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Agroforestry, the practice of integrating trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes, offers a promising pathway toward achieving sustainability in farming. This paper explores how agroforestry techniques enhance agricultural productivity, ensure food and nutrition security, boost animal production, preserve soil and water quality, create employment, capture carbon, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. It investigates agroforestry's potential role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using data from books, websites, research papers, and articles. Government policies supporting agroforestry can drive comprehensive development, ensuring long-term environmental and financial benefits for societies. Encouraging these practices leads to a greener Earth and a more equitable future for all.

1. To review the Agroforestry system.
2. To highlight the role of Agroforestry practices in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Montagnini and Nair (2004) Silvopastoral systems (SPS), which mix trees along with pastures/cattle in an identical farming unit, are one type of agroforestry structures (AFS) that can boost yield in both the immediate and long-term. They also benefit farmers socially and economically and are good for biodiversity. AFS (Agroforestry system) can also play a significant role in mitigating the effects of climate change since it sequesters carbon dioxide in soils and woody parts of the system. AFS can help farmers adjust to climate change since forests have a cooling influence on surrounding atmospheric temperatures.

Nair (2014) AFS, in its broadest sense, refers to the intentional cultivation of trees and crops in concert with one another, to achieve a variety of outputs (such as food grains, commodities, or goods) as well as better ecological functions as well as implications for the environment.

Luedeling et al. (2016) AFS consists of livestock or crops arranged seasonally or geographically in conjunction with trees and plants. Intriguing interactions arise among the non-woody and timber components in such configurations, generating many outputs for financial benefit and intricate environmental mixtures.

The study is based on secondary sources of data. Various articles, research papers, theses, journals, and websites are used to collect data.

In the decades between 1970 and 1980, academic discussions on tree-crop mixture farming started to take these systems seriously after it became apparent that alternative solutions were required to boost agricultural productivity, lessen the degradation of the environment, and improve the advantages for small landowners (Octavia et al., 2022). Since then, particularly among tropical remote regions worldwide, the necessity of putting such farming principles into practice has increased dramatically. Despite having been used for several hundred years, the technique of tree growing has recently been portrayed as a new branch of science, and numerous publications have detailed the diverse findings of AF-related technical research.

Role of Agroforestry in achieving SDGs

 

Fig.1 Agroforestry's contribution towards sustainability

Using Agroforestry to Ensure Security of Food and Nutrition

Although the nation's food production has increased significantly since gaining its independence, current improvements in food availability have not been sufficient to meet the dietary needs of the nation's expanding population. Agroforestry is one approach to this problem that uses the ideal ratios of legumes, crops, and trees. Different agroforestry systems provide the choices for diversity required to increase food security and act as a safety net against any drops in production that could happen during a drought or other difficult circumstances. Because agroforestry uses a variety of agricultural techniques, it also provides nutritional security
include vegetables, fruit, grains, oilseeds, and the farmers' regular food crops, agricultural, aromatic, and therapeutic plants.

The nation's rapid urbanization and flourishing economy have given agricultural communities an earlier new opportunity to move over subsistence agriculture and begin supplying urban consumers with products. Agroforestry practices offer farmers the chance to enhance their agricultural production and diversify their means of income, as research done throughout the nation's many agroclimatic areas has shown that, while agroforestry methods offer an extensive range of economic returns, those benefits are often significantly higher than those from traditional farming. The variety of fruits, fruits, and veggies produced by agroforestry networks may ensure the people's food security. agricultural forestry might have had more substantial output as it gathers more expanding resources, including light and water, or given that the soil is far more productive. Populus deltoides, a prevalent plant in agroforestry structures in the Upper Indo-Gangetic area, provides as the largest illustration. Poplar was the biggest alternative because it grows fast, gets in conjunction with other crops like wheat, and encompasses industrial utilizes has led to the rapid advancement of poplar (Populus spp.)-based agricultural forestry in northern India.

Utilizing agroforestry to improve soil and conserve water and soil

Agroforestry has a key role in maintaining the productivity of the soil material, which is one of the primary issues associated with sustainability. Given their stems, small branches, lightweight roots, as well as leaf litter, trees planted very close together on slopes contribute to avoiding soil degradation from water in two different ways: first, they physically obstruct the flow of water; secondly, they create areas where the water enters more rapidly given that the soil framework below them is typically more intense compared with that of the surrounding land.

