Potential and Prospects of Agroforestry in Dryland Agro Ecosystem
Mubeena P.
College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (695 522), India
DOI: NIL
Keywords: Agroforestry, Carbon sequestration, Dryland Agriculture, Nutrient cycling
Abstract
Dry land constitutes 69 percent of the cultivated area of India, which contributed about 42 percent of total food production and thereby places a critical role in Indian food security. Dry land agriculture is often risk prone due to crop failure because of erratic rainfall, low fertility status of the soil, land degradation and desertification, multiple nutrient deficiencies, prevalence of mono cropping and poor economic situation of the farmers. Under such situation agroforestry is an option for sustainable production system in dry land agriculture through holding the soil against erosion, improving the soil fertility (by fixing the nitrogen or bringing minerals from deep in the soils and depositing them by leaf fall), maintains the ecological balance through biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. Thus, agroforestry system limits the risks and increases the sustainability in dry land agriculture.
Downloads
not found
Reference
Ramulu, I., Ramachandrappa, B. K., Maruthi Shankar, G. R., Sathish, A., Sandhya Kanthi, M., Archana, A. M., 2017. Assessment of changes in soil infiltration, water holding capacity, bulk density and fertility parameters under different tree- and crop-based system in semiarid Alfisols. Taylor and Francis. J.Commun.SoilSci.Plant.Analysis. 48(5), 477-500.
Singh, Y. P., Sharma, D. K., Singh, G., Nayak, A. K., Mishra, V. K., Singh, R., 2015. Alternate land use management for sodic soils. Central Soil Salinity Regional Institute, Karnal. Bull. No. 2.