seed oil
Bio-fuel Production: Agro-forestry
11. Case Study
Methodology-
Conducted in 2 districts of Eastern UP- Aligarh and Saharanpur
Four blocks ,16 villages and 320 farmers formed sample units for study
Data taken from harvest and sale of tree for past three years
Data analyzed mainly using tabular analysis, benefit-cost analysis
Aligarh district was selected as traditional agro-forestry region
Saharanpur district as intensive/ commercial agro-forestry region
12. Result and Discussion
Farm size
category
No. of
trees/farm
family
Tree stock
density
(per ha)
Marginal 9.5 13.4
Small 17.0 12.7
Medium/large 27.2 7.9
Total 15.6 10.3
Contd..
Trees scattered on field bunds and boundaries
Dominant trees- Neem, babool, and eucalyptus
Farm size
category
Avg. wood
production
(q)
Avg. net
income(Rs)
Net
return
per ha
(Rs)
Marginal 3.94 702 989
Small 4.40 725 541
Medium 4.68 881 255
Total 4.24 751 440
Annual production of tree produce
Tree stock with farmers in Aliagarh
13. Trees with crops in farm bunds/ boundaries & within fields
Two modes of agro-forestry –
Trees on field bunds or farm boundaries
Tree cultivation with seasonal crops (agri-silviculture)
Dominant trees- Populus and eucalyptus
Tree density in boundary plantations - 146 trees ha-1
oPoplar trees-64%
oEucalyptus-33%
Tree density in agri-silviculture - 481 trees ha-1
Agro-forestry
system
No. of
farmers(%)
Major tree
sp.
Boundary
plantation
78.1 Poplar,
eucalyptus
Agri-
silviculture
21.9 Poplar
Contd..
14. Particulars Value (Rs/ha)
Input cost
for tree
6569
Input cost
for crop
67600
Total cost 74169
Return from
trees
60256
Return from
crops
152170
Total return 212426
Net return
for rotation
138257
Annual avg.
net return
17282
B:C ratio 2.84
Cost benefit for poplar based boundary plantation
Contd..
Particulars Value (Rs/ha)
Input cost
for tree
8633
Input cost
for crop
67600
Total cost 76233
Return from
trees
53058
Return from
crops
152170
Total return 205288
Net return
for rotation
128995
Annual avg.
net return
16124
B:C ratio 2.68
Cost benefit for eucalyptus based boundary plantation
15. Conclusion
Poplar & Eucalyptus based
commercial agro-forestry profitable
than both traditional agro-forestry &
conventional cropping system
Availability of fuel wood
Generate income and
employment to the farm
Livelihoods and industrial
development
Contd..
Particulars Value(Rs/ha)
Input cost
for tree
195322
Input cost
for crop
78493
Total cost 98025
Return from
trees
152605
Return from
crops
176450
Total return 329055
Net return
for rotation
231030
Annual avg.
net return
28879
B:C ratio 3.35
Cost benefit for poplar based agri-silviculture
16. Conclusion
Two trends almost universal in tropics:
No. of trees in forests is declining
No. of farms is increasing
Research is required to quantify benefits & examine impact of agro-
forestry practices on forest protection
Improving marketing and adding value to raw products enhanced
livelihoods of agro-forestry farmers
Community based institutional mechanisms are needed to help farmers in
acquiring information and improving business skills
Other issues involve identifying policies, institutional innovations and
extension strategies that facilitate spread of agro-forestry