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world Agroforestry Congress, 24 August 2009
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Nairobi, 24 August 2009
Prof M.S. Swaminathan, FRSUNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India
Agroforestry for an Ever-green Revolution
2nd World Congress of Agroforestry
Green Revolution Symphony (1968)
o Technologyo Serviceso Public Policieso Farmers’ enthusiasm
Indian farmers achieved as much progress in wheat production in four years (1964–68), as during the preceding 4000 years.
Major Components
Assured and remunerative market is the prime mover of farmers’ enthusiasm
“Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil structure would lead ultimately to the springing up of deserts. Irrigation without arrangements for drainage would result in soils getting alkaline or saline. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides could cause adverse changes in biological balance as well as lead to an increase in the incidence of cancer and other diseases, through the toxic residues present in the grains or other edible parts. Unscientific tapping of underground water would lead to the rapid exhaustion of this wonderful capital resource left to us through ages of natural farming. The rapid replacement of numerous locally adapted varieties with one or two high yielding strains in large contiguous areas would result in the spread of serious diseases capable of wiping out entire crops, as happened prior to the Irish potato famine of 1845 and the Bengal rice famine of 1942. Therefore, the initiation of exploitative agriculture without a proper understanding of the various consequences of every one of the changes introduced into traditional agriculture and without first building up a proper scientific and training base to sustain it, may only lead us into an era of agricultural disaster in the long run, rather than to an era of agricultural prosperity.”
M.S. Swaminathan Indian Science Congress, Varanasi, January 4, 1968
Sustainable Food Production : Early Warning
Need for an Ever-green Revolution
About 80% of food production comes from farmers with small holdings. For them, Agriculture is the backbone of the livelihood security system Hence, higher productivity per units of arable land and irrigation water is essential to enhance marketable surplus and thereby of cash income. This should however be achieved without harm to the ecological foundations essential for sustainable agriculture. The green revolution should become an ever-green revolution leading to an enhancement in productivity in perpetuity without ecological harm
Swaminathan, 1982
From Green to an Ever-green Revolution
Theme for the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the
Crop Science Society of America
Green Revolution : Commodity-centred increase in productivity
Change In plant architecture, and harvest indexChange in the physiological rhythm-insensitive tophotoperiodismLodging resistance
Evergreen Revolution : increasing productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological harm
Organic agriculture : cultivation without any use of chemical inputs like mineral fertilizers and chemical pesticides
Green Agriculture : conservation farming with the help of integrated pest management, integrated nutrient supply and integrated natural resource management
If farm ecology and economics go wrong, nothing else will go right
From Green to an Ever-green RevolutionPathways
Climate Change: L’Aquilla G 8 Summit (July 2009)Implications of Agreement to permit rise in Mean Temperature by 2 deg C
Risks rise rapidly with temperature. Once temperature increase rises about 2 deg C, upto 4 billion people could be experiencing growing water shortages. Agriculture could cease to be viable in parts of the world, particularly in the tropics, and millions more people will be at risk of hunger. Above 2 deg C, the risk of a disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet rises significantly, as does the greater danger of ‘tipping points’ for soil carbon release and the collapse of the amazon rainforest.
o Water scarcity and frequency of drought will increase
o Rise in temperature could increase the risk of heat or drought stress to crops and livestock
o Length of the growing period (LGP) is likely to change
o Physiological development is accelerated which hastens maturation and reduces yields
o Increased night-time respiration reduces potential yield
Impact of higher temperature on Agriculture
Some Recent Reports on unleashingAfrica’s agricultural potential
o Unlike Asia, Africa does not have a dominant farming system on which food security largely depends
o Out of the 17 distinct farming systems identified in different parts of Africa, the following four systems offer immediate promise
Agro-forestry system involving cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, yams, maize and fertilizer trees
Maize-based system involving maize, cotton, cattle, goats and poultry
Cereal-root crop mixed farming system based primarily on maize, sorghum, millet, cassava, yams, legumes and cattle.
Irrigated farming system based primarily on rice, cotton, vegetables, cattle and poultry
All these systems provide opportunities for additional non-farm employment
Africa’s Ever-green Revolution
o Soil fertility replenishment through nitrogen fixing shrubs, trees and rock phosphate application
o Biological control of cassava mealy bug
o Banana tissue culture
o New Rices for Africa (NERICA)
o Agroforestry systems based on Faidherbia albida
Learning from Successes : S & T Bright Spots
Overcoming Soil Hunger
An approach that makes An approach that makes it possible for farmers to it possible for farmers to
produce most of the produce most of the nitrogen that crops need nitrogen that crops need is through is through fertilizer treesfertilizer trees
in the field – in the field – manufacturing nitrogen manufacturing nitrogen
and cycling P and K with and cycling P and K with no cash investment.no cash investment.
Photo-insensitive Mutant of
Sesbania rostrata
Fixes nitrogen both in stem and roots
Conservation Agriculture with Faidherbia albida – Pathway to Sustainable Maize Production in Central and Southern Africa
Faidherbia is indigenous in many African
countries
60 years of research shows on each hectare, mature trees supply the equivalent of 300kg of complete fertilizer and 250kg
of lime. This can sustain a maize yield of 4 tons/ha
Comparison of maize and other crops grown under and outside the canopy of Faidherbia in Zambia. Note the dramatic difference in maize
growth, February 2009
Mango - Wheat
Source: Malawi, WAgFor
Impact of Fertilizer Tree based Agroforestry System
Gene Banks for a Warming PlanetCommunity Gene & Seed Banks
National Gene Bank
Svalbard (North Pole) Global Seed Vault
Conservation continuum
Gene Bank Seed Bank Water BankGrain Bank
Conservation - Cultivation – Consumption - Commerce
Enhancing the Coping Capacity of Local Communities
Local level Food and Water Security
19 varieties of Yam in 4 species were in Cultivation (as of 2006) but less than 5 in rural market and none in urban market
Dioscorea alata 1. Inchikachil I & II`2. Kuzhikavithu I3. Kuzhikavithu II4. Quintalkachil I 5. Quintalkachil II 6. Anakomban7. Kaduvakkayyan8. Urulan kachil9. Kuppathottikizhangu10. Elivalankachil11. Neendi/Veetukizhangu12. Vella kachil I & II13. Chorakachil/cherakachil/chuvappukachil/ Neela kachil I, II
& IIIDioscorea esculenta 14. Nanakizhangu15. Vella Enchi kachil16. Mullan KachilDioscorea rotundata 17.Africankachil 18. Thoonankachi Dioscorea bulbifera 19. Erachikachil/Adathappu
Life Saving Crops
The goal of the Biovalley is to promote biohappiness through integrated attention to the conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of the bioresources of the area leading to health, work and income security. Conservation Farming will include steps for soil health enhancement, harvesting and efficient use of rain water and saving and using plants for saving lives and strengthening livelihoods.
Converting Biodiversity Hot Spots into Happy Spots :Role of Agroforestry based Biovalley
A good example : Rift Valley
Biovalley is to Biotechnology (BT), what Silicon Valley is to Information Technology (IT)
Components of Action Plan
o Mixed cropping of Mangroves, Salicornia and Atriplex
o Sustainable capture fisheries
o Low external input sustainable aquaculture (shrimp farming)
o Market driven off-farm enterprises to improve the population supporting capacity of the ecosystem.
Sea Water : 97% of Global Water PoolAgriculture : Consumes over 80% of fresh water
Agroforestry based Sea Water Farming
o Cultivation of halophytes (Mangroves, Salicornia, Atriplex, etc)
o Meeting the wood needs of the local community through bamboo, casuarina, etc.
o Culture of prawns, shrimps, crabs etc, in the canals between tree species using low external input sustainable aquaculture (LEISA) techniques
Contd…
Integrated Sea Water Farming (Agro-Aqua Farms)
o Rehabilitation of degraded mangrove and other coastal ecosystems through Coastal Rehabilitation Self-help Groups
o Establishment of artificial coral reefs where appropriate
o Fostering the growth of coastal biovillages for the generation of new livelihood opportunities based on the sustainable use of natural resources and application of appropriate technologies
Contd…
Integrated Sea Water Farming (Agro-Aqua Farms)
Mangroves : Useful Sources of Genes forSalinity Tolerance
8.3 tC/ha from atmosphere 12.7 t/ha biomass
(dry) (5.0 tC/ha)
11.0 t/ha biomass (dry) (3.3 tC/ha)
Mangrove Carbon Fixation at One Year The Seawater Forests Initiative
Field trial of a transgenic rice strain with Superoxide dismutase gene from Avicennia marina
The loss of every species and gene limits our options for the future
Prosopis juliflora has wide adaptation to water stress and drought conditions
Used as source material for drought tolerant genes Control 36 days of water
withdrawal
Gene Deployment for Drought Tolerance
View of the Integrated Seawater farm near
ChidambaramInner bund
TIDAL OUTLET
Mangrove plantation
Outer bund
Grow out areaFor fish, crab
Sea Water Farming
Agroforestry as a Strategy to Climate Change Adaptation
Adaptation capabilities of agroforestry
o Drought :Tree components through their deep roots explore a large soil volume of water and nutrients which help to maintain production during drought seasons
o High rainfall :Pumping excess water out of the soil profile more rapidly by higher evapo-transpiration and maintain aerated soil conditions
o Temperature :Increased soil cover and multi strata cropping pattern system utilize the light resource efficiently and guard the soil from direct sunlight which lead to a reduction in soil temperature
Carbon sequestration Option for Climate Change Mitigation
Agroforestry system recognized as a carbon sequestration strategy because of its applicability in agricultural lands as well as in reforestation programs Agroforestry offers the highest potential for carbon sequestration
o Direct role: Carbon sequestration rates ranging from1.5 to 3.5 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 in agroforestry systems
o Indirect role: Agroforestry has also some indirect effects on C sequestration since it helps to reduce pressure on natural forests
Carbon sequestration potential of four land use systems (Adapted from IPCC, 2000)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Agroforestry Grazingmanagement
Forestmanagement
Croplandmanagement
Pote
ntia
l Car
bon
Sequ
estr
atio
n by
204
0 (M
t C y
-1)
Agroforestry has such a high potential, not because it is the land use practice with the highest carbon density, but because there is such a large area that is susceptible for the land use change
o Domestication, utilization and conservation of superior agroforestry germplasm
o Maximising on-farm productivity of trees and agroforestry systems
o Improving tree product marketing for smallholderso Reducing risks to land health and targeting agroforestry
interventions to enhance land productivity and food availability
o Improving the ability of farmers, ecosystems and governments to cope with climate change
o Developing policies and incentives for multi-functional landscapes with trees that provide environmental services
Transforming Lives and LandscapesGlobal Research Projects
World Agroforestry Centre, 2008.
“The problem before us is how to feed billions of new mouths over the next several decades and save the rest of life at the same time, without being trapped in a Faustian bargain that threatens freedom from security. The benefits must come from an evergreen revolution. The aim of this new thrust is to lift food production well above the level attained by the green revolution of the 1960s, using technology and regulatory policy more advanced and even safer than now in existence”
- Edward O. Wilson, 2002 The Future of life
Ever-green Revolution