Identifying Overstory

• Overstory or the Tree foliage is the most crucial aspect of the Agro-forests. Special care and plan needs to be taken to nurture them as in the years to come they would be the gurdians and play a key role in taking care of the Forests.
• Perineal trees are to be planted along the boundary of Agro-Forests. These trees act as wind breaks and if the forest area is very close to a waterbody, it prevents soil erosion.
• Trees should be planted uniformly along the farm, ensuring ample space between trees not to race for resources and space for cultivating varied understory in its shades. Its worth mentioning to keep spaces for roads and traversing path before planting the trees. Since its very difficult to move perineal trees after planting. Minimum 4-6 mts spacing is necessary in the farm and 2-4 mts spacing for the perimeter is ideal.
• Select trees from the local vegetation, as they best suit the climate and soil. Select a mix of Flora like timber, fruit bearing, producing Non-Timber forests products like resins, oil, seeds, leaves, bark etc. And have proportionate number of trees for each variety so that its economically viable. For Tropical India Fruit Trees like fruit trees like Jackfruit, Guava, Moringa, Goose berry, Coconut, Mango etc, Non-Timber trees like Neem, Magnolia, Agarwood, Timber trees like Teak, Sal, Kadamba, Indian Almond, Gamari, Sirish and Bamboo is a great soil binder against water erosion.
• Overstory not only creates a sustainable environment in the forest but also adds to the soil nitrogen through their roots, the leaves produce an excellent mulch and green manure for the understory. Neem acts as excellent natural pesticide, and moreover the Birds dwelling on the trees feed on the worms and seeds from the forests and creates an sustainable ecosystem.
• Overstory are like long term investments on a farm, these trees take time to mature and yield. Select trees with varied growth and maturity rate, so that 3-5 years down the line you have continuous and sustainable revenue generation.

Cultivating Climbers

• Climbers can be selected based on the requirements of the farmer or forester. Seasonal, Annual or Perineal Climbers can be either selected from the local vegetation or can be introduced into the agro-forest matching the soil and eco-conditions of the farm. Since our Agro-forest maintains exclusive climate and soil conditions inside.
• Climbers should be ideally introduced when the Overstory is matured enough to run the agro-forest on its own, i.e. 3-4 years after planting the overstory.
• Climbers should be a mix of fruits, vegetables bearing trees with MAPs which can either be lines along the hedges or supported by the Overstory. Focusing on the local flora is always suggested, in Tropical India, Vegetables like Pumpkin, variety of Gourds, Chayote/Squash, Malabar spinach, Grapes, Passion Fruit, Black Pepper, Vanilla, Cissus Q, Guduchi or Giloy etc are common and fruitful creepers that can be made part of the Agro-forests.

Cultivating Understory

• Understory as the name refers plants growing in the shades of the Overstory. Foresters can select the understory based on their needs.
• It’s advisable to have multi-cropping in the understory for sustainability in the Agro-forest, and so that the micro-nutrients, water and other resources are utilized in perfect harmony, and replenished by nature.
• Understory can comprise of MAPs, vegetables, fruits, food grains and pulses based on needs.
• Plants on the understory can be maintained by adding composts, or watering if required

Pest Management

Pest management usually involves conducting farm operations in such a way that it prevents both causing and spreading of pests, because prevention is often better than cure. Pest management is one of the most important aspects of farming because it ensures that the plants are healthy and have a pest free yield that can give enormous returns. There are government rules and protocols on the kind of seeds that are suitable for growth in different kinds of weather and soil and seeds that aren’t.

There are a number of measures that are undertaken to ensure that pest formation doesn’t hinder crop growth at any point of time. For example, the soil is checked for pests during tilling, hoeing, sowing, crop growth phase and harvesting to ensure that there aren’t any pests that might hamper the growth of crops. If the soil is sub-par, appropriate insecticides, manure and fertilizers are sprayed to discourage pest growth.

Care has to be taken to ensure cleanliness in cropping area. While pruning trees in the farm, dead/ rotten/ diseased branches must be pruned with care and the waste should be cleared from the farm instead of allowing it to sit there and rot, leading to growth of more insects. Farmers must be educated on how to use chemical pesticides and the amount to be sprayed in strips of land or entire field, depending on the infestation since chemical insecticides tend to pollute the environment and soil in equal measures and have a tendency to stay for long periods in the soil, rendering it infertile.

Crop rotation and inter-cropping are one of the most powerful tools in pest management, followed by vigilant weeding and tilling. Apart from these, biologically managing pests includes introducing parasitoids, predators and pathogens into the farm that are useful for the plants but act as deterrents to pests.

Water Management

Managing crop water requirement throughout the year is one of the toughest things to do since there is no guarantee of water supply functioning properly throughout the year. In tropical and subtropical areas like most parts of Asia, water supply may be interrupted by droughts, changes in groundwater level, changes in monsoon patterns, faulty irrigation practices etc. water is a source of life and energy and it is frequently needed during sowing, growth and harvesting season. This requirement is fulfilled via natural sources or irrigation.

MAP’s are fragile crops and their biochemical and physical characteristics depend on environmental factors. Increased yields are possible with the help of adequate water management. Rainfall is the primary source of water, post which rainwater stored in tanks or sub-surfaces can be used as irrigation water. Groundwater is considered as the last source of irrigation. If adequate rainwater is captured, this can last throughout the year.

This kind of water management ensures that decomposition of organic matter is a quick process and microbe activity remains at an optimum level, thereby reducing changes in the chemical makeup of MAP’s being grown. It also ensures that soil insects are under control and plants are not stressed due to lack of water and nutrition. It helps wash out harmful salts from the soil and gets the soil ready for tillage through the year. Sandy soils have a low water retaining capacity and therefore require more water supply while clay soils have a higher water retaining capacity and require lesser irrigation. High yielding crops also have a higher biomass and yield. A higher biomass indicates more requirement of water for production.

Monsoon rains are the only time India receives water. In this scenario, water management is of prime importance in an agrarian country like India.

Maintaining Live-stock

Livestock management involves managing cattle, farm animals, livestock feed and productivity to ensure maximum output from the farm. Livestock management is becoming an increasingly tough job owing to seasonal fluctuations in demand and supply, changing terms of trade and overall shift in demand of fruits, vegetables and MAP’s. Successful management of livestock involves having a product that meets immediate demands of the market. Good healthy livestock, great genetics, quality assurance for everything associated with livestock management, quality assistance, optimum environmental conditions etc. are important factors in livestock management. It requires sound forward and backward integration across markets.

Livestock management is a technical aspect of farming that most people take lightly due to reliance on old, faulty means of rearing and managing livestock. Producers could seek knowledge of many other branches of knowledge related to livestock management like optimizing usage of natural resources to derive maximum potential from air, land, water, soil and food; rearranging grazing pastures to ensure carbon sequestration, resource conservation and aquatic as well as land biodiversity is always taken care of.

Livestock management places a lot of importance on management strategy for usage of manure in farming and livestock production. There are different kinds of techniques to assess different kinds of impact this can have on livestock management. It also helps assess, control and combat soil erosion and runoff drainage. Livestock management techniques change with available environment, soil type, animals, rainfall schedule, alternate arrangements to maintain moisture etc. It ensures that the yield is maximised with minimum inputs of time, energy, resources and management systems are managed effectively, including growth of forage, herd maintenance, growth of fodder, disease management, growth and harvest of animal derived products, maintaining hygiene of animal, animal products and animal waste as well as collection, handling and distribution of manure and FYM.