Agroforestry for Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands and Poor Quality Waters: Livelihood Security and

Mitigating Climate Change

J.C. DAGAR

Emeritus Scientist & Fellow NAAS

Former ADG (Agr/AF) ICAR

dagarjc@gmail.com

Global Degraded Lands (FAO 1996, 2011)

~2 billion ha land is degraded due to anthropogenic factors

Water erosion 56% (1.12 billion ha)

Wind erosion 28% (0.56 billion ha)

Chemical degradation 12% (0.24 b ha)

Physical degradation 4% (0.08 b ha)

Overgrazing 680 m ha (35%)

Deforestation 580 m ha (30%)

Agricultural mismanagement 550 m ha (27%)

Fuelwood (overexploitation) 137 m ha (7%)

Industry & Urbanization 20 m ha (1%)

Land degradation in India (120.8 m ha)

• Water erosion 82.6 m ha (68.4%)

• Chemical degradation 24.7 m ha (20.4%)

• Wind erosion 12.4 m ha (10.3%)• Physical 1.1 m ha (0.9%)

♥ To produce 310 million tons of food grains, 190 million tons of other food products, 1000 million tons of fodder, 629 million tons of fuel wood, and 347 million tons of timber and other raw materials by 2050 from limited land resources is a big challenge

♥ We would have to utilize all kinds of degraded lands for productive use

Eroded landsRavine lands (~4 m ha)

Temperorary check dam

AF Tree Species for Eroded Habitats

Acacia eburnea, A. catechu, A. nilotica, A. jacquemontii, A. tortilis, Balanites roxburghii, Butea monosperma, Azadirachta indica, Feronia limonia, Pongamia pinnata, Capparis decidua, C. sepiaria, C. zeylanica, Salvadora oleoides, Dichrostachys cinerea, Dalbergia sissoo, Carissa carandas, Emblica officinalis, Leucaena leucocephala, Species of Eucalyptus, Cordia, Ziziphus, Prosopis, Albizia, etc

Silvo-pastoral system is most suitable for ravine lands

Silvo-pastoral systems• Dichanthium annulatum, D. caricosum,

Eulaliopsis binata, Bothriochloa pertusa, Cenchrus ciliaris, Panicum antidotale, P. maximum, Brachiaria mutica, Chrysopogon fulvus, Heteropogon contortus, Sehima nervosum, Iseilema laxum, Themeda triandra, Saccharum munja, Vetiveria zizanoides

• Species of Stylosanthes, Alysicarpus, Desmodium, Tephrosia, Melilotus, Rhynchosia, Trigonella, etc

• Aloe vera, Agave sisalana, many medicinal plants• Watershed approach

Medicinal & aromatic crops• Palma rosa, Lemon grass, Vetiveria, Aloe

vera, Withania, Adhatoda vasica, Barleria, Ocimum, Balanites, Achyranthus……..

Acid soils• About 30% of worlds land area is acidic

and 50% of arable lands are acidic

• In India about 90 m ha area is acidic out of which 7% are strongly acidic (pH < 4.5); 28% moderately acidic (pH 4.5-5.5); and 65% slightly acidic (pH 5.5-6.5)

• ~3 mha coastal area suffers due to acid sulphate soils having Al and Fe toxicity and non-availability of P

In NEH region Shifting Cultivation needs to be replaced with: ♠ Improved fallows ♠ Multi-tiered plantation-based cropping systems

Left: Bun method of cultivation in MeghalayaRight: Alder (Alnus nepalensis) and Large Cardamum AF system

Salt-affected & Waterlogged Areas

• Alkali/Sodic 3.83 m ha• Saline 2.92 m ha----------------------------------------------------• Total 6.75 m ha ---------------------------------------------------Waterlogged 6.41 m haSub-surface 4.75 m haSurface ponding 1.66 m ha--------------------------------------------------

Alkali Soils

♥ pHs 8.2 or more♥ ECe <4 dS/m♥ Dominated by Na2CO3 or NaHCO3

♥ Kankar pan of CaCO3 at different depths♥ Highly dispersed♥ Poor infiltration rate

Saline Soils

ECe 4 dS/m or more pHs < 8.2 Dominated by chlorides & sulphates of Na, Ca & Mg High osmotic pressure of soil solutionAssociated mainly with arid and semi- arid areas

