Agroforestry types & Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education

AGROFORESTRY TYPES BENEFITS TECHNIQUES:

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Agroforestry is a combination of practicing agriculture and forestry together

Agroforestry systems: These are classified based on the type of component: o

• Agri silviculture (crops + trees),
• Silvopastoral (pasture/livestock + trees); and
• Agrosilvopastoral (crops + pasture + trees)

Alley cropping is defined as the planting of rows of trees and/or shrubs to create alleys within which agricultural or horticultural crops are produced. The trees may include valuable hardwood veneer or lumber species; fruit, nut or other specialty crop trees/shrubs; or desirable softwood species for wood fiber production.

Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value crops under the protection of a managed tree canopy. In some parts of the world, this is called multi-story cropping and when used on a small scale in the tropics it is sometimes called home gardening.

A riparian forest buffer is an area adjacent to a stream, lake, or wetland that contains a combination of trees, shrubs, and/or other perennial plants and is managed differently from the surrounding landscape, primarily to provide conservation benefits.

Silvopasture is the deliberate integration of trees and grazing livestock operations on the same land. These systems are intensively managed for both forest products and forage, providing both short- and long-term income sources.

Windbreaks are linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to provide economic, environmental and community benefits. The primary purpose of most windbreaks is to slow the wind which creates a more beneficial condition for soils, crops, livestock, wildlife and people.