This document discusses agroforestry as a tool for watershed management. It begins by defining agroforestry systems and their objectives in increasing biomass production, soil conservation, and soil improvement. It then discusses the objectives of watershed management in utilizing land based on capability, protecting resources, and improving socioeconomic conditions. Agroforestry is presented as an effective tool for watershed management, providing suitable systems like agri-silviculture, silvi-pastoral, and agri-silvi-pastoral approaches. These systems help achieve the goals of watershed management by improving vegetation cover, soil fertility, and the livelihoods of local communities.

1. Agroforest as a tool for watershed
management
SUBMITTED BY:
S.S.R. Tripathy
01SAF/16

2. CONTENTS
1 Agroforestry systems............................................................................................................. 3
2 WATERSHED MANAGMENT ...................................................................................................3
2.1 Objectives of watershed management............................................................................ 4
2.2 AGROFORESTRY as tool of watershed management......................................................... 5
2.2.1 Objectives of agroforestry....................................................................................... 5
2.2.2 Suitable agroforestry systems for watershed management....................................... 6
2.2.3 Agri-silviculture ...................................................................................................... 6
2.2.4 Silvi-pastoral System............................................................................................... 8
2.2.5 Agri-silvi-pastoral system........................................................................................ 8
2.2.6 Other systems........................................................................................................ 8
3 CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................................. 9

3. AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS
Agroforestry systems play a great role in conservation of natural resources,
especially soil. Adoption of agroforestry practices werealways adds to the
productivity of resourcepoor small and marginal farmers. Agroforestryhas both
productiveand servicefunctions. Among the productivefunctions, the three ‘Fs’
(fuel wood, fodder and fruit) are the mostimportant besides construction wood,
gums, resins, medicines, fibres and a hostof other economic base and greater
food security. The servicefunctions include shade, reduction in wind speed,
control of erosion and maintenance and improvementof soil fertility.
Agroforestry systems increasenutrients inputs through nitrogen fixing trees and
nutrient uptake fromdeep soil horizons. They reducenutrient leaching losses
through tree rootand micorrhizalsystems. Agroforestry systems recyclenutrients
through decomposition of litter, pruning and root residues. Agroforestryis a
medium and a combination of agriculturaland forestry technologies to create
integrated, diverseand productiveland use systems (Garrettand Agus, 2000).
While agroforests aretypically less diversethan native forest, they do contain a
significant number of plant and animal species. This diversity can, in time, provide
ecological resilience and contribute to the maintenance of beneficial ecological
functions. Similar to plantation forests, agroforests can help relieve some of the
pressureto harvestnative forests.
1 WATERSHED MANAGMENT
The process of creating and implementing plans, programs, and projects to
sustain and enhance watershed functions that affect the plant, animal, and
human communities within a watershed boundary.” It involves management
of land, water, energy and greenery integrating all the relevant approaches
appropriate to socioeconomic background for a pragmatic development of a
watershed. It also involves the greening of watershed through proper
management of land water and energy resource. The main components of
watershed management are resourceconservation, crop production and
alternate land-usesystems (Tideman, 2007).

4.  Principles of watershed management The principles of watershed
management based on resource conservation, generation and utilization are:
 Utilizing the land based on its capability
 Protecting fertile top soil
 Minimizing silting up of tanks, reservoirs and lower fertile lands
 Protecting vegetative cover throughout the year
 In situ conservation of rain water
 Safe diversion of gullies and construction of check dams for
increasing ground water recharge
 Increasing cropping intensity through inter and sequence cropping
 Alternate land use systems for efficient use of marginal lands
 Water harvesting for supplemental irrigation
 Maximizing farm income through agricultural related activities suchas
dairy, poultry,
Sheep, and goat forming
 Improving infrastructural facilities for storage, transport and agricultural
marketing
 Improving socio - economic status of farmers
1.1 OBJECTIVES OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
The different objectives of watershed management programmes are:
Meeting the problems of land and water use, not in terms of any one resource
but on the basis that all the resources areinterdependent and must, therefore, is
considered together. Improving theliving standards of common peoples in the
basin by increasing their earning capacity, by offering facilities such as electricity,
drinking water, irrigation water, freedom fromfears of floods, droughts etc. The
overall objectives of watershed development programmers may beoutlined as:
 Recognition of watersheds as a unit for development and efficient use of land
according their capabilities for production
 Flood control through small multipurposereservoirs and other water storage
structures at the head water of streams and in problem areas
 Adequate water supply for domestic, agricultural and industrial needs

