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Source: Ramos, G., 2000. A Primer, Securing the Future: by promoting the adoption of sustainable agroforestry technologies, In R. Dalmacio and N. Lawas (eds), Institute of Agroforestry, University of the Philippines at Los Banos, Laguna.

What is agroforestry?

Agroforestry is a land-use management system that combines the production of trees with agricultural crops, animals and/or other resources in the same area. It aims to increase or sustain productivity while maintaining ecological stability. It also hopes to increase income for improved quality of life.

Why agroforestry?

Nature provides us with what we need and we must be responsible in taking care of it. But with the growing population, upland resources are being threatened. People migrating to the uplands brought with them diverse lowland farming practices that are most often not applicable in the uplands.

These circumstances greatly contribute to the destruction of our upland resources--a situation, which would also mean diminishing production, vanishing biodiversity, continous soil erosion, flashfloods and other problems.

As one of the alternative farming systems, agroforestry improves these lowland-farming practices making it more appropriate in the uplands.

Agroforestry integrates the two major disciplines of utilizing and managin the land--agriculture and forestry. Through agroforestry, you can utilize your farm into various combinations of food crops, trees, animals and other resources. Integrated production systems and soil and water conservation measures are adopted to efficiently increase food production while maintaining soil fertility and improving its physicochemical and biological properties.

What can we get from agroforestry?

Agroforestry promotes self-sufficiency. You can optimize land use to increase production and satisfy needs. Trees and other plants supply life-giving oxygen and help purify the air. They also sequester carbon by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporate them in their biomass.

Trees also provide us with firewood, raw materials for construction and other needs. Moreover, trees can serve as barriers for protecting food crops against soil erosion and destructive wind; and provide fodder to animals and materials for organic fertilizer. Animal wastes could be used as fertilizer while food crops provide for subsistence and cash needs. Good interaction among these components serves as the primary step to attaining agroforestry's twin goal of production and protection.

Ecologically, agroforestry helps rehabilitate and preserve the environment through soil and water conservation in sloping lands. Tree roots hold the soil together thus minimizing erosion and eventually the occurrence of floods during rainy season. Tree canopies also help conserve the soil from the erosive impact of raindrops. It does not only intercept large amount of rainfall but also lare amount of incoming radiation depending on the percent of canopy coverage, leaf structure and crown stratification. The leaf litter and humus built up under the tree stands control flow of water and allow them to percolate into the soil.

While contributing to conservation strategies, trees also serve as "nutrient pumps" and improve soil fertility. Nitrogen-fixing trees are able to fix nitrogen gas from the atmposphere and convert them to ammonia. These nutrients are then returned to the soil through the litter fall or when the prunings are applied as mulch or green manure (organic fertilizer).

During decomposition, the prunings release the nutrients and increase organic matter in the soil thereby improving soil fertility, soil structure, infiltration and moisture-holding capacity.

Efficient utilization of water and nutrients in the soil profile is achieved by intercropping deep-rooted crops with shallow-rooted species. This enables the trees to minimize competition for water and nutrients far below the soil surface.

All the protective and ameliorative roles of agroforestry discussed could result to long-term benefits particularly the overall improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the subsistence upland farmers. As the upland ecosystem is properly conserved through agroforestry, it follows that improved productivity would be sustainbed through time. The stable production of goods and services, in turn, ensures self-sufficiency in food, fuel, fodder and other necessities. The extra income could also be used for other social benefits such as clothing, shelter, medical care and education of their children. All of these can contribute to the general improvement in the quality of life of the farmers.

What makes a good agroforestry system?

To attain the desired objectives, an output criteria must be set. The following are the criteria used by the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) for a sound or well-designed agroforestry system:

1. Agroforestry systems should be productive

Generates direct benefits such as food, fodder, feed for fish and livestock, fuel, polewood/wood, other products such as gums, resins, latex, oil, herbal medicine, etc.

Produces indirect benefits or "service roles" such as soil and water conservation, fertility improvement, microclimate amelioration, live fencing, etc.

Increases income

2. Agroforestry system should be sustainable

Employs soil and water conservation strategies to ensure long-term productivity

Can withstand sudden changes in weather, epidemic and market prices

Requires putting some forms of incentives into the technology to ensure adoption of conservation practices especially those who are operating close to the margin of subsistence

3. Agroforestry system should be easily adopted and socially acceptable

Technologies should be culturally acceptable and easily adoptable

Directly involves the farmers in the planning and designing of agroforestry systems to ensure adoption

Consistent with technical, financial and manpower capabilities of the local people/target clients

How is agroforestry practiced in the Philippines?

Although agroforestry is being practiced since time immemorial, it was only during the last three decades that agroforestry was recognized as a field of study. To further develop and promote it into a scientific discipline, existing agroforestry practices were documented. Based on the classification made by ICRAF, the different forms of agroforestry can be classified based on components being mixed, dominant role of the tree component, and interactions between or among the components in time and space.

What is next for agroforestry?

Agroforestry farms are indeed unique depending on the existing biophysical and socio-economic conditions of the area. There are even several forms to choose from and flexible enough to be modified for the upland and even the lowland areas.

As the agroforestry farms vary, more scientific researches need to be conducted to address the problems and needs of the upland farmers. The greater the ecological and economic problems in the uplands, the more we need to pursue agroforestry studies and researches.

There will always be threats, problems and challenges. But with the combined efforts and utmost cooperation of farmers, extension workers and researchers, the twin problems of poverty and environmental degradation will surely be attained through agroforestry.