According to the newspaper reports (Dawn Nov 1, 2003), the ministry of environment has prepared an incentive package worth Rs1.15 billion to encourage tree plantation by farmers. Under the package, farmers would be provided financial assistance, tractors, quality seeds, plants stock, and other incentives for setting up nurseries on their agricultural land.
In addition, the ministry will arrange training workshops, seminars and other activities to equip farmers with techniques at agroforestry. The programme has been designed for seven years. It would be proper to mention here that prior to this,the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) had also arranged a funding line of 2.2 million euro to promote tropical forest in Pakistan during the next five years.
It is true that Pakistan has a perilously low proportion of forest area — a paltry 4 per cent, which is much below the recommended minimum of 25 per cent and required to be enhanced. At present the share of agriculture in GDP is about 25 per cent and the share of forestry in agriculture is 0.62 per cent and the share of forestry in GDP is only 0.15 per cent.
Accordingly to enhance forest cover it is of utmost importance that for tree planting in areas outside the control of the forest department, full public participation is necessary which is possible only through agroforestry or social forestry, where practices are focused on meeting the economic, environmental and social needs of the people on their private land.
But the road-map announced in respect of introducing agroforestry did not mention modus operandi of preventing misuse of funds to be allocated in the shape of tractors, quality seeds, plants stock and other incentives for farmers.
This is because under the existing scenario viz, lack of transparency and accountability in the forestry sector there exists a free-for-all like situation which can be gauged from the extent of illegal removal of established forest areas particularly in the reverine belt as well as illegal felling of trees on canal bunds and roads in the countryside particularly in Sindh province.
However, since agroforestry practices includes forest farming, windbreaks, alley cropping, riparion forest buffer, silvopasture, etc, some suggestions to this effect are as follows:
1. Forest department in each province should furnished a list of species of trees, shrubs and herbacious plants suitable for a particular area and cropping pattern that can be used in agroforestry system. Its importance could be gauged from the fact that species of popular trees introduced in Sindh over a decade ago by the forest department was of inferior value because of its dark-bark.After about 10 years of age when it was sold at M/s Lashani Wood factory at Moro it was offered Rs35.00 per maund whereas white-barked poplar trees introduced in Punjab and NWFP were offered Rs75 per maund. In this way growers of Sindh were losers of Rs40 per maund which was of course a crystal clear example of technical incompetence of the forest department of Sindh province.
2. Forestation in the rice belt of upper Sindh: Following the advice of the forest department officials paddy growers in districts Larkana, Shikarpur and Jacobabad who planted acacia, and eucalyptus trees on bunds around their paddy fields encountered excessive rice leaf-folder and white backed plant hopper attack on their rice crop. To avoid extra expenditure on rice pests control majority of the growers had to remove these shady trees from their paddy fields. Accordingly while introducing agroforestry in the rice growing belt of the province this very factor needs attention of the concerned quarters.
3. In cotton-growing belt, increased forest cover with shisham trees has been found having excessive whitefly problem on cotton crop and excessive birds problem especially parrots on sunflower (oilseed crop). In the light of these facts / observations it is imperative, therefore, that in cotton growing belts trees of high economic value like poplar and semal (salmalia malbarica) having low canopy and shade value should be given preference over shady shisham trees.
4. In upper Sindh region, both on the left and right bank command areas of Sukkur and Guddu barrages marginal lands (class- C) are in abundance. Forestation on marginal lands may be given preference over the fertile class-A and B lands.
5. Afforestation in the desert belt of Nara and Thar deserves special attention as forest cover in the desert will lesson the chances of local resurgence of desert locust which inflict colossal damage to crops and trees during the outbreak period.
Key traits: Review of literature has indicated the following key traits: Agroforestry practices are intentional combination of trees with crops and/or livestock that involve intensive management of the interactions between the components as an integrated agro-ecosystem.
Intentional: Combinations of trees, crops and/or animals are intentionally designed and managed as a whole unit, rather than as individual elements that may occur in close proximity but are controlled separately.
Intensive: Agroforestry practices are intensively managed to maintain their productive and protective functions. These practices often involve annual operations such as cultivation ad fertilization.
Interactive: Agroforestry management seeks to actively manipulate the biological and physical interactions between the tree, crop and animal components. The goal is to enhance the production of more than one harvestable component at a time, while also providing conservation benefits such as non point source water pollution control or wildlife habitat.
Integrated: The tree, crop and animal components are structurally and functionally combined into a single, integrated management unit. Integration may be horizontal or vertical, and above and below ground. Such integration utilizes more of the productive capacity of the land and help balance economic production with the resource conservation.
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