Is Agroforestry branch of Agriculture or Forestry? Give the suitable reasons and justifications?
The tree is the main component. There can be agroforestry without crops or without animals, but not without trees (for example: multistrata agroforestry system).
Agroforestry is a multidisciplinary science in sustainable land management that connects agriculture and forestry.
In the field of forestry there is a branch which is called Agroforestry. It is the combination of two different fields: agriculture and forestry. In some areas, a narrow definition of agroforestry might simply be "trees on farms." Hence, agroforestry, farm forestry and family forestry can be broadly understood as the commitment of farmers, alone or in partnerships, towards the establishment and management of forests on their land.
Types of Agroforestry
There are different types of agroforestry which are defined on the basis of their growth or their combination with forestry. These four different types of agroforestry are concerned with managing the land and also enhancing productivity
1. Silvopasture agroforestry
2. Silvoarable agroforestry
3. Forest farming
4. Forest gardening
1. Silvopasture Agroforestry:
A type of agroforestry which came into being through the combination of trees and plants and the animals that feed on the grass is known as silvopasture agroforestry. The animals involved are commonly called domesticated animals. This type of agroforestry helps in reducing soil erosion and also supports the long term sustainability of both the products and the environment.
2. Silvoarable Agroforestry:
A type of agroforestry which is formed as a result of combining the forest land and the different type of cultivating crops is called as silvoarable agroforestry. It really helps us to produce new varieties of different types of plants and horticultural crops.
3. Forest Farming:
The type of forestry in which different types of plants are cultivated in the area of forest is called forest farming. The amount of rainfall in the forest is higher as compared to other areas, which means that the soil of the forest is much more fertile than on other farms, and so it is quite easy to farm there. Special forest products (SFPs) or non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are high-value specialty product items derived from green plants, fungi, invertebrates, and other organisms that inhabit forested areas. These products fall into four general categories:
• food (e.g., mushrooms and nuts)
• botanicals (e.g., herbs and medicinals)
• decoratives (e.g., floral greenery and dyes)
• handicrafts (e.g., baskets and wood products)
4.Forest Gardening:
The branch of agroforestry which is used to manage the replacement of wild plants with cultivated plants such as fruit plants, vegetables, herbs, shrubs etc is referred to as forest gardening. It is a very useful branch of agroforestry for human beings.
Dear Arvind,
Please have a look at this useful PDF attachment.
Good luck!
For you agriculture, for me Forestry. How it is going to matter and what is the point raising this debate?
Dear Arvind:
For me Agroforesty is a approach to try to improve the form whish we produce natural resources, from monocultives to multi-purpose coppices, using more efficient the resources and had by a multidisciplinary approach involves economy, social and environmental. If is more near to the forestry or to the agruculture, this depend of the specific frame work .
King regards
It is purely a matter of semantics. Basically, agro foresetry will be the cultivation of forest species in marginal lands that is both economical to the farmer, while simultaneously maintaining the ecological balance.
Agroforestry is an important step in agricultural production, land and forestry management that ensures that forestry products are managed efficiently in ensuring ecological balance and environmental sustainability. Situating Agroforestry as a field in one disciple will be wrong because it's feet is in both agriculture and forestry.
Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestryhas varied benefits, including increased biodiversity and reduced erosion. Agroforestry practices have been successful in sub-Saharan Africa and in parts of the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry
Agroforestry is an example of multipurpose land use that associate agriculture and forestry.
The Agroforestry system as a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels.
In my opinion, it's a mixed science.
Hello Arvind,
Agroforestry can be described as an interface between agriculture and forestry which comprises mixed land use practices designed to solve problems facing developing tropical countries that have not been addressed by either conventional agriculture or forestry. Such problems include those associated with land tenure, shortage of fuel wood and fodder, land degradation, etc. The idea behind agroforestry is to promote systems that integrate both agriculture and forestry on the same land management unit in order to maximise tropical land use and to solve the problems listed above.
Because of the importance of agroforestry as a practice, it has been adopted in both forestry and agricultural disciplines. For instance, there is a branch of forestry called agroforestry which teaches and promotes the combination of woody perennials on the same land management unit as agricultural crops and/or animals in a spatial or temporal arrangement. The overall idea is to maximize land productivity per unit area while also taking advantage of the soil ameliorating quality of trees, to conserve soil and maintain soil fertility. On the other, agroforestry can also be regarded as a branch or form of conservation agriculture, which also advocates and promotes the use of trees especially for the purpose of soil conservation while producing agricultural crops.
From the instances above, agroforestry can be said to be a branch of agriculture or forestry as the case may be. However, the importance of agroforestry stems from the fact that it combines both agricultural and forestry practices on the same piece of land in order to increase productivity and at the same time conserve the soil/environment.
Agroforestry.....not necessarily a branch of forestry in the same sense as, say Ethnobotany (A branch of botany....) or Ecophysiology (A branch of physiology ...). It is a landuse management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland.
Forestry and agriculture are close diciplines. In the practice, I think agroforestry is nearer forestry than agriculture.
