Introductory Agroforestry

Agroforestry Systems Based Arrangement of Components

The arrangement of components gives first priority to the plants. even in AF systems involving animals, their management according to definite plan, say a rotational grazing scheme, gives precedence to the plants over the animals. Such plants arrangements in multispecies combinations involve the dimensions of space and time.
Spatial arrangement:-
 
• Spatial arrangement of plant in agroforestry mixture may result in
  
• Dense mixed stands e.g., home gardens
• Sparse mixed stands e.g., most systems of trees in pastures
• The species (or species mixture may be laid out in zones or strips)
• Zonal arrangement -microzonal, macrozonal
• A common example of the zonal pattern is hedge intercropping
An extreme form of the zonal arrangement is the boundary planting of trees on edges of plots for fruits, fodder, fuel wood, fencing, soil protection and windbreak.
An extreme term of macrozonal arrangement can laid to sole cropping system but the interactions association of different components can be used criteria to decide like limits between zonal AF and sole crop (component) plots.

Temporal arrangement

• Temporal arrangement of plant in agroforestry systems can take various forms such as
– Coincident:

When two components woody and non woody occupy the land together as coffee under shade tree and pasture under shade trees

– Concomitant:

When two components woody or non woody stays together for some part of life as in taungya

– Intermittent (Space dominated):

When annual crops are grown with perennial crops such as paddy with coconut

– Interpolated (Space and time dominant):

When different components occupy space during different time as in home garden

– Overlapping Black pepper and rubber
– Separate (time-dominant):

When components occupy space during separate time such as improved fallow species in shifting cultivation




Plate 4.1 Arrangement of components in agroforestry systems

Functional basis:
• The functional basis refers to the major functions or roles of the system:

  Productive functions:

  - Food

  - Fodder

  - Fuel wood

  - Other woods

  - Other products

  Protective functions:

  - Wind break

  - Shelterbelt

  - Soil conservation

  - Moisture conservation

  - Soil improvement

  - Shade (for crop, animal and man)

  • Socioeconomic basis: refers to the level of inputs of management (low input, high input) or intensity or scale of management and commercial goals (subsistence, commercial, intermediate).

  – Commercial agroforestry systems aim at the production of a saleable output (for example, commercial tree plantations with under planting of food crops)

  – Intermediate agroforestry systems fall between commercial and subsistence scales of production and management

  – Subsistence agroforestry systems are directed toward satisfying basic needs, and are managed mostly by the owner/occupant and his family. Cash crops, including sale of produce surplus are only supplementary

  • Ecological basis: refers to the environmental condition and ecological suitability of systems, based on the assumption that certain types of systems can be more appropriate for certain ecological conditions; i.e., there can be separate sets of agroforestry systems for arid and semiarid lands, tropical highlands, lowland humid tropics, etc.