Agroforestry option to increase forest production

Wood, especially fuelwood is a resource of great concern in developing countries. There is a high dependence on fuelwood for domestic energy in Pakistan and majority of people, especially in rural areas depends upon it. Pakistan's population has expanded with one of the highest rates of growth in the world, while -the forest production for the last many years remained almost constant. Wood production can be increased either by increasing the area under forest or by introducing Agroforestry on farmlands and improving the productivity of agroforestry practices. This paper highlights the possibility of increasing forest production along with agriculture production about 40% per unit area. Pakistan has very small forest resource, as forests cover about 5% of its total area. This compares with averages in Asian countries of 21%, Africa of 23 % North America of 32 % and South America of 53 % (McKetta, 1990). Agroforestry is the biggest option among the foresters to green the country and accelerate wood production. The scenario is not so simple. as is being advocated. Traditionally, farmers are sensitive to produce forest at the cost of agriculture. It is quite difficult to make them understand that food and wood are parallel needs. A forester or researcher to avoid any serious consequences should be fair in implementing his ideas. The package given to the farming community should be independent and base on sound economic principles. Before improving the production of an enterprise,: one should be clear about the optimum production, i.e., the production where- profit is maximized. Therefore, the goal of maximum yield from a fixed input such as land is not compatible with the goal of maximum profit per unit of fixed input as long as there is a price tag attached to the variable input such as fertilizer.