Have a look to this paper:
http://bft.cirad.fr/cd/BFT_313_47-59.pdf
before 1985 in India the Agro-forestry/Farm-forestry were the subjects studied under Agriculture, from 1985 Forestry Degree Programme started and Agroforestry, Silviculture, Forest Biology , Natural Resource Management & Forest Utilization, like wise departments were started under Forestry Degree programme
Presently the Agroforestry is a subject both in Agriculture and Forestry, but the content of the course is the same growing forest species in farm land.
Yes, it is an essential component of either side, forestry or agriculture. Even this may be quite reasonable for landscape architecture and environmental science relating to land-use system.
Agroforestry is the term used for the set of "joint production systems" that traditionally associate woody plants with agricultural crops, livestock, or any other biological component, simultaneously or sequentially, in the same tract of land and with sizable interactions among them.
The most common case is that of simultaneous production, in which the undestory production is dependent of overstory manipulations. However, not even this technical fact would make them more forestry, or less agriculture.
For me this one case in which sticking to traditional paradigms don't help much.
To me, this is a case that clearly questions specialization or segmentation of knowledge, and moves us to accept the need of looking for more holistic approaches to knowledge generation, as Baburam Rijal suggests above.
AFS are "joint production systems", and they invite us to look beyond fregmented mentalities and cultures (massive line production systems). They even offer interesting opportunities to promote a cultural-economic transitions towards more sustainable living.
For this, to me, the original question, is superficial, is not the relevant one.
The tree is the main component. There can be agroforestry without crops or without animals, but not without trees (for example: multistrata agroforestry system).
Integration of trees with crops and /or animals is called agroforestry. So it is not purely agriculture nor forestry. Rather it is multidisciplinary science.
Debate will continue agroforestry but in my opinion it is rather a unique discipline mainly integrating Trees and crops in either of the landscape means plantations ( forest landscape) or crop field (Agricultural landscape). Practically most of agroforestry practices in agricultural landscape with major share/ priorities in production system for crops over tree its part of agricultural sciences. Many time scientist says an agronomist is more suitable agroforester than forester but I not agree as a suitable agroforester is blend of both disciplines, which at present we are not debating!!! How to have or produce a good agroforester in current agricultural discipline? the answer will be have a separate degree programme in Agroforestry at graduation level followed by masters and doctorate.
Still agroforestry need to be defined in terms of numerical strength or density of trees on a farmland eg. 5, 10, 20 or 30% trees in a fram land can fall in category of agroforestry. If we take examples from India there will 95% agricultural landscape has tree on farmsir respective of number and geometry, so all is agroforestry?? Many it confused with integrated farming systems which not necessarily;ly have tree component.
Sometimes things neither X nor Y but XY. Same happen with Agroforestry. This is neither Agriculture nor Forestry but is complete in itself as Agroforestry.
A good example is lichen. This is neither completely Fungus nor Alga but complete in itself and keep own entity. various examples are available in Microbiology.
Initially any new branch is the subsidiary/complimentary of its previous ones but letter on it become own as Discipline/Subject. As earlier there was only Botany but letter on it was divided in to various plant sciences subjects like- Agronomy, Pomology, Silviculture etc. Now these subjects/discipline are it self complete discipline having sub subjects/discipline.
Although my opinion is to see Agroforestry as complete Science but still I believe that people from Agriculture consider Agroforestry as Agriculture and people from Forestry treat it as Forestry subject.
It is difficult to separate forestry from agroforestry. The latter however includes the growth of non plant products (e.g.: mushrooms, livestocks) besides trees, which forestry per se does not consider. IN any case there is a lot of overlap between these two disciplines.
It is a radical departure from traditional forestry concept.Obviously it denotes the agriculture with forestry.Generally short rotation forest species has been introduced with the system for immediate return, which can augument the farmers' income .Somtimes one can engaged their land with minimum investment Multitier cropping system also practiced in this system.
Its neither agriculture nor forestry. It is a tree crop combination, where tree can be a forest tree or a fruit tree or a bamboo species and the crop can be any annual crop like cerial/pulse/vegetable/grass etc.
Both because I believe that they are systems that came to reconcile both areas (Agricultura & Forestry), that is, produce vegetables without destroying forests.
I think it is an amalgam of both disciplines you have mentioned and it is very difficult to put it as a branch of one of them. Rather more of it tends to forestry mainly hence in the absence of woody components it is difficult to speak about agroforestry, but you can speak about agroforestry even in the absence of Agricultural crops/cereals.
Уважаемый Соломон Эстифанос Бекели вас интересует относится ли агролесоводство к лесному или сельскому хозяйству и привести конкретные примеры. Я думаю, что главное не в том куда этот отрасль относится, а в том какая суть и цель. Если вас интересует конкретные примеры значение агролесовотство как отрасль сельского хозяйства это выращивание миндаля и фистишки в степных и маловодных регионах. А также выращивание греческого ореха в горных регионах и т.д
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