BASIC CONCEPT OF AGROFORESTRY

DEFINITIONS OF AGROFORESTRY

1. A new name for a set of old practices which involves trees in the farm
2. The growing together of trees in combination or integration of agricultural crops and/or pasture
on smallholdings.
3. A sustainable land management system which increases ,,,,,

Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems and technologies where woody perennials (trees,
shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are deliberately used on the same land-management units as agricultural
crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry
systems there are both ecological and economical interactions between the different components
(Lundgren and Raintree, 1982).

The following emerged from the definition of ICRAF

1. agroforestry normally involves two or more species of plants (or plants and animals), at least
one of which is a woody perennial;
2. an agroforestry system always has two or more outputs;
3. the cycle of an agroforestry system is always more than one year; and
4. even the simplest agroforestry system is more complex, ecologically (structurally and
functionally) and economically, than a monocropping system
5. There must be a significant interaction (positive and/or negative) between woody and non
woody components of the system, ecological and/or economic.

ATTRIBUTES of Agroforestry

1. Multiple component, at least one must be a woody perennials (forest tress, fruit trees, woody
shrubs, palms, bamboo, etc)
2. Multiple outputs
3. There must be a significant interaction (positive and/or negative) between the woody and
nonwoody components of the system, either ecological and/or economical.
4. The cycle of agroforestry is always longer than 1 year
5. Even the simplest agroforestry system is more complex, ecologically (structurally and
functionally) and economically, than a mono cropping system.
 CLASSIC FORESTRY VS AGROFORESTRY

CLASSICAL FORESTRY AGROFORESTRY

Purpose of management
Management Responsibility
Landownership
Area of production
Rotation period
Mode of production
Destination of products
Products
Long-term, Sustained yield
Centralized (state) organization
Mostly government lands
Large tracts of land
Long or medium term
Commercial
Region or country
Limited number, timber and
other products
Short-term and Long-term yield
Mostly local population
(farmer)
Often privately owned,
sometimes government or
communal lands
Relatively small landholdings
Short, medium, and long
Subsistence, commercial or
mixed.
Often meet needs of local
population
Variety of products, to include
tree products, agricultural
crops, forage, livestock

Basis of Classification of Agroforestry Systems

1. Structural basis: refers to the composition of the components, including spatial arrangement
of the woody component, vertical stratification of all the components, and temporal
arrangement of the different components.
2. Functional basis: refers to the major function or role of the system, usually furnished by the
woody components (these can be of a service or protective nature, e.g., windbreak,
shelterbelt, soil conservation).
3. 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).
4. 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

I Structural basis – This refers to composition of components, including the admixture if the
woody components, vertical stratification and temporal arrangement of the different components.

a. Base on nature of components

i. Agrisilvicultural: tree (woody perennials )+ agricultural crops
 ii. Silvopastoral: Tree (woody perennials )+livestocks
iii. Agrosilvopastoral - crops, pasture/animals and trees.
b. Based on the arrangement of components

i. Spatial arrangement
-- dense mixed stands (as in homegardens)
-- sparsely mixed stands (as in most silvopastoral systems)
--Zonal or strips.
ii. Temporal sequence
--Simultaneous
--Sequential

Forms of temporal arrangement

 Concomitant (with accompany)

 Coincident (occupy same)
 Intermittent (occurred intervals)
 Interpolated
 Overlapping
 Separate

2. Functional Basis – based on the fundamental attributes of agroforestry system for basic needs –
production and protection.

a. Productive

Production of two or more products which are usually for basic needs (fuel, food, fodder, etch)

b. Protective

Protecting and maintaining the site to perpetuate its production capacity (windbreak, shade,
microclimate enhancement)

3 SOCIO ECONOMIC BASIS –B based on socio economic criteria such as scale of production
and level of technology input and management. three main categories can be distinguished namely:

a. Commercial
Where the production of the output, usually a single commodity for sale, is the major
aim of the system ( eg. Taungya, commercial grazing, and ranching under large-scale
forest plantation)
b. Subsistence
Where the use of the land is directed at satisfying basic needs and managed mainly by
the owner/occupant and his family (e.g. traditional shifting cultivation, homegarden
system)
c. Intermediate
Systems whose scale lies between commercial and subsistence perennial cash crop and
subsistence crops on medium to small sized farms.