Agroforestry

Agroforestry is a brilliant land use farming practice that covers 1.6 billion hectares (78 percent in the tropics and 22 percent in the temperate regions) to enhance plant diversification, productivity, and livelihood across generations, maintaining eco-restoration. It ensures socioeconomic upliftment and a standard livelihood for people along with many ecosystem services for sustainable development under resilient climates, which are today's key topics popularized among policy makers, stakeholders, scientists, ecologists, and climate supporters in the tropical world. Agroforestry provides tangible and intangible benefits in sustainable ways in the tropical world. Modifying tree-crop interaction also plays a key role in plant productivity in different agroforestry systems in the tropics, which further ensures socioeconomic development and livelihood security. However, more than 75 percent of the world's poor directly depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. Adopting climate resilient agroforestry not only maximizes productivity and farmers' socioeconomic status but also mitigates climate change issues through carbon sequestrations for better carbon management in the tropics. However, various anthropogenic factors lead to natural resource degradations that induces climate change issues and maximizes carbon footprints. Farmers adopting sustainable farming practices, especially agroforestry in the tropics, in the long run, are not only benefitting from the additional income they can generate via selling carbon credits but also from improving their soil health, yield quality, acreage, and profitability. Carbon trading in tropical agroforestry is seen as a way to provide financial incentives for farmers' to adopt environmentally friendly practices, which helps to mitigate climate change. Moreover, agroforestry's importance and services are not on pause due its huge potential that to fulfill nine out of the seventeen sustainable development goals. Poverty reduction (SDG-1), a zero hunger policy (SDG-2), health improvement and good well-being (SDG-3), gender equality (SDG-5), economic growth and national development (SDG-8), reduction inequality (SDG-10), greater productivity (SDG-12), a climate action plan (SDG-13), and life on the land (SDG-15) are the key goals addressed that can be achieved through sustainable agroforestry practices. Therefore, scientific management strategies in agroforestry would maximize plant diversity and productivity, provide higher socioeconomic and livelihood generation, and maximize carbon restoration along with many other environmental services for sustainable development.

In this context, the present book will address agroforestry management for livelihood security and sustainable development in the tropics. Ecological interactions and productivity in tropical agroforestry ensuring greater ecosystem services and livelihood resilience under changing climates are also discussed, as well as building livelihood resilience through monetization of carbon credits in agroforestry in the tropics. Livelihood and sustainability-based policy in agroforestry, its challenges, and a future roadmap are also included. This title focuses on new insights related to updated research, development and extension activities for combating climate change through carbon sequestration to enhance intensify greater productivity, and livelihood and ecosystem services for ensuring the goals of sustainable development.

Abhishek Raj, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Forest Product and Utilization, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay College of Horticulture & Forestry, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, India. He has authored and co-authored more than 25 scientific papers, five books, 70 book chapters, and several extension articles. In 2016, he received the Young Scientist Award and qualified on the Indian Council of Agricultural Research's National Eligibility Test in Agroforestry.

Manoj Kumar Jhariya, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Farm Forestry at Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, India and is dynamically involved in teaching and research. He is the author/co-author of more than 88 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, 16 books, 86 book chapters, and several extension articles and is an editorial board member of several journals. He is a life member of The Indian Science Congress Association, Applied and Natural Science Foundation, Society for Advancement of Human and Nature, and Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Association of India.

Arnab Banerjee, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, India and is involved in both teaching and research. He was a project fellow under a University Grant Commission sponsored research project and has published 80 research papers in reputed national and international journals. To his credit he has published 16 books and 75 book chapters. Additionally, he is a life member of the Academy of Environmental Biology and has supervised 50 post-graduate students.

Ramesh Kumar Jha, PhD, is a professor and Chief Scientist in the Department of Forestry, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay College of Horticulture & Forestry, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Bihar-India. He has 34 years teaching, research, and extension education experience in forestry and similar subjects. In addition to several forthcoming research publications, he has written books on deforestation and village life, the medicinal importance of agroforestry, tree species, birds of Pusa, and an agroforester's companion.

Krishan Pal Singh, PhD, is a scientist and assistant professor in the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture and Research Station, Jagdalpur, India. He has been awarded a Young Scientist Award for Best Oral Presentation at by Indian Society of Genetics, Biotechnology, Research and Development, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. He has published 40 research papers in reputed national and international journals, as well as two books and five book chapters. He is a member of the Confederation of Horticulture Associations of India and Society of Horticultural Research and Development.