1 1. Agroforestry is a distinct land-use system, which may include combinations of agricultural, forestry, horticultural, and animal husbandry subsystems and practices. Simply stated, agroforestry is a means of managing or using land that combines trees or shrubs with agricultural or horticultural crops or livestock.
2. 2. Agroforestry integrates trees with crop and/or animals, with the main objectives of reducing risk and increasing total productivity. Farmers have historically used indigenous mixed cropping practices to minimize the risk of total crop failure by growing a variety of products on the same piece of land. Although increases in total productivity are presumed in much of the promotional literature on agroforestry, few side-by side comparisons of agroforestry and monoculture systems exist. Increased productivity is a major goal for rural development planners but may not be the most important benefit of agroforestry for most farmers. Social science research suggests that farmers are often at least as interested in diversification and reduction of risk as in increased yields.
3. In their ideal forms, agroforestry systems are both stable and sustainable. Agroforestry practices have greater diversity than do monoculture practices and can distribute production over a longer period of time. This more regular income can provide increased cash flow stability to farmers, particularly those who may have difficulty storing or marketing farm produce. Sustainability, or the ability to maintain productivity over time, is also common in definitions of agroforestry, but sustainabilityis perhaps more a statement of what is desirable rather than what is attainable. Sanchez (1987) suggests that the hypotheses that appropriate agroforestry systems improve soil physical properties, maintain soil organic matter, and promote nutrient cycling are strongly implied in agroforestry literature, but are probably not universally correct.
4. Integrations of trees into agricultural systems may result in more efficient use of sunlight, moisture, and plant nutrients than is generally possible by monocropping of either agricultural or forestry crops. One of the biological reasons for interest in agroforestry is that trees use portions of the biosphere that annual crops or animals generally do not, resulting in increased aggregate biomass production. Trees do compete with crops for sunlight, moisture, and nutrients. However, the assumption inherent in most definitions is that the net effect of trees in agroforestry is positive.
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