Agroforestry definition

Ans. As a result of clearing forests so as to put the land to other uses, or of cutting trees to sell wood for construction or other purposes like making packing cases, our forest cover has diminished at an alarming rate. Presently, forests occupy a precarious 22 % of our geographical areas against the recommended minimum of 33 %. Shrub jungles and fuelwood trees are vanishing so rapidly that one wonders whether a day would cóme soon when common people may have enough food but not enough fuel. Between 1960 and 1984, the prices of fuelwood shot up by 65%! This concern has prompted planners to think of large scale planting of fast growing trees with some suitable crops in between. But, not all trees and crops are compatible with each other, and even the best of the combinations have an adverse effect on each other's maximum potential. However, a certain sacrifice in productivity is considered inevitable to partly meet the shortage of tree cover. In the Gangetic plains, wheat or rapeseed in rabi and sesamum or pearlmillet in kharif can be grown in the interspaces of subabul (Leucaena latisiliqua) trees. In the tropical region, Casuarina is compatible with food
crops in the first two years, after which the shallow-rooted fodder sorghum and cowpea fare better. In the humid and sub-humid regions, maize is suitable for intercropping with Acacia and Stylosanthes (stylos) for fodder for growing with Eucalyptus.