5.  Abatement of soil and water pollution
 Efficient use of natural resources for improving agricultureand allied occupation
so as to improvesocio-economic conditions of the local residents, and
 Expansion of recreation facilities such as picnic and camping sites
1.2 AGROFORESTRY AS TOOL OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
Agroforestry is a collective name for land-usesystems and technologies where
woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) aredeliberately used on
the sameland-management units as agricultural crops and/or animals, in some
formof spatial arrangementor temporal sequence. In agroforestry systems there
are both ecological and economical interactions between the different
components.
1.2.1 Objectives of agroforestry
The systemof agroforestry involves growing treewith crops on permanent basis
in order to meet food, fuel, fodder and fibre needs of the farmers. Ithas the
following aims.
1) Biomass production: The maximum production of biomass per unit area in time
is the primary objective of AF in watershed management.
2) Conservation: Enormous loss of valuable, fertile topsoilis taking place with
sediment and water. Ithas been estimated that on an average soilis displaced at
the rate of about16 t/ ha/ year and washed in to the reservoir, which is much
higher than the permissible limit.
Some of the barren portion and wasteland of the watershed can be provided with
a cover through agroforestry interventions in the watershed management
programme(Fig.7).
3) Soil improvement: In addition to conservation of production based agroforestry
practices enrich soil by nitrogen fixation and addition of organic matter. In this
way, this programmehelps in meeting nutrient requirements of plants growing in
association with trees and at the sametime, the soil structureand infiltration
rates are also improved.

6. 4) Moderation of microclimate: The micro-climate in the neighbourhood of trees
is moderated by adopting agroforestry systems and the field crops growing in
association with trees get the benefit in various ways. Its pronounced effectis
observed in semi-arid and arid regions.
5) Agro-based cottage industries: An agroforestry programmein watershed
management helps in promotion of agro-based cottage industries, such as paper
pulp, herbaldrugs, fibre, poultry, piggery, dairy, bee-keeping, sericulture
cultivation etc. This will providegainful employment and raisethe standard of
living of small and marginalfarmers. Traditional agroforestry systems in the
mountains are very close to natural ecosystems as they provideecosystem
services similar to the forests such as the biodiversity, provision of food and fibre,
water resources and its purification, climate regulation and carbon sequestration,
nutrient cycling, primary production, production of oxygen, and soil formation,
and recreation and the cultural services for the well-being of the people and
society.
1.2.2 Suitable agroforestry systems for watershed management
1.2.3 Agri-silviculture
Eg: Kachnar + Mustard Cassia + Mustard
1.2.3.1 Taungya cultivation
• Leased
• Departmental
• Village
1.2.3.2 Maize agroforestry
Maize + fertilizer trees, which are pruned back several times so that leaves
and biomass areincorporated, back into the soil which helps in
 Soil fertility increases
 Weed growth is suppressed
 Soil carbon increases, and
 Water filtration improves
1.2.3.3 Alley cropping:
practice of growing arable crops between hedge rows of shrubs and trees,
which are periodically pruned to prevent shading of inter-crops, when there

