2. Why Agroforestry ?
• Ground water level going down – 1000 ft
• Dry land agriculture almost impossible
• Rain PATTERN changed
– No rain for 6 months from Dec to May
• Labor shortage – agriculture -highly seasonal
• Soil health is in bad state,
– Chemical farming, ploughing – soil erosion
4. My land
• Gravel red soil – concrete like, if no wetness
• Sloppy – runoff for even 25 mm rain
• Dry area – 40 deg C in summer
• Rain fall – 800 mm, but 6 months no rain
• Elevated place, so hot wind
– Hence, more transpiration
– Dry horticulture trees (Tamarind, Mango) survive but less
fruit
5. Mulching
Improves rain water percolation,
microbial activities and root zone soil
Giliricidia sepium All bio wastes
8. 14 years
Lal Chandan
(Red Sanders)
If restrictions are
removed, it is more
profitable than water
consuming Coconut
9. Red Sanders (Lal Chandan)
• Highly suited for my land condition
– Gravel soil, Dry land
• Understanding soil and climate helped me to evolve
growing it without irrigation
• Less pest - I never used any chemical fertilizer nor
pesticide
Means, I never killed a living being
Note : Many natural habitat, Python, fox…
11. Biggest challenge in Agroforestry
• Choosing right tree species
• Getting quality saplings
• Choosing right intercrop or allied activity
• Keep investing for decades without loan facility
• Harvesting, marketing setups – no organized
setup – less price
• Above all – FOREST dept procedures / policies
12. My Suggestions
Mix / Don’t mix
• Better avoid monoculture, so mix
• Main crop and supportive / allied crops
– Like Teak (80%) and Rosewood, Mahogany ..(20%)
• But Don’t mix wet land species and Dry land
species
– Difficult to irrigate and manage
13. One Policy – One Million Trees
• Red Sanders was removed from Endangered category
by IUCN on 5th July 2018
• GOI / DGFT had removed ban on FARMERS Red sanders
wood export on 18th Feb 2019
So
• TN Farmers planted >a MILLION Red sanders this year
• Started planting SANDAL, hoping all restrictions will go
need Policy Impact Assessment (PIA) like EIA
15. CITES – Farm land woods
• Convention International Trade on Endangered species
of WILD Flora & Fauna
A Fundamental
• It does not restrict any FARM land specimen
• Actually it encourages – to reduce damage to natural
forest
16. Conservation of Endangered species
• MoEFCC shall prepare a list of threatened species
• Create a guidelines for RECOVERY
• Plant more in CAMPA projects
• Plant it in public places like govt offices
• NO Scheduled timber, Reserved Tree, Specified plants
• MoEFCC need to align with IUCN / CITES, clearly
17. Clarity NEEDED
• Conservation is mandate of MoEFCC
• Meeting the need is Agriculture, including wood needs
• So, There shall be only TWO categories
• Forest Trees – Conserve ALL
• Farmland Trees – for USE,
So, Remove all RESTRICTIONS
18. Agroforestry Policy 2014 – by MoEFCC ?
• 2.3 clause: “obtaining permission permits for
harvesting and transportation are cumbersome,
costly & frustrating and hence, discourages
farmers from undertaking tree planting on farm
lands. It is also time consuming, mental agony,
felt so much harassment for doing good thing”
19. Thank NITI Aayog
• In 2016 AGRI Reforms guidelines
• “ All tree species grown in farm lands shall be free from
felling, transit….. Regulation”
• But yet to become reality
• Reason could be: Agri reform document, may not have
been circulated to MoEFCC and not bounding.
20. Development Board
• Development Boards are created to improve the
shortfall – DEVELOP
• India Imports Rs 1.7 lakh crores of wood and
wooden products, very sad
• So, need a ” Timber Development Board” under
MoAFW, to facilitate Treeculture with other crops
& animals in dry and wet lands (agroforestry),
quality saplings, varieties, economics, marketing,
promoting wood use
21. Agroforestry Research – More complex
• Many trees species, say viable 20
• Many soil types 10, Many climatic conditions
• Many possible inter- crops, animals
• Permutation & combination – Infinite models
• So, need to do lot of research on Agroforestry and
focus on possible viable models, to meet the
demand and FARMERS income.
Requested Cabinet Secretariat to include
Agroforestry research also under MoAFW
22. PES / Carbon credit
Payment for Environmental Service
• Good deeds shall be encouraged, also be paid
• Incentive based on simple measuring
• Soil carbon content – Germany started
• Green cover area & percentage
• PES will help to grow trees for decades
• Reduce converting agri lands unnecessarily for real estate
– Keeping land with trees, will benefit ALL
23. Agroforestry can make
India 40% GREEN
CAFRI shall be a
Nodal Institute,
coordinating @
all India level
Thanking you all
