An Introduction to Agroforestry / Edition 1

by P. K. Ramachandran Nair

Overview

Agroforestry has come of age 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 1988recommended 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780792321347
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	07/31/1993
Edition description:	1993
Pages:	499
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.24(d)

About the Author

Dr. P.K.R. Nair is Professor of Agroforestry at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA and has been a founder-scientist at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya for about 10 years. He is a leading world authority and a pioneering researcher and educator in agroforestry.

Table of Contents

Section I. Introduction.- 1. The history of agroforestry.- 2. Definition and concepts of agroforestry.- Section II. Agroforestry Systems and Practices.- 3. Classification of agroforestry systems.- 4. Distribution of agroforestry systems in the tropics.- 5. Shifting cultivation and improved fallows.- 6. Taungya.- 7. Homegardens.- 8. Plantation crop combinations.- 9. Alley cropping.- 10. Other agroforestry systems and practices.- Section III. Agroforestry Species.- 11. General principles of plant productivity.- 12. Agroforestry species: the multipurpose trees.- 13. Component interactions.- Section IV. