National Agroforestry Policy,2014

Context

• A webinar was organized on 13th June 2020 to discuss ways and means to connect agroforestry farmers to industry and sensitise implementing States to assist farmers in making the correct choice of species.

What is agroforestry?

• Agroforestry is defined as a land use system which integrate trees and shrubs on farmlands and rural landscapes to enhance productivity, profitability, diversity and ecosystem sustainability.
• It is a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through integration of woody perennials on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production and builds social institutions.

Various Policies

• Major policy initiatives, including the National Forest Policy 1988, the National Agriculture Policy 2000, Planning Commission Task Force on Greening India 2001, National Bamboo Mission 2002, National Policy on Farmers, 2007 and Green India Mission 2010, emphasize the role of agroforestry for efficient nutrient cycling, organic matter addition for sustainable agriculture and for improving vegetation cover.
• India became the world's first country to adopt a comprehensive agroforestry policy.

Basic objectives

• Encourage and expand tree plantation in complementarity and integrated manner with crops and livestock to improve productivity, employment, income and livelihoods of rural households, especially the small holder farmers.
• Protect and stabilize ecosystems, and promote resilient cropping and farming systems to minimize the risk during extreme climatic events.
• Meet the raw material requirements of wood based industries and reduce import of wood and wood products to save foreign exchange.
• Supplement the availability of agroforestry products (AFPs), such as the fuel-wood, fodder, non-timber forest produce and small timber of the rural and tribal populations, thereby reducing the pressure on existing forests.
• Complement achieving the target of increasing forest/tree cover to promote ecological stability, especially in the vulnerable regions.
• Develop capacity and strengthen research in agroforestry and create a massive people's movement for achieving these objectives and to minimize pressure on existing forests.

Strategy

• Establishment of Institutional Setup at National level to promote Agroforestry
• An institutional mechanism, such as a Mission or Board is to be established for implementing the agroforestry policy.
• It will provide the platform for the multi-stakeholders to jointly plan and identify the priorities and strategies, for inter-ministerial coordination, programmatic convergence, financial resources mobilization and leveraging, capacity building facilitation, and technical and management support.
• The Ministry of Agriculture has the mandate for agroforestry.
• Agroforestry Mission / Board will be located in the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) in the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
• The actual implementation may involve convergence and dovetailing with a number of programmes.
• Agroforestry research and development (R&D), including capacity development and pilot studies / testing and action research should be the responsibility of the ICAR
• In the proposed institutional arrangement the current stakes of the key ministries are to be respected and utilized.
• Simple regulatory mechanism - There is a need to create simple mechanisms / procedures to regulate the harvesting and transit of agroforestry produce within the State, as well as in various States forming an ecological region.
• Development of a sound database & information system
• Investing in research, extension and capacity building and related services
• Improving famers’ access to quality planting material
• Providing institutional credit and insurance cover for agroforestry
• Facilitating increased participation of industries dealing with agroforestry produce
• Strengthening farmer access to markets for tree products.
• Incentives to farmers for adopting agroforestry
• Promoting sustainable agroforestry for renewable biomass based energy