Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems and technologies where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are deliberately used on the same land-management units as agricultural crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence.
Jammu and Kashmir’s natural beauty due to mountains and lush green forests is its prime attraction.
With much pressure on the fofests due to griwing constructions and developmental projects Agroforestry has a good scope in Jammu and Kashmir .
Growing trees in agroforestry systems — a landscape restoration technique where farmers add trees to their land — and in and near cities can offer many environmental and socioeconomic benefits, according to a study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) India.
The study by the global research non-profit organisation also identified 10 types of incentives — seven monetary and three non-monetary — that policymakers use to encourage farmers to grow trees.
Subsidies for planting material like saplings and infrastructure — greenhouses and irrigation — emerged as the most commonly available and utilised incentives, followed by direct technical assistance to farmers from government agencies.
2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report from Working Group II on climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability reveals that India is among the countries that climate change will impact the most as temperatures and sea levels rise and weather patterns shift, the authors of the study noted.
That challenge is accelerating as fragmentation and declining productivity of the country’s terrestrial ecosystems, including 45 per cent of its farmlands, are undermining the ability of dependent populations — like farmers, forest dwellers and tribal or indigenous communities — to sustain themselves, they said.
Ruchika Singh, one of the authors of the study, said a glaring critical gap is the lack of incentives for native species and traditional agroforestry models for restoration.
One hopes that considering the positives of the Agroforestry ,the Jammu and Kashmir authorties will take all the steps to make the Agroforestry all the more important .
The experts have already urged that Agroforestry practices support agricultural production and help improve water quality and air quality, soil health, and wildlife habitat. These working trees can also grow fiber, food, and energy. So bringing in Agroforestry to all the rural hubs of Jammu and Kashmir becomes all the more important, and needs to be promoted thus on large scale .
