Tree diversity in Farmers’ fields in Indian Subcontinent: Role in

Biodiversity Conservation and CO2 Sequestration

COP-11-Hyderabad

Benefits of diversifying and restoring landscape mosaics in the tropics by harnessing tree

diversity. PP Bhojvaid, Director FRI, Dehradoon. India.

Prosopis in dry lands

Grewia optivaa in upland agriculture

Quercus leucotrichophora

Cocos nucifera in coastal areas

Mangifera in north India

Azadirach indica in central India

Celtis australis in hills

Grasses for fodder

Fibre for thatch and other uses

Mountain women collecting fodder and leaf litter

Farmers had trees on farms for

•  fodder •  fuel •  fruits •  fertilizer •  small and large timber •  Sale of goods for income generation •  In bad crop years, emergency, special

needs

Trees on farms

•  Multipurpose •  Nitrogen fixing •  Good coppice •  Largely Evergreen •  Economical •  Compatible with crops •  Resistant to insect pest

• 

Trees on Farm

•  Largely indigenous •  Local niche suitability •  Indigenous and improvised management •  Sustained for generations •  Lesser Known Tree Species •  But still survived the reductionist approach

of contemporary FM

Tecomella

Salvadora

Forest Productivity

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

India

GlobalAverage

cu.m/ha/annum

Demand and supply for industrial wood (Khanduri and Mandal 2005)

Agroforests for Economic and Environmental Benefits

•  Intensive management •  Genetic improvement •  Fertile soils •  Better protection •  Inputs by default •  Market forces •  A and R under LULUCF •  REDD+

Block Plantations Eucalyptus

Seedlings :

Genetic variability

Low Yields

CLONING OF EUCALYPTUS OPERATIONLISED CAPACITY BEING ENHANCED

• 600 plywood units

• Purchase 1 million US$ day-1

• Value added 3 million US$ day-1

• 60000 man days day-1

• 2.5 million $US as tax month-1

Other Environmental Benefits

•  CO2 sequestration •  Increase in tree cover (8%) •  Alleviation of pressure from Natural

Forests •  Biodiversity conservation •  Ex situ production

The MAI realized under Agroforestry for species such as Poplar and Eucalyptus

•  Poplar 10 -25 m3 ha-1 year-1 (Haryana and UP)

•  Eucalyptus 8-14 m3 ha-1 year-1 (Haryana)

•  ITC Clonal Eucalyptus 35 m3 ha-1 year-1 (AP)

•  ITC Clonal Eucalyptus 22 m3 ha-1 year-1 (Haryana, under trial)

Biodiversity conservation

•  Medicinal plants •  Global trade > 100 billion $US •  Unsustainable harvest •  Over exploitation •  Extinction? •  ex situ cultivation •  Land???

Eucalyptus with Centella asiatica

Acacias