Agricultural forestry techniques in farming areas entail wall rows being planted on outfielder bunds, hillside risers, and terraced boundaries as a means of intercropping seasonal woodland vegetation and trees with alley crops. The planting of trees in farms enhances system output, releases biofertilizer, maintains the process of condensation, and allows nutrients from lower soil layers to naturally flow away.

Enhancing Livelihood and Employment Prospects through Agroforestry

Owing to the range of options and outcomes, agroforestry systems present opportunities for employment development in rural regions. In addition to helping low-income households fulfill their fundamental requirements, agroforestry products and environmentally friendly services build the groundwork for the capacity of society to live sustainably. Because there is now more wood available on the market, there are a lot of smaller businesses dealing with timber and wood-based goods than there were a few years ago.

Due to the market's greater accessibility of wood, there are now a significantly greater number of small-scale businesses dealing with timber and wood-based goods than there were previously.

These organizations have made significant contributions to the growth of agricultural production and agricultural forestry. To meet the need for wood-based businesses, several commercial corporations and limited partnerships, such as ITC, WIMCO, West Coast Paper Mills Ltd., Hindustan Paper Mills Ltd., and JK Paper Mills Ltd., along with various institutions, started agricultural forestry research to create more effective planting material of the rapidly growing species.

Superior agroforestry has the potential to generate 943 million person-days of labor annually on the 25.4 Mha of agricultural forestry land, as well as to the present methods (NRCAF, 2007). According to estimates, agroforestry in the Indian Himalayas alone might result in 5.763 million people days of employment and advantages for rural growth annually (Dhyani et al., 2005). Many parts of the country have practiced sericulture since prehistoric times.

Data obtained by the Uttar Pradesh Sericulture Directorate indicates that a dense one-hectare Arjun crop can provide around thirty thousand to fifty thousand rupees in revenue through Tasar cultivation. Tasar sericulture can be practiced in agroforestry. With the use of palas (Butea monosperma) and berries trees, which are common in the dry Bundelkhand region, CAFRI created a lac-based agricultural system that will help farmers increase their earnings. Throughout the Katki harvest (rainy season), lac cultivation was prosperous in the region.

Utilizing Agroforestry to Store Carbon and Reduce Global Warming

Agroforestry is important as a method for sequestering carbon as it can store carbon in its diversified plant species along with soil, as well as its application in agricultural lands and reforestation. When used to mitigate the stress placed on forest ecosystems. Whereas are the primary land-based carbon sinks, agroforestry may also have significantly enhanced carbon sequestration. Protecting soil using agroforestry practices might enhance soil and tree carbon storage, which is an additional indirect way to capture carbon.

Better methods for collecting and cutting wood, superior methods of handling wood, better fire safety and burning in agricultural and forest systems, greater use of biofuels, and enhanced transformation of wood It is advised to convert wood biomass into long-lasting wood products to raise the possibility of carbon absorption in agroforestry systems. Consequently, agricultural forestry benefits agriculture become more adaptable by lessening the consequences of climate change.

Only recently data is beginning to surface suggesting that agroforestry networks in India could be an effective land-use approach to maintaining and growing aboveground as well as underground sources of carbon to mitigate climate change (Dhyani et al., 2009). AFs are expected to cut the release of carbon dioxide at the national level by 109.34 million tons yearly, which could compensate for 33% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural industry. Nevertheless, agroforestry systems' ability to absorb carbon differs according to several factors, including species composition, tree maturity, location, regional weather, and management practices (Dhyani et al., 2016). 

Improve Fertilization of the soil and Water Utilization Efficiency with an Agroforestry System

Seventy percent of freshwater used worldwide is used for agriculture, which also contributes to a number of environmental concerns. It also started to play a significant role in the present global issues surrounding climate change and water shortages. The conversion of forest area to agricultural land results in a significant reduction of tree cover, soil deterioration, a loss in soil organic matter, and a reduction in the amount and the quality of water that is accessible. Globally, between 13 and 40 tons per hectare per year become lost to degradation from land used for farming; this results in 33.7 million tons of productivity losses annually and a 3.5 percent rise in the cost of food. After AF is one strategy to keep the hydrological system in line with objectives to keep production high and attain sustainable water as well as soil elements, by raising infiltration rates, decreasing erosion rates, controlling the movement of water, lowering runoff from surface losses, and enhancing water purity, AF can sustain a model of environmentally friendly agriculture and environment management, improving soil health, and securing water supply.

