Can agroforestry be a resource conservation tool to maintain soil health in the fragile ecosystem of north-east India?
2010
Saha, R. | Ghosh, P.K. | Mishra, V.K. | Majumdar, B. | Tomar, J.M.S.
In the north-eastern regions of India, shifting cultivation is traditional and a dominant land use practice, leading to heavy soil erosion and severe degradation of biodiversity. Agroforestry systems (AFS), which have great potential for crop and livestock production, are the best alternative to overcome the adverse effects of shifting cultivation. Agroforestry is an ecologically based, natural resource management system that sustains production and benefits all those who use the land by integrating trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape. In addition to timber, fodder, fuelwood, medicines, etc, it conserves natural resources. In this paper, the authors discuss the role of promising agroforestry systems and various multipurpose trees (MPTs) in the conservation of natural resources. These systems improved soil physical health through checking soil erosion and run-off, maintained soil organic matter, enhanced soil chemical and biological properties, added nitrogen input by trees and shrubs, and helped in the mining of minerals from lower horizons by roots and their recycling through litter fall on the ground. Of the systems studied, multistoreyed AFS [alder + tea + black pepper + annual agricultural crops], silvi-horti-pastoral [alder + pineapple + fodder grasses] and natural forest systems with suitable soil conservation measures are the most viable alternatives for natural resource management and could sustain long-term soil productivity in the highly degraded soil of this region.
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