Agroforestry And Sustainable Systems

Agroforestry in Sustainable Agricultural Systems examines the environmental and social conditions that affect the roles and performance of trees in field- and forest-based agricultural production systems. Various types of ecological settings for agroforestry are analyzed within temperate and tropical regions. The roles of soil, water, light, nutrient and pest management in mixed, annual, woody perennial and livestock systems are discussed. Important new case studies from around the world offer innovative strategies that have been used successfully in raising forests and tree products on a sustainable basis for commercial harvesting and for providing other environmental services in land conservation and watershed management.

Agroforestry is increasingly being recognized as a holistic food production system that can have numerous significant environmental, economic, and social benefits. Agriculture shapes our planet in profound ways. Roughly 38% of the land surface of the earth is used to grow food, making agriculture the largest anthropogenic land use. Agroforestry for Sustainable Agriculture reviews the up-to-date research and trends on the role and enactment of key types of agroforestry, and the ecosystem services that agroforestry can provide as well as practices for optimizing the agroforestry practice. In the opening chapter of this book, we examine current organic and conventional agriculture systems and suggest that agroforestry, which is the intentional combination of trees and shrubs with crops or livestock, could be the next step in sustainable agriculture. By implementing systems that mimic nature's functions, agroforestry has the potential to remain productive while supporting a range of ecosystem services. In this chapter, we outline the common practices and products of agroforestry as well as beneficial environmental and social effects. Current efforts to develop a regenerative agriculture certification supply a chance to contemplate Agroforestry's role in furthering regenerative goals. To understand this opportunity, this book examines how agroforestry practices can advance regenerative agriculture's five core environmental concerns: soil fertility and health, water quality, biodiversity, ecosystem health, and carbon sequestration. Further, the book focuses on the potential of tree and shrub legumes in agroforestry systems; coffee agroforestry for sustainability of upper sekampung watershed management; shade trees decrease pest abundances on brassica crops in Kenya; germplasm development of underutilized temperate U.S. tree crops; vulnerability of soil and water in Mediterranean agro-forestry systems; and soil carbon stock in olive groves agroforestry systems under different management and soil characteristics. Additionally, the book presents energy analysis, and carbon and water footprint for environmentally friendly farming practices in agroecosystems and agroforestry. In the last, this book presents a study that examines the economic and social potential of agroforestry systems and the barriers to their widespread adoption, as a land use alternative to swidden cultivation, which may potentially help protect local forest.

This book collects wide-ranging contributions such as case studies, reviews, reports on technological developments, outputs of research/studies, and examples of successful projects, presenting current knowledge and raising awareness to help the agriculture and forestry sectors find solutions for mitigating climate variability and adapting to change. It brings the topic of ecosystem services closer to education and learning, as targeted by the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. Climate change and its impacts on agriculture and agroforestry have been observed across the world during the last 50 years. Increasing temperatures, droughts, biotic stresses and the impacts of extreme events have continuously decreased agroforestry systems’ resilience to the effects of climate change. As such, there is a need to adapt farming and agroforestry systems so as to make them better able to handle ever-changing climate conditions, and to preserve habitats and ecosystems services.

This edited book opens up new vistas for sustainable intensification in agriculture to provide food to ever growing population as well as adapting to the risks of global environmental change. Diverting from conventional agriculture, the book explores new dimensions and concepts that have been identified for future research and development in sustaining agriculture in Asia and Africa regions. The chapters are written by leading researchers and practitioners in the field of agroforestry. The book demonstrates how agroforestry could be instrumental in bringing stability and sustainability in agricultural production. It offers sustainable solutions for the impending problems of climate change, ecosystem degradation, declining agricultural productivity, and uncertain food security. It is an essential resource for students in agroforestry courses, as well as a valuable introduction to the field for professionals in related areas.

The present book is composed of modern theoretical and applied studies that highlight the core principles and evidence of sustainable agriculture. This work is systematically divided into two sections, which summarize crucial insights into this theme, such as agroecological concepts, case studies, soil health, and agroforestry systems. The chapters included in this book have been written by researchers whose expertise allows the relatively complex sustainable agroecosystem-related topics to be easily understood by any reader. Therefore, the target audience comprises not only scholars and specialists in the field but also common people and enthusiasts about this theme. Such chapter's collection is certainly a valuable resource about agricultural sustainable principles and a pleasure reading for those who are willing to dive more deeply into the study of "sustainability of agroecosystems."