Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

A REVIEW OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL BENEFITS OF INNOVATIVE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AGROFORESTRY AND AGROSILVIPASTORAL SYSTEM

Ankita Choudhary and Shilpi Rijhwani

Abstract

Agroforestry is a scientific farming practice of ancient times in which farmers maintained trees on agricultural landscape. It is a sustainable land use system in which crops, trees and livestock are maintained together on same land to increase total yield and income. Agroforestry can alter the micro climate of soil under tree canopy. It plays an important role in enhancement of farm productivity, climate change mitigation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, phytoremediation, water conservation, improvement in quality of soil by addition of plant and animal waste. This land use system combines production with conservation of ecology. This paper examines the major benefits of agroforestry systems on agricultural landscape: (i) conservation of biodiversity (ii) carbon sequestration (iii) soil enrichment. Various studies indicate that agroforestry can be promoted in farming practices due to its environmental benefits and ecosystem services.