7. are no crops, the hedge rows are allowed to grow freely or cut to meet the
fodder needs. MPT’s like Leucaena latisiliqua, Sesbania grandiflora, Albizia
lebbeck are used in alley cropping practices.
a. Forage alley cropping system: both yield of crop and forage assume
importance. The tree species suitable for hedge rows are Leucaena
leucocephala, Colliendra and Sesbania. Pigeon pea or castor crops are suitable
for growing in the alleys of Leucaena.
b. Forage-cum-mulch system: hedgerows areused for both forageand mulch.
Lopped material used for mulching during the crop season and used as
fodder during off season. Substantial increase in crop yields of sorghum,
groundnut, green gram and black gram havebeen observed at several places.
c. Forage-cum-polesystem: Leucaena alleys are established at 5m intervals along
the contours. Hedgerows are established by direct seeding and topped every
two months at 1.0m height during crop season and every four months during
the off season. A Leucaena plant for every 2m along hedgerows is allowed to
grow into a pole.
1.2.3.4 Wind-breaks and Shelter-belts
Wind-breaks are the strips of trees and/or shrubs planted to protect fields,
homes, canals or other areas fromwind and blowing soil /or sand.
1.2.3.5 Shelter-belts
Shelter-belts are belts/blocks consisting of severalrows of trees established at
right angles to the prevailing wind
 Permeable
 Non-permeable
1.2.3.6 Boundary planting
Itis simple but effective practice particularly for small farmers. It includes
planting trees all along the boundaries between the fields and farm or along
the margins of footpath, roads and canals. It is also called four-sided forestry
with object of gaining production from trees, whilsthaving no adverse effect
on adjacent crops and possibly a beneficial effect through fertilization by
trees or their leaf litter, protection from wind or aiding soil conservation
i.e. Watershed protection.

8. 1.2.4 Silvi-pastoral System
This systemis primarily meant for augmenting the scarcefodder supply. This
systemintegrate pasture and/or animals with trees
 Protein bank -Artocarpus spp., Anogeissus latifolia, Bombax malabaricum,
Cordia dichotoma, Dalbergia jambolana, Samanea spp., Zizyphus spp.
 Living fence of fodder trees and hedges Sesbania grandiflora, Gliricidia
sepium, Erythrina abyssinica, Euphorbia spp., Acacia spp.
 Trees and shrubs on pasture. Derris indica, Emblica officinalis, Psidium
guajava, Tamarindus indica.
1.2.5 Agri-silvi-pastoral system
Home gardens-This is mostpopular systemof agroforestry being adopted by
nearly 80 % of small and marginalfarmers of the Kerala state by tribal and non-
tribal population. Itis easier to implement and is mostrewarding of agro-forestry.
The greatest problem of that systemis of family based need oriented.
1.2.6 Other systems
1.2.6.1 Agri - horticultural system
Woody component of the system is fruit trees. Itis also called as food-cum-fruit
systemin which shortduration arable crops areraised in the interspaces of fruit
trees. Someof the fruit trees that can be considered are guava, pomegranate,
custard apple, sapota and mango. Pulses are the importantarable crops for this
system. However, depending on the requirements, crops like sorghum and pearl
millet can be grown in the interspaces of fruit trees.
1.2.6.2 Agri-Horti-Silvicultural system
Growing legumes or other inter-crops (Shadetolerant-ginger and turmeric) in the
inter-spaceof fruit plantation has been a very old practice. Arable crops are
grown in inter-spaces till the trees (fruits or MPT’s) develop canopy or bear fruit
or there is reduction in the crop yields
1.2.6.3 Horti-pastoral system
Introducing suitablegrasses likeDinanath grass (Pennisetumpedicellatum) or
Napier Grass (Pennisetumpurpureum) or Anjan grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) etc.

9. 2 CONCLUSIONS
The natural resources (soil, water and vegetation) are best managed on the basis
of watershed management. Conservation and optimal utilization of natural
resources arethe principalobjectives of the watershed management. The main
components of watershed management are: soil, water and vegetation
conservation; crop production and alternate land-use systems. Agroforestry is a
usefulapproach in watershed management to promote sustainableuse of various
resources and to improvethe economic well-being of the local people. Properly
designed and managed agroforestry systems can providevarious benefits and has
potential to meet environmental and socioeconomic requirements.