Track 2-6-2: Forests, Agroforestry and Wildlife towards Integrated, Productive Landscapes

Description

The Indian Green revolution region “Indo-Gangetic Plain” (IGP) comprises of four agro-climatic zones namely lower, middle, upper, and trans gangetic plains covering West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, and some part of Rajasthan state. It covers 169 districts with total geographical area of 43.70 million ha. The Indo-Gangetic plains are one of the most populous regions with its area covering nearly 13% of the total geographical area of the country. It produces about 50% of the total food grains to feed 40% of the population. The continuous cropping of rice-wheat system has degraded the soil health dramatically over the years. Hence, the incorporation of trees in agriculture would be a better option to improve the soil as well as livelihood of the farmers in IGP.

Agriculture is the major enterprise of the region that is most vulnerable to climate changes particularly owing to the inadequacy of resources with the smallholder farmers. While, agroforestry has the potential to play a significant role in mitigating the atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG), it also helps smallholder farmers adapt to the changes. These are the reasons for recognizing agroforestry as a viable alternative to prevent and mitigate climate change (Ram Newaj et al., 2014). A considerable proportion of agroforestry area located in IGP and some of the promising tree species like Populus deltoides, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Melia azadirach, Mangifera indica, Dalbergia sissoo, and Acacia nilotica are very common in the farmer’s fields. Keeping this in view, the field survey was carried out to estimate the carbon sequestration potential at a farmer’s field in IGP.

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Carbon Modeling of Agroforestry Systems at Farmers’ Field in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

The Indian Green revolution region “Indo-Gangetic Plain” (IGP) comprises of four agro-climatic zones namely lower, middle, upper, and trans gangetic plains covering West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, and some part of Rajasthan state. It covers 169 districts with total geographical area of 43.70 million ha. The Indo-Gangetic plains are one of the most populous regions with its area covering nearly 13% of the total geographical area of the country. It produces about 50% of the total food grains to feed 40% of the population. The continuous cropping of rice-wheat system has degraded the soil health dramatically over the years. Hence, the incorporation of trees in agriculture would be a better option to improve the soil as well as livelihood of the farmers in IGP.

Agriculture is the major enterprise of the region that is most vulnerable to climate changes particularly owing to the inadequacy of resources with the smallholder farmers. While, agroforestry has the potential to play a significant role in mitigating the atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG), it also helps smallholder farmers adapt to the changes. These are the reasons for recognizing agroforestry as a viable alternative to prevent and mitigate climate change (Ram Newaj et al., 2014). A considerable proportion of agroforestry area located in IGP and some of the promising tree species like Populus deltoides, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Melia azadirach, Mangifera indica, Dalbergia sissoo, and Acacia nilotica are very common in the farmer’s fields. Keeping this in view, the field survey was carried out to estimate the carbon sequestration potential at a farmer’s field in IGP.