How can small-scale farmers benefit from trees on farms?
11 months, 1 week ago

How can small-scale farmers benefit from trees on farms?

The Hindu  

Agriculture in India has historically been a diversified land-use practice, integrating crops, trees, and livestock. Then again, Chitra’s experience demonstrates agroforestry’s potential and presents a case for creating an enabling environment to enhance trees on farms. A recurrent water problem The five-year ‘Trees Outside of Forests India’ initiative is one such attempt to assess comprehensive ways to stimulate a change in the status quo. Finding the right native species The Ministry of Agriculture recognised water availability as a challenge when it drafted the National Agroforestry Policy in 2014. For example, mango plantations don’t compete with kharif crops in the central Karnataka plateau whereas coconut trees in Tamil Nadu’s uplands demand more water than crops throughout the year.

Environment India Tamil Nadu Water Farmers Right Trees Ecosystem Species Ecosystem Services Water Availability Agroforestry  agroforestry  ecosystem  farmers  trees  crops  species  water  farms  smallscale  right  benefit  enhance  environment

History of this topic

The issue with India’s tree planting schemes
8 months, 1 week ago

The issue with India’s tree planting schemes

The Hindu  

The exploitation of forest resources due to uncontrolled and unsustainable practices has degraded forest landscapes. This is one reason to consider a mass-scale drive of tree planting as a silver bullet to tackle the challenges of climate change globally, by governmental and non-governmental organisations including individuals. Fancy drives, catchy slogans In recent years there has been a spurt in tree …

Restoration of ecosystem: Have tree planting efforts borne fruit?
2 years, 9 months ago

Restoration of ecosystem: Have tree planting efforts borne fruit?

The Hindu  

In a recent article, the author and journalist Manu Joseph used the term “Low-stakes niceness” to describe the act of feeding animals that most Indians indulge in. In 2017, the Tamil Nadu government planted 68 lakh tree saplings across the State to mark the then Chief Minister Jayalalitha’s 68th birthday. A recent long-term study from Himachal Pradesh showed that more …

How the water harvesting and conservation is helping boost farmers' income
4 years, 5 months ago

How the water harvesting and conservation is helping boost farmers' income

Op India  

A novel effort appears to be under way across rural India in an attempt to boost farmers’ income and the man leading it is a former member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Mayank Gandhi. 11.87 lakh fruit trees were planted by farmers including mango, papaya, drumsticks, lemon, guava and custard apple as such products provide a good remunerative value. and …

Tree-planting has enormous potential but significant socio-ecological challenges for climate action
5 years, 4 months ago

Tree-planting has enormous potential but significant socio-ecological challenges for climate action

Firstpost  

Tree-planting features prominently on discourses around climate change mitigation and possible strategies. The ‘potential’ global tree cover This was just the question that researchers were seeking an answer to in a landmark study published in Science this year. This led the group to build a first-of-its-kind “potential tree cover map” depicting the tree cover that could potentially exist under a …

Drought in the Western Ghats Part 2: How deforestation saved ecologically-sensitive hills in Kerala
7 years, 10 months ago

Drought in the Western Ghats Part 2: How deforestation saved ecologically-sensitive hills in Kerala

Firstpost  

Villagers and women’s groups in the Pangode village in Kerala’s Western Ghats have organised large protests over the last six months, petitioning the government over one solitary demand: To remove acacia and eucalyptus trees Editor’s note: This is the second piece in a multi-part series on the nature of human excesses that have imperiled the fragile ecosystem of the Western …

‘Involve farmers in fight against climate change’
9 years, 5 months ago

‘Involve farmers in fight against climate change’

The Hindu  

A regional consultation on agro forestry on Thursday underscored the need for enabling policies to ensure that farmers get technology and financial incentives to integrate trees and shrubs on farmland for developing resilience to climate change. “India has the most progressive agro forestry policy in the world,’’ Director-General of Kenya-headquartered ICRAF Tony Simons told The Hindu on the sidelines of …

For a tree on every field boundary
10 years, 5 months ago

For a tree on every field boundary

The Hindu  

Growing trees on farms is a triple-win strategy for combating simultaneously the challenges of increasing food production, mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to climate change. On this occasion the previous United Progressive Alliance government, supported by the National Advisory Council, unveiled the National Agroforestry Policy coinciding aptly with the International Year of Family Farming. Benefits of tree-based farming While planting …

Agro-forestry needs more investment: Pranab
11 years, 1 month ago

Agro-forestry needs more investment: Pranab

The Hindu  

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said agro-forestry requires innovative models to attract more investment as the sector is emerging as an environmentally sustainable food production system. “Agro-forestry offers a significant opening in resetting priorities on farm sustainability.Inadequate investment, lack of suitable extension strategies and weak market linkages compound the woes of this sector,” Mr. Mukherjee said. Noting that agro-forestry is …

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