Linkage of Agroforestry with SDGs

Fig.2 Sustainable Development Goals by UN (2015)

Worldwide tremendous food production issues are made worse by factors like population growth, overuse of resources, warming temperatures, and declining biodiversity. Thus, the traditional idea of AFS—growing trees, crops, and livestock on a single plot of land—became an essential sustainable idea to adopt to achieve adequate yields for feeding an estimated 9.8 billion

people by 2050 (UN 2015) alongside the need to get various benefits in addition to ecological preservation and security from a limited amount of land.

Agricultural forestry functions as an organized network of chemical, biological, and physical procedures that are highly interconnected and communicate with one another. Over 10 percent of the land is covered in trees on more than 46% of all farms. Small-scale farmers in underdeveloped nations are increasingly applying AFS techniques as an alternative farming method to attain nutritional stability while optimizing co-benefits. To create a sustainable future, the United Nations adopted "The Year 2030 Agenda," which included 17 SDGs aimed at reducing extreme hunger and poverty. Since ninety percent of developing nations are made up of small-scale producers, the SDGs are especially relevant to them.

If the application of AFS is correctly maintained, particularly if site uniqueness is taken into account, the yield might grow by twice the amount of the initial output. The agroforestry practices solve the problem of finance and people can live good and healthy lives which is SDG 3 as well as it helps to achieve good quality education which is SDG 4. The benefits of trees, such as improved absorption rates, increased nutritional value of the soil, reduced damage to the soil, etc., are credited with the increase in output.

Using improved canopy cover, a reduction in water loss rate, enhanced water penetration in the soil, and regulation of temperature in both the soil itself as well as its microclimate, it boosts durability to extreme weather patterns such as drought, flood, unforeseen high temperatures, and suddenly low temperatures. These factors align with the SDG for fighting climate change that is SDG 13 and by preserving water it helps to attain SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation. Through AFS, about 200 million tonnes of carbon are transferred to soils used in agriculture each year. When crops fail, trees provide food, fiber, energy sources, fodder, and money as a safety net.

Improper vendor connections and market swings always have a detrimental impact on small-scale agricultural producers. Some of the SDGs, such as decent jobs and economic development, decreasing inequality, and fostering collaborations for the objectives, are met when food independence is achieved locally through the use of AFS, which upholds the equal rights and integrity of farmers, which tends to be attacked in general. The agroforest's trees produce ample, inexpensive, and widely accessible fuel wood, which is inexpensive as well as renewable energy that used to require women to go a long way to gather. As a result, the demand for destruction is drastically decreased and helps to achieve SDG 7 affordable and clean energy.

These days, the women may solely focus on their schooling and raising their kids, or they can work on various income-generating projects that support SDGs including gender equality, excellent learning opportunities, and wellness and good health. Moreover, it generates a vast ecological specialization of farm ecosystems that support rich biodiversity and intricately linked ecological processes (life on land, as defined by SDG 15). 

Agroforestry systems, or AFSs, came to light in the 1980s as new ideas about sustainable farming were introduced and the negative effects of GRTs (Green Revolution Technologies) were recognized on a global scale. Without a doubt, the extensive global study on AFS has had a significant impact on determining future directions and the best course for achieving sustainable agricultural practices when appropriate. Recent studies have made it abundantly evident that AFS plays a variety of roles, including better services to the ecosystem, positive environmental effects, as well as nutritional and food security.

Attention should be placed on environmentally conscious farming methods that can result in perpetually green agriculture because AFS can guarantee sustainable farming in the present scenario of changing environmental impacts and ecological footprints in agriculture. AFS has many promising methods, including improving soil quality, proper cycling of nutrients, carbon sequestration, preventing soil degradation and loss of nutrients, better managing marginal farms, and providing greater ecological services. Improving agricultural production is urgently needed in tropical countries with high population densities.

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