Afforestation on highly alkali soil

Augerhole technique

Relative tolerance of tree species for soil sodicity

pH2

Fuelwood/fodder/timber species Fruit tree species

> 10 Prosopis juliflora, Acacia nilotica, Tamarix articulata

Not recommended

9.6 – 10.0 Eucalyptus tereticornis, Capparis decidua, Pithecellobium dulce, Prosopis alba, P. cineraria, Casuarina equisetifolia*1, Salvadora persica, S. oleoides, Terminalia arjuna

Carissa carandus, Psidium guajava, Zizyphus mauritiana, Emblica officinalis

9.1-9.5 Cordia rothii, Albizia lebbeck, Cassia siamea, Pongamia pinnata, Sesbania sesban, Parkinsonia aculeata, Dalbergia sissoo, Kigelia pinnata, Butea monosperma

Punica granatum*2, Phoenix dactylifera, Achrus japota*1,Tamarindus indica*1, Syzygium cuminii, Feronia limonia

8.2-9.0 Grevillia robusta, Azadirachta indica, Melia azedarach, Leucaena leucocephata, Hardwickea binnata, Moringa loiefera, Populus deltoids, Tectona grandis

Grewia asiatica, Aegle marmelos*2, Prunus persica, Pyrus communis, Manigifera indica, Morus alba, Ficus spp., Sapindus laurifolium, Vitis vinifera

*1 (Frost sensitive), *2 Does not stand water stagnation, may be raised on bunds.

Fruit-based AF for moderate sodic soils

Fruit trees such as Anwla, Karonda, Ber, Guava, Jamun, Pome granate (on bunds)

Inter-croping with tolerant varieties of arable crops

Under-explored plants such as Matricaria, Isabgol, Mallati, Tulsi, etc as inter-crops

Cultivation of fruit trees on sodic soil

Psidium guajava

Silvi-pastoral System for Sodic Soils

• Kallar grass (Leptochloa fusca) could produce 13.4 to 20.0 t/ha fresh forage per annum with different tree plantations

• Other grasses include Brachiaria mutica, Chloris gayana, Panicum laevifolium, P. antidotale, P. virgatom, Sporobolus spp.

• These could produce 6-16 t/ha fresh forage

Raised and sunken bed technique

Grain yield of 3.6 –4.2 t/ha of paddy (CSR-10) & 1.3-1.6 t/ha of wheat (KRL-1-4), and 21-32 & 40-52 t/ha fresh forage from kallar grass and berseem, respectively could be obtained in sunken beds

Commercial AF on Partial Reclaimed Land

B:C ratio of some systems tested on partial reclaimed land

Poplar-rice-wheat 3.30

Poplar-rice-berseem 2.95

Eucalyptus-rice-berseem 2.23

Eucalyptus-rice-wheat 2.06

Poplar alone 2.38

Eucalyptus alone 1.99

Rice-wheat 2.79

Rice-berseem 2.39

Plantations on saline soils

• Planting and irrigation in furrows was found most superior and successful method of planting trees on saline waterlogged soils as compared to traditional ridge-trench method

Species suitable for saline soils

Tolerance /(ECe, dS/m)

Trees and shrubs

Very High (> 35)

Tamarix, Prosopis, Salvadora, Acacia farnesiana

High salt tolerant (25-35)

Casuarina ,Terminalia catappa, Thespesia populnea and Cocos nucifera (on specific sites)

Tolerant (15-25)

Casuarina (glauca, obesa, equiselifolia), Acacia tortilis, A. nilotica, Callistemon lanceolata, Pongamia pinnata, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Crescentia alata, Albizia lebbeck, Ziziphus mauritiana, Parkinsonia aculeata etc.

Moderately tolerant (10-15)

Casuarina cunninghamiana, Eucalyptus tereticornis, E. rudis, E. microtheca, Acacia catcechu, A. ampliceps, A. eburnea, A. leucophloea, Terminalia arjuna, Samanea saman, Cassia siamea, Albizia procera, Borassus flabellifer, Prosopis cineraria, Azadirachta indica, Dendrocalamus strictus, Butea monosperma, Cassia siamea, Feronia limonia, Leucaena leucocephala, Tamarindus indica, Guazuma ulmifolia, Ailanthus excelsa, Dichrostachys cinerea, Balanites roxburghii, Maytenus emarginatus, Dalbergia sissoo, Salix babylonica, Cordia rothii, Kigelia pinnata.

