Agroforestry can take many forms—riparian buffers, silvopasture, alley cropping, forest farming, and more. Ultimately it means planting more trees on farms.
Home / Sustainable Agriculture and Agroforestry. # Sustainable Agriculture and Agroforestry. One of Vi Agroforestry most important tasks is to provide trainings and advice on how smallholder farmers can adapt to climate change. Sustainable agriculture based on agroforestry, growing trees among crops, is multi-functional and diversified and based on agroecological methods adapted to the specific ecosystem. Vi Agroforestry teaches agroforestry and sustainable farming methods to small-scale farmers according to the Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (SALM) methodology. SALM is a methodology that helps farmers adapt to climate change, reduce vulnerability, increase resilience and increase harvests and incomes. This includes agroforestry (planting of trees and crops), composting, cover crops and sustainable energy. An important part of SALM is the training and implementation of sustainable water use, which contributes to reduced vulnerability and increased resilience. The trees prevent soil erosion and bid carbon dioxide – agroforestry provides productivity and mitigates the impact of climate change. An agroforestry tree contributes with more water than it consumes.
In this Ask the Expert, Richard “Rich” Straight, agroforester at USDA’s National Agroforestry Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, answers a few questions about how combining trees with production agriculture can help farmers manage their land, livestock, and other natural resources. Rich combines university research with landowner experiences to provide conservation planning resources to help people learn how to use agroforestry practices and techniques on their farm or operation. Agroforestry is way of managing land that combines agriculture, trees, and in some cases, livestock to address conservation needs, protect farms from drought and storms, and increase farm profitability. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has several programs that support agroforestry. The Agriculture Management Assistance (AMA), available in 16 states, helps agricultural producers manage financial risk through diversification, marketing or natural resource conservation practices. One additional resource is the Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education, SARE, which offers several grant programs that include agroforestry practices.
Bird species’ use of buffers has shown that riparian forest buffers with a three-zone system of trees, shrubs and native grasses which provide a variety Agroforestry practices: riparian forest buffers and filter strips 18 © Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited, 2019.
An example of agroforestry where the trees are planted with and between rows of farming crops. Adopting improved soil and cropland management strategies could increase carbon storage by over 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year across American farms, and sustainable agriculture practices like no-till, cover cropping, and agroforestry have significant potential to mitigate climate change. Agroforestry practices in the US, where trees are planted strategically to act as windbreaks for crops and riparian forest buffers, mitigate runoff, control erosion, and provide nutrients for the waterway. A diagram of alley cropping, or planting rows of trees between rows of agricultural plants as windbreaks from the USDA. In the agroforestry process, not only is carbon sequestered by trees, but the root systems developed by the trees lead to an increase in soil carbon sequestration. Agroforestry provides a blueprint for that implementation through its strategic mixed planting of trees and crops.
Agroforestry describes regenerative farming practices that integrate trees and other perennials with livestock in agricultural systems. We break down five agroforestry practices that might be an option for your land: windbreaks, riparian buffers, alley cropping, silvopasture, and forest farming. Windbreaks are strips of trees and shrubs planted along the edge of fields. Already common on the landscape, farmers who plant windbreaks protect soil against wind erosion and can protect wind-sensitive crops from damage. Incorporating tree and shrub crops into windbreak helps to offset loss in acreage. Alley-Crop-Sketch-Landscape-View-Color-print-1-1. Alley cropping with timber, fruit or nut trees can add income streams to diversify farm revenue. Forest Farming Sketch Landscape View Color_print (1)"). In forest farming or food forests, trees of different sizes produce nuts and fruit, while shade-tolerant crops are grown under their canopy. Cultivating mushrooms or harvesting herbs or medicinal plants are common forest farming practices. Riparian forest buffers are trees and shrubs planted alongside a stream, lake or wetland.
Many farmers and ranchers use natural boundaries of forest blocks and strips or patches of trees as windbreaks without planning or planting and still appreciate increased yields they provide to crops and livestock. Using cover crops well ahead of a tree planting reduces weed competition, builds organic matter and nutrients, and improves soil moisture and soil air. Cover cropping helps the trees in windbreaks grow better and reduces maintenance during the establishment period. The return on investment with a windbreak comes from multiple benefits including increased yield of crops and livestock; soil and water conservation; wildlife improvements; energy savings; and production of tree crops, firewood, and lumber. Planting the right species on appropriate sites provides trees that are suitable for human wants and needs and can also shorten the time it takes to get the trees up and growing. The planting of tree seeds is another method of establishing agroforestry trees.
# Agroforestry: the key to regenerative agriculture. Combining agriculture with forestry, agroforestry systems not only support food production but also provide environmental benefits and enhance ecosystem resilience. By carefully selecting and arranging tree species within agricultural landscapes, agroforestry systems aim to optimize the ecological interactions between plants, animals, and the environment. ## Benefits of Agroforestry in Regenerative Agriculture. Agroforestry systems, with their increased tree cover, play a crucial role in sequestering carbon, mitigating climate change, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 4. **Water Management:** The presence of trees in agroforestry systems helps regulate water cycles. Agroforestry systems also act as buffer zones, reducing the impact of heavy rainfall and minimizing soil erosion. Agroforestry represents a powerful and sustainable approach to regenerative agriculture. By integrating trees into agricultural landscapes, these systems offer numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits. As we face the challenges of climate change and food security, embracing agroforestry can play a crucial role in building a more sustainable and regenerative future for agriculture.