Agroforestry: A suitable System for Soil Health Enhancement Behera Suryakanta*, Pattanayak Sarthak1 Department of Silviculture & Agroforestry, College of Forestry 1Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003 *Email: suryakantarrr@gmail.com
Online published on 23 December, 2016. Abstract In simplest language, agroforestry is the production of trees and of non-tree crops or animals on the same piece of land. The crops can be grown together at the same time, can be grown in rotation, or can even be grown in separate plots when materials from one are used to benefit another. However, this simple definition fails to take into account the integrated concepts associated with agroforestry that make this system of land management possibly the most selfsustaining and ecologically sound of any agricultural system. Soil interacts dynamically with the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, collectively forming pedosphere. The function and relevance of soils in agro ecosystems has been recognized in the context of sustainable management, soil quality, soil resilience or soil conservation, and protection of local or regional agro ecosystems. Agroforestry systems make maximum use of the land. Trees in agroforestry systems have important uses such as holding the soil against erosion and improving soil fertility (by fixing nitrogen or bringing minerals from deep in the soil and depositing them by leaf-fall). Overall result showed that trees grown with crops, horticultural crops, pastures resulted in improvement of physical and chemical properties of soil under various agroforestry systems. For instance, reduction of soil pH, electrical conductivity, and exchangeable sodium percentage minimization of salt deposition in the upper layers of the soil, improvement of water permeability and water holding capacity, improvement of infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity with soil fertility, enhancement of cation exchange capacity, and other features are characteristics of soil as influenced by tree species, as well as through agroforestry practices. Top Keywords Agroforestry, soil health, tree species. Top |