Agroforcstry has come of aee during the past fifteen years. During this period, activities and interest in agroforestry education and training have increased tremendously, as in other aspects of agroforestry development Today, agroforestry is taught at the senior undergraduate and postgraduate levels in many institutions around the world, either as a separate subject or as a part of the regular curricula of agriculture, forestry, ecology, and other related programs. Although several books on the subject have been published during the past few years, there is still no single publication that is recognized as a textbook. This book IS an effort to make up for this deficiency.
The need for such a book became obvious to me when I was faced with the task of teaching a graduate-level course in agroforestry at the University of Florida five years ago. Subsequently, the Second International Workshop on Professional Education and Training held here at the University of Florida in December 1988 recommended that the preparation of an introductory textbook be undertaken as a priority activity for supporting agroforestry education world-wide The various educational and training courses that I have been involved in, and my interactions with several instructors and students of agroforestry in different parts of the world, further motivated me into this venture
Agroforestry is a very complex subject; indeed, it is an amalgam of many subjects For centuries, agroforestry has been artfully practiced throughout the world, especially in the developing countries of the tropics Lately, the underlying principles of these time-tested practices, as well as the scope for applying scientific principles to improve them, are being explored vigorously. It has now become obvious that the science of agroforestry does, or ought to, involve a harmonious blending of both biophysical and social sciences. While it is important that an introductory-level textbook should cover all these aspects, It is quite a difficult task to integrate these seemingly disparate subjects under one cover. Nevertheless, an attempt has been made in this book to include elements of most, if not all, of the major areas of current interest in the subject.
The 25 chapters of the book are organized into six sections. After an introductory section that traces the brief history of the development of agroforestrv and the underlying concepts and principles of the subject, the major agroforestry systems in the tropics and the recent developments in each of them arc discussed in Section II (Chapters 3-10). Three chapters (11-13) that constitute Section III deal with the plant aspects: brief notes on about 50 of the commonlv-used multipurpose trees and shrubs in agroforestry' and illustrations of several of them are included in this section. Section IV (Chapters 14-18) is on soil productivity' aspects. The level of discussion in this section is more detailed than in others, partly because this topic has attracted more research attention, and also because soil-productivity improvement is often considered to be one of the most important advantages of agroforestry. Section V, called Design and Analysis of Agroforestry' Systems, deals with the diagnosis & design (D & D) methodology, on-station field experiments, on-farm research, economic and social considerations; and system-evaluation criteria. The main focus of these 24 chapters (Sections I-V) is on the tropics and developing countries, where the practice of and potential for agroforcstry arc most conspicuous However, significant developments in agroforcstry arc occurring in the temperate zone too; these arc the subject of the last chapter, which forms Section VI
Given the breadth of subjects covered in the book, it was important and even essential to draw heavily from the available literature on the different topics. In some cases, I thought it appropriate and important to present the subject in the respective authors' own words, to retain the authenticity of the subject and the arguments. A basic understanding of the elements of various biophysical (plant and soil) and social sciences is essential for the scientific study of agroforestry. However, many students have been found to be weak or out-of-touch with these basics. Therefore some of these basic principles are explained in separate chapters; relevant references to standard textbooks on these subjects are also made to enable the readers to update themselves.
The students of agroforestry have varied backgrounds and interests Their expectations of agroforestrv and hence of a textbook on the subject are divergent. Because of this, as well as the complexity' of the subject, one single book may not be completely satisfy ing to all. However, I hope that students, professional trainees, researchers, and other professionals in agroforestrv will find the book a useful infroduction to this complex subject.
The need for such a book became obvious to me when I was faced with the task of teaching a graduate-level course in agroforestry at the University of Florida five years ago. Subsequently, the Second International Workshop on Professional Education and Training held here at the University of Florida in December 1988 recommended that the preparation of an introductory textbook be undertaken as a priority activity for supporting agroforestry education world-wide The various educational and training courses that I have been involved in, and my interactions with several instructors and students of agroforestry in different parts of the world, further motivated me into this venture
Agroforestry is a very complex subject; indeed, it is an amalgam of many subjects For centuries, agroforestry has been artfully practiced throughout the world, especially in the developing countries of the tropics Lately, the underlying principles of these time-tested practices, as well as the scope for applying scientific principles to improve them, are being explored vigorously. It has now become obvious that the science of agroforestry does, or ought to, involve a harmonious blending of both biophysical and social sciences. While it is important that an introductory-level textbook should cover all these aspects, It is quite a difficult task to integrate these seemingly disparate subjects under one cover. Nevertheless, an attempt has been made in this book to include elements of most, if not all, of the major areas of current interest in the subject.
The 25 chapters of the book are organized into six sections. After an introductory section that traces the brief history of the development of agroforestrv and the underlying concepts and principles of the subject, the major agroforestry systems in the tropics and the recent developments in each of them arc discussed in Section II (Chapters 3-10). Three chapters (11-13) that constitute Section III deal with the plant aspects: brief notes on about 50 of the commonlv-used multipurpose trees and shrubs in agroforestry' and illustrations of several of them are included in this section. Section IV (Chapters 14-18) is on soil productivity' aspects. The level of discussion in this section is more detailed than in others, partly because this topic has attracted more research attention, and also because soil-productivity improvement is often considered to be one of the most important advantages of agroforestry. Section V, called Design and Analysis of Agroforestry' Systems, deals with the diagnosis & design (D & D) methodology, on-station field experiments, on-farm research, economic and social considerations; and system-evaluation criteria. The main focus of these 24 chapters (Sections I-V) is on the tropics and developing countries, where the practice of and potential for agroforcstry arc most conspicuous However, significant developments in agroforcstry arc occurring in the temperate zone too; these arc the subject of the last chapter, which forms Section VI
Given the breadth of subjects covered in the book, it was important and even essential to draw heavily from the available literature on the different topics. In some cases, I thought it appropriate and important to present the subject in the respective authors' own words, to retain the authenticity of the subject and the arguments. A basic understanding of the elements of various biophysical (plant and soil) and social sciences is essential for the scientific study of agroforestry. However, many students have been found to be weak or out-of-touch with these basics. Therefore some of these basic principles are explained in separate chapters; relevant references to standard textbooks on these subjects are also made to enable the readers to update themselves.
The students of agroforestry have varied backgrounds and interests Their expectations of agroforestrv and hence of a textbook on the subject are divergent. Because of this, as well as the complexity' of the subject, one single book may not be completely satisfy ing to all. However, I hope that students, professional trainees, researchers, and other professionals in agroforestrv will find the book a useful infroduction to this complex subject.
[EBOOK] An Introduction to Agroforestry, P.K. Ramachandran Nair, Kluwer Academic Publishers
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