Agroforestry is a living system where annual crops grow alongside trees, sometimes joined by livestock, all sharing the same piece of land. This intentional partnership of trees and crops shows how to live in harmony with nature. Trees send their roots deep into the soil, pulling up nutrients (nutrient pumping) and water; crops spread their roots wide, capturing what the trees leave behind. Leaves fall, microbes wake up, soil breathes again. Over time, the land remembers how to be fertile (closed nutrient cycling).
In these fields, agrobiodiversity flourishes. Birds nest in the branches, insects find shelter, and soil microorganisms get organic matter provided by trees. Carbon is stored in trunks, roots, and soils, turning farms into sustainable and climate-resilient. This simple yet intentional harmonious partnership is a powerful response to some of the biggest challenges, like food security, land degradation, and climate change.
In India, from homesteads and farmlands to boundary plantations, agroforestry already covers about 28 million hectares, nearly 8.5% of the nation’s total geographical area. These tree-based systems hold close to 20% of India’s national carbon stocks, making them an invisible but vital climate buffer. Even more striking is their role in meeting everyday needs: agroforestry supplies nearly 60–90% of the country’s domestic wood demand, supporting construction, energy, paper, and livelihoods. And yet, the story is unfinished.
Despite this immense contribution, India still imports nearly USD 7 billion worth of wood and wood-based products every year, with imports CAGR of 15%. Considering both the promise and the gap, the government has set an ambitious target to expand agroforestry to 50 million hectares (15.2% of India’s land area) by 2050. And also, to encourage agroforestry and trees outside the forest, the Centre for International Forestry Research–International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), hosted TREESCAPES-2026, the first South Asian Agroforestry & Trees Outside Forests Congress.
At the grassroots level, agroforestry-assisted Natural Farming offers a practical mechanism to translate these national goals into farm-level action. By integrating multipurpose trees with natural farming principles, such as biological inputs, soil regeneration, and minimal external dependence, agroforestry-assisted ZBNF enhances on-farm biomass, improves soil microbial activity, and increases carbon sequestration. Importantly, tree components provide timber, fuelwood, fodder, and non-timber products, directly reducing pressure on forests and import dependence. Thus, agroforestry-assisted ZBNF emerges as a convergence point where climate action, farmer livelihoods, and national self-reliance in wood resources can be simultaneously achieved.
What is Agroforestry-assisted Natural Farming?
In Agroforestry-assisted ZBNF, trees are the main component. Trees are integrated with annual crops and livestock, especially Desi cows. The principles of natural farming are used in Agroforestry, which is a natural way of farming that helps to rejuvenate soil, moisture, and crop health. Jivamrita, Bijamrita, mulching, soil aeration, intercropping, crop diversification, crop rotation, bunds, bio-pesticides, and many more are utilized in a holistic approach.
Principles of Agroforestry-assisted Natural Farming
- Nitrogen-fixing multipurpose trees as core components: Nitrogen-fixing and multipurpose tree species form the backbone of the system. These trees improve soil fertility, enhance biomass production, support biodiversity, and provide multiple outputs such as fodder, fuelwood, fruits, and timber.
- Complete avoidance of synthetic chemicals: The system strictly avoids the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and growth regulators. Crop nutrition and protection are managed entirely through natural and biological means.
- Use of natural bio-inputs: Indigenous bio-inputs such as Jeevamrita and Bijamrita are used to enhance soil microbial activity and seed health. Mulching and botanical biopesticides help conserve soil moisture, suppress weeds, and manage pests naturally.
- Focus on annual crops and shade-tolerant species in initial years: During the first 4–5 years, emphasis is placed on cultivating annual crops, shade-loving plants, and cover crops. This ensures regular income for farmers while improving soil structure and ecosystem stability as trees establish.
- No Tillage/Minimal Tillage: This prevents soil disturbance, allowing earthworms and microorganisms to thrive.
- Natural Pest Control: Botanical extracts like Dashparni ark and Neem Astra are used, alongside techniques like using salt for mango shoot borer. prepared on the farm using locally available materials, ensuring low-cost and sustainable production.
- Soil Management: Soil is kept covered with organic mulch (straw, crop residue) to regulate temperature, retain moisture, and create humus.
Components of Agroforestry-assisted Natural Farming
- Tree component: Tree planting helps to create amiable habitats and have positive impact on the health of our native, associated flora and fauna. Also, good controller of CO2 emissions, and improve microclimate of an area. Trees are able to communicate and defend themselves against attacking insects and pests through their chemicals and signal danger to other trees to start their own defense. Planting fruit trees can help with food and nutritional security, reduce the greenhouse effect, and slow the rate of global warming. A diet high in fruits can supplement antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fibers, etc., and help to protect from various infections and diseases. Tree by-products have good medicinal applications and are used in the treatment of various ailments. Most of the AF species produce a good amount of leaf litter and debris that is rich in allelochemicals, which often imparts species resistance to insects and pathogens. In addition, AF has diverse components that act as biological barriers for the insect and pests. Some AF multipurpose tree species used in bio-pesticides and they also helps in biodiversity conservation and harboring beneficial insects which helps in pollination.
- Livestock component: Livestock includes rearing of animals like cattle, buffalo, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, mules, asses, and camels, as well as rearing of birds such as chickens, ducks and fowl etc. Livestock supply high-quality meat protein milk, food stuffs etc., and by-products such as dung, urine, hide etc. Indigenous livestock-based AF systems can provide great opportunity for improving food security along with meeting various tangible and intangible needs of forms. Study recommended indigenous livestock based AF systems to enhance sustainability and/or resilience along with positive economic and ecological benefits in different AF systems (Sibanda, 1991; Raj et al. 2020a). In addition it also lessens the gap between production and consumption, and the inability of supplies to meet projected demand of animal based food and other output. The livestock helps in land preparation, transportation, energy source and provides by-products like dung and urine which enhance soil fertility, nutrient cycling, crop growth and productivity. Integrating livestock with shade providing and protein rich multipurpose trees improves animal performance, productivity along with other ecosystem services.
- Crop component: Crops of agriculture, horticulture and medicinal plants including annual and perennial crops are successfully incorporated and studied the effects of growth, yield and soil physic-chemical and biological properties (Coelho, 2017). Studies suggested for growing crops such as pineapple, moong bean, oats etc under different AF land use systems (Coelho, 2017; Zahoor et al., 2022).
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