Agroforestry: Agroforestry is a collective name for a land-use system and technology whereby woody perennials are deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops and/or animals in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In an agroforestry system there are both ecological and economical interactions between the various components

Classification of Agroforestry Systems

Agri-Silvicultural system

Silvi-Pastoral System

Alley Cropping

Home Garden

Aqua-Silvicultural system

Multipurpose trees and shrubs in Agroforestry

Nutrient Cycling by Agroforestry Plantation

Waste Land Development Through Agroforestry

Model for Watershed Management and Agroforestry
Agroforestry in Gujarat

At present, nine species - Neem (Azadirachta indica), Deshi babool (Acacia nilotica), Nilgiri (Eucalyptus sp.),Sharu (Casuarina sp.), Ardusa (Ailanthus sp.), Teak (Tectona grandis), Subabool (Leucanea leucocephola), Bengali babool (Acacia auriculiformis) and Bamboo are dominant and they are economic species in agro-forestry plantations.

Eight exotic species – Prosopis chilensis, Eucalyptus sp., A. tortalis, Casuarina equisetifolia, Leucanea leucocephala, Pithocolobium dulce, Ailanthus excelsa and Acacia auriculiformis, which were absent or rarely seen five decades ago, are now dominant species, constituting over one third of total Tree Outside Forest (TOF) in the State.

These exotic species have changed the landscape of the state and also improved the wood production and economy of the state. Neem, deshi babool and ardusa are the three main tree species in the agro-forestry plantations in north Gujarat.

In central Gujarat, Eucalyptus sp. along with Deshi babool and Neem is the main species in commercial plantations of agroforestry.

Plantation of sharu and Bengali babool is increasing in the high rainfall areas of south Gujarat, although teak, khair and bamboo are also preferred by the farmers. Saurashtra and Kachchh have relatively less agro-forestry plantations due to adverse climate and soil conditions

Sharu, neem, sitafal are preferred by the farmers in this region. Among the fruit species, Mango (Mangifera indica), Drum stick or Sargavo (Moringa oleifera), Sitafal or Custard apple (Annona squamosal), Aonla or Indian goose berry (Embilca officinalis), Bordi (Zizyphussp.), Jamun (Syzygium cumini), Nariyali (Cocos nucefera), Chikoo (Acrus sapota), and Guava or Jamfal (Psidium guajav) are important tree species raised by the farmers.


Eucalyptus Plantation

Alianthus excelsa plantation

Teak Plantation