Cabinet to take up national policy on agroforestry tomorrow

Cabinet is likely to consider a policy tomorrow to promote agroforestry by facilitating credit and insurance to farmers besides strengthening market access.
"The Cabinet meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. National Policy on Agroforestry is on the agenda," said a source.
In the Cabinet note, the Agriculture Ministry has said that the policy is necessary as the sector is affected by adverse policies, legal constraints, inadequate investments, weak markets and dearth of institutional finance.
Despite recognised benefits of agroforestry, the sector has not been able to grow due to lack of coordination between departments that oversee related sectors such as agriculture, forestry, rural development, environment and renewable energy, sources said.

The national policy is in line with the recommendations of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) that has suggested setting up of a 'National Agroforestry Mission or Agroforestry board' with investment Rs 200 crore. The authority is expected to leverage about Rs 4,000 crore annually from the ongoing programme.
NAC has also suggested providing institutional credit and insurance cover for agroforestry, facilitate industry participation and provide market access to farmers, incentives to farmers for adopting agroforestry.
Agroforestry is a land use system which integrates trees and shrubs on farmlands and rural landscapes to enhance productivity, profitability, diversity and ecosystem sustainability. It is known to have the potential to mitigate effect of climate change.