Alternate Land Use & Agro-Forestry - Agronomy | Agrigyan

• The National Research Centre for Agroforestry (NRCAF) was established by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on 8th May 1988.
• In December 2014, the council upgraded NRCAF to a full-fledged national institute and renamed it ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute (ICAR-CAFRI).
• The institute spearheads basic and strategic research on agroforestry systems, silvopastoral models, and watershed management for semi-arid tropics.
• Thus, the founding year of NRCAF Jhansi is 1988.

Alley cropping is an agroforestry practice where food or annual crops are grown in the passages (alleys) formed between rows of woody perennial trees or shrubs.

• Relay cropping: Sowing a second crop into the standing first crop before harvest.
• Inter-cropping: Growing two or more crops simultaneously in the same field with a distinct row arrangement, generally both annuals.
• Alley cropping: Specifically defined as cultivating arable annual crops in the alleys between hedgerows of woody perennial shrubs or trees.
• Multiple cropping: General term for harvesting two or more crops from the same land in a single year.

Tecomella undulata (commonly known as Rohida) produces exceptionally durable timber and is designated as the State Flower of Rajasthan and hailed as the 'Teak of Marwar' or 'Desert Teak'.

• Prosopis cineraria: Khejri, the Kalpavriksha of Thar desert and State Tree of Rajasthan.
• Tecomella undulata: Known as Rohida or Desert Teak due to its fine timber quality resembling Tectona grandis.
• Acacia nilotica: Babool / Desi Kikar.
• Azadirachta indica: Neem.

A shelterbelt reduces wind velocity and affords microclimatic protection on the leeward (downwind) side up to a distance of 20 to 30 times the height (H) of the trees (typically cited up to 30 H).

• 15 times of its width: Width does not determine the aerodynamic protective distance.
• 30 times of its width: Incorrect basis of measurement.
• 15 times of its height: Represents the zone of maximum wind reduction (10-15 H), but overall protection extends further.
• 30 times of its height: Widely accepted engineering and agroforestry standard for the total protected distance on the leeward side (up to 30 H).