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nd

World Congress of Agroforestry

Nairobi, 24 August 2009

Agroforestry for an Ever-green Revolution Prof M.S. Swaminathan, FRS

UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India

Green Revolution Symphony (1968)

Major Components

o o o o Technology Services Public Policies Farmers’ enthusiasm Indian farmers achieved as much progress in wheat production in four years (1964 –68), as during the preceding 4000 years.

Assured and remunerative market is the prime mover of farmers’ enthusiasm

Sustainable Food Production : Early Warning

“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 consequences of agriculture without a proper understanding of the various 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

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 50 th Anniversary Meeting of the Crop Science Society of America

From Green to an Ever-green Revolution Pathways

Green Revolution : Commodity centred increase in productivity Evergreen productivity Revolution in : perpetuity associated ecological harm increasing without Change In plant architecture, and harvest index Change in the rhythm-insensitive to physiological photoperiodism Lodging resistance 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

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.

Impact of higher temperature on Agriculture

o o o o o Water scarcity and frequency of drought will increase Rise in temperature could increase the risk of heat or drought stress to crops and livestock Length of the growing period (LGP) is likely to change Physiological development is accelerated which hastens maturation and reduces yields Increased night-time respiration reduces potential yield

Some Recent Reports on unleashing Africa’s agricultural potential

Africa’s Ever-green Revolution

o o Unlike Asia, Africa does not have a dominant farming system on which food security largely depends 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

Learning from Successes : S & T Bright Spots

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

Overcoming Soil Hunger

An approach that makes it possible for farmers to produce most of the nitrogen that crops need is through fertilizer trees in the field – manufacturing nitrogen and cycling P and K with 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

Impact of Fertilizer Tree based Agroforestry System

Source: Malawi, WAgFor

Gene Banks for a Warming Planet

Community Gene & Seed Banks National Gene Bank Svalbard (North Pole) Global Seed Vault Conservation continuum

Enhancing the Coping Capacity of Local Communities

Conservation - Cultivation – Consumption - Commerce Gene Bank Seed Bank Grain Bank Water Bank 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.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Inchikachil I & II` Kuzhikavithu I Kuzhikavithu II Quintalkachil I Quintalkachil II

Life Saving Crops

6.

7.

8.

9.

Anakomban Kaduvakkayyan Urulan kachil Kuppathottikizhangu 10. Elivalankachil 11. Neendi/Veetukizhangu 12. Vella kachil I & II 13. Chorakachil/cherakachil/chuvappukachil/ Neela kachil I, II & III

Dioscorea esculenta

14. Nanakizhangu 15. Vella Enchi kachil 16. Mullan Kachil

Dioscorea rotundata

17.Africankachil 18. Thoonankachi

Dioscorea bulbifera

19. Erachikachil/Adathappu

Converting Biodiversity Hot Spots into Happy Spots : Role of Agroforestry based Biovalley

The goal of the Biovalley is to promote biohappiness through integrated attention to the using 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 plants for saving lives and strengthening livelihoods.

A good example : Rift Valley Biovalley is to Biotechnology (BT), what Silicon Valley is to Information Technology (IT)

Agroforestry based Sea Water Farming

Sea Water : 97% of Global Water Pool Agriculture : Consumes over 80% of fresh water Components of Action Plan o o o o Mixed cropping of Mangroves,

Salicornia

and

Atriplex

Sustainable capture fisheries Low external input sustainable aquaculture (shrimp farming) Market driven off-farm enterprises to improve the population supporting capacity of the ecosystem.

Integrated Sea Water Farming (Agro-Aqua Farms)

o o o Cultivation of halophytes (Mangroves, Salicornia, Atriplex, etc) Meeting the wood needs of the local community through bamboo, casuarina, etc.

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 o o Rehabilitation of degraded mangrove and other coastal ecosystems through Coastal Rehabilitation Self-help Groups Establishment appropriate of artificial coral reefs where 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…

Mangroves : Useful Sources of Genes for Salinity 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

Gene Deployment for Drought Tolerance

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

Inner bund

Mangrove plantation

Sea Water Farming

View of the Integrated Seawater farm near Chidambaram Grow out area For fish, crab TIDAL OUTLET

Agroforestry as a Strategy to Climate Change Adaptation

Adaptation capabilities of agroforestry o o 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 High rainfall :Pumping excess water out of the soil profile more rapidly by higher evapo-transpiration and maintain aerated soil conditions 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 sequestration offers the highest potential for carbon o o

Direct role:

Carbon from1.5 to 3.5 Mg C sequestration rates ranging ha−1 yr−1 in agroforestry systems

Indirect role:

Agroforestry has also some indirect effects on C sequestration since it helps to reduce pressure on natural forests

700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Agrof orestry Grazing management Forest management Cropland management Carbon sequestration potential of four land use systems (Adapted from IPCC, 2000) 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

Transforming Lives and Landscapes Global Research Projects

o o o o o o Domestication, utilization and conservation of superior agroforestry germplasm Maximising on-farm productivity of trees and agroforestry systems Improving tree product marketing for smallholders Reducing risks to land health and targeting agroforestry interventions to enhance land productivity and food availability Improving the ability of farmers, ecosystems and governments to cope with climate change Developing policies and incentives for multi-functional landscapes with trees that provide environmental services

World Agroforestry Centre, 2008.

Ever-green Revolution

“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