Species for Saline Vertisols• Among trees Azadirechta indica (neem),

Prosopis juliflora, Acacia nilotica, A. eburnea, Butea monosperma, Jatropha curcas, Salvadora persica, Feronia limonia

• Among grasses Dichanthium annulatum, Leptachloa fusca, Eragrostis spp., Bothriochloa pertusa, Heteropogon contortus, Chrysopogon aciculatus, Themeda triandra, Tragus biflorus, *Cymbopogon martinii, * C. flexuasus*Vetiveria zizanioides, etc.

* Aromatic grasses

Raised and sunken bed technique is ideal for moisture conservation and crop production for vertisols

Extent of Waterlogging and Salinity in Canal Irrigation Areas of India

• In India there are 1701 major and medium irrigation commands covering ~89 M ha (27% of GA)

• About 125 Th ha is most critical (<1m) and 2.5 M ha critical (1-2m) waterlogged for pre-monsoon and 1.74 M ha most critical and ~11 M ha critical for post monsoon

• About 1.035 m ha area in command area is salt-affected

(Cetral Water Commission & ISRO, 2009)

Saline/Sodic Waterlogged Soils along Canals

Tools to combat water logging

• Sub-surface drainage

• Vertical & horizontal drainage

• Biodrainage

BIODRAINAGE

• “Pumping of excess soil water by deep-rooted plants using their bio-energy”

Tree components

Oven dry biomass (t ha-1)

Carbon (%)

Carbon content (t ha-1)

Timber 22.1 47.010.39

Fuelwood 0.8 43.50.35

Twigs & leaves

1.1 43.9

0.48Roots 8.9

48.0 4.27Total

32.9 47.1 15.49

C sequestration in 5 yrs old Eucalyptus trees

• CSSRI model proved assured total returns of Rs. 600-800/day from less than one ha land holding after 2 years

• Whole family employment

• A way to organic agriculture

Trees on calcareous soil with saline irrigation

Tamarix articulata, Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Acacia nilotica, Acacia tortilis, Prosopis juliflora, Cassia siamea and Feronia limonia are most successful and suitable tree species

Biomass of trees at 8 & 16 years of age

0

50

100

150

200

250

Ta An Pj At Cs Et Ai Af Pd Ma

Tree species

Bio

ma

ss

(t/

ha

)After 8 Years

After 16 Years

Af- Acacia.farnesiana, An- A. nilotica, At - A. tortilis, Ai- Azadirachta indica, , Cs – Cassia siamea, Et - E. tereticornis, Gu- Guazuma ulmifolia, Ma - Melia azedarach, Pd - Pithecelubium dulce, Pj - Prosopis juliflora, Ta- Tamarix articulata

Performance of different forage grasses with saline irrigation

About 30 % of total annual forage may be obtained during lean period when most nomads migrate to the irrigated areas

Agroforestry with saline water

Barley with karonda (Carissa carandus)

Anowla with cluster bean after 4 years

Bael with cluster bean after 4 years

Grain and straw yield (t ha-1) of barley and cluster bean after 4 years

Fruit tree

Treatment Yield of barley Yield of cluster bean

Grain Straw Grain Straw

Karonda

T1 4.10 4.21 1.83 2.63

T2 3.81 3.89 1.78 2.37

T3 3.40 3.49 1.68 2.12

Anowla

T1 4.38 4.58 1.80 2.72

T2 3.84 4.02 1.63 2.44

T3 3.52 3.61 1.50 2.27

Bael

T1 3.96 4.08 1.63 2.34

T2 3.62 3.73 1.48 2.00

T3 3.26 3.34 1.45 1.89

T1, T3 and T2 –irrigation with water of low (ECiw 5-7 dS/m), high

(ECiw 8-10 dS/m) and alternate low/high salinity, respectively

Dill (Anethum graveolense ), Tara-mira (Eruca sativa) & Castor (Ricinus communis) crops

Dill

Tara-mira

Castor

Aloe veraLepidium sativum

Cultivation of aromatic grasses irrigating with saline water

Vetiver Lemon grass

Fresh yield*of different varieties of lemon grass under saline irrigation

VarietiesYield (t/ha)

OD-58 28.3

RRL-16 27.6

Praman 17.4

Krishna 11.7

OD-19 3.3

Pragati 0.9

Nima 0.2

CKP-25 0.1

CVLSD (p=0.01)

16.88%3.78

*Total of 4 cuttings

Floriculture with saline irrigation

Evaluation of various flower species

Chrysanthemum is among the most promising

Thank you v e ry much