Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

TREE ROOT DYNAMICS: AN ESSENTIAL TOOL TO COMBATROOT COMPETITION IN AGROFORESTRY

Y. Kumar, S. Manojkumar and L. Behera

Abstract

Tree crop competition in agroforestry systems prevails in unmanaged, improper planned agroforestrysystems. Due to reduced crop yield in the system farmers regarded many agroforestry systems aseconomically non-viable. Mechanical measures are effective in reducing competition between trees andcrops because of their high initial investment farmers are unable to take suitable measures. The aim of thispaper is to signify the importance of knowledge on root dynamics, which helps a lot in reducing the rootcompetition in the agroforestry systems. This paper discusses the selection of trees with complementarycharacter to the crop, effects of irrigation, fertilization, cultural and tending operation on tree root growth.