Promising Agroforestry Tree Species in India

Agroforestry or growing trees in combination with agricultural crops is an age-old practice, especially in Asia and Africa.India, today, stands at the forefront of global efforts in promoting research and education in agroforestry. Agroforestry systems, in addition to the economic and other benefits, also provide environmental services leading to resilience of agriculture through adaptation to, and mitigation of, climate change. Being perennials, the trees provide an element of long-term economic stability to the farmer in the event of a crop failure. This is more true for Indian agriculture where more than 60% of the net sown area is rainfed.The Fourth Quinquennial Review Team (QRT) constituted by the ICAR to review the progress of CAFRI and AICRP on Agroforestry identified 20 important agroforestry tree species and recommended to have uniform harvesting and transit rules across the country for the promotion of agroforestry on one hand and to provide sufficient raw material to wood-based industries on the other. The National Agroforestry Policy adopted by India also identified these important multipurpose tree species to be promoted under agroforestry. In this publication, in addition to those 20 species, we have identified five more important agroforestry tree species based on their usefulness as multipurpose trees that provide timber, fuel, fodder, fruits, biofuels, raw materials for industry, chemicals for medicinal use, and more.Given that research in agroforestry has been moving at a fast pace in India in recent years, a huge body of scientific knowledge has become available. We felt there was a need to consolidate this research-based knowledge about each tree species, selected by us, at one place in this book. While the species covered here are arranged in an alphabetical order, each one of them is given a Chapter number for ease of reference. And, for each species, the coverage goes from its botanical characters to how it can be propagated to its suitability for the different agroforestry systems in different climatic zones. Information about cultural operations for each species is also included.This book is an example of the new knowledge and products emerging from the collaboration between ICAR-CAFRI and ICRAF. We hope the book will prove useful for farmers, in the first place, in selecting the most appropriate tree species to grow on their farms, and how to nurse them, in various agro-ecological zones of India; as well as to other user groups, including students, teachers, researchers, policy makers and the general public.

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