Geospatial technology in agroforestry: status, prospects, and constraints

Seasonal variations in the nutritive value of fifteen multipurpose fodder tree species: A case study of north-western Himalayan mid-hills

“…This is the case of leaf fodder from multipurpose trees species (MPTs), which are widely regarded as emergency feedstuffs [ 9 ], especially in the hilly region [ 10 ], due to the high protein, soluble carbohydrate, mineral, and vitamin content of their leaves [ 11 , 12 ]. For this reason, MPTs are left deliberately or planted on farm bunds [ 13 ], since they can provide versatile products and play a significant role in rural economies [ 14 , 15 ]. Therefore, MPTs have a fair chance of increasing livestock productivity by reducing the gap between demand and availability of green fodder [ 16 ].…”

Cultivating debate: the dichotomy of trees in agroecosystems

“…This integration serves as a crucial component in providing diverse ecosystem services through economically efficient land utilization, comparable to those observed in neighboring forests (Figure 1). This involves obtaining provisioning services from both trees (fruit, fodder, construction material, medicinal plants and fuelwood for cooking) and crop yields from the same piece of land, which ultimately contribute to their food and livelihood security (Sharma et al, 2023). Generally, trees on farmlands function as a metaphorical 'living savings account' for smallholder farmers, amenable to selective harvesting during periods of pronounced financial exigencies.…”

“…fluctuations, resulting in more consistent environmental conditions for understory species and preventing heat-related strain (Ivezić et al, 2021), soil enrichment using leaf litter and better nutrient dynamics (Bhardwaj et al, 2023a,b;Sharma et al, 2023). Additionally trees also contribute to the reduction of crop pests and diseases incidences (Pumariño et al, 2015), reduction of soil erosion, pollination services, nitrogen-fixing (Miller et al, 2020), biodiversity conservation (Jose, 2012), regulating biogeochemical cycles (Mbow et al, 2014), climate change adaptation and mitigation through sequestrating carbon (Verma et al, 2023a,b), reducing emission of greenhouse gases (Kim et al, 2016) and reducing threats and enhancing resilience (Schoeneberger et al, 2012;Verma et al, 2021).…”

A Review on Advances in Agriculture and Agroforestry with GPS and GIS

“…Before discussing the Indian experience, a quick summary of the traditional methods of agricultural acreage/estimation in India and the justification for using RS for crop inventory is made. According to Sharma et al [2] the agroforestry system (AFS) is a well-known land use system that unites agriculture and forestry by generating a more integrated, diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, and sustainable land use system than the agriculture system. It has the potential to significantly improve a variety of social, environmental, and economic issues, including farm productivity and incomes [3], livelihood security [4], soil fertility decline [5], water conservation [6], climate change risk and variability [7], maintaining the atmospheric environment, and water quality [8], severe weather, greenhouse gas emissions [9], improvement of the microclimate [10], weed management [11], and provision of environmental values [12].…”