Not missing either the woods or the trees

Vast untapped potential must be gainfully harnessed to achieve environmental goals and derive potential economic benefits from agro-forestry

Climate-smart agriculture, which is the need of the hour, requires a judicious integration of trees and shrubs with crop farming and animal husbandry. This concept, technically called agro-forestry, can curtail emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from agricultural farms because trees are good sequesters of environment pollutants, particularly carbon dioxide. It also offers several other gains, including optimal utilisation of land; diversification of farming; improvement in land productivity; preservation of natural biodiversity; enhanced availability of fruits, fodder, fuel-wood, and timber; and more income for farmers. Trees and bushes planted on the periphery of fields also serve as wind-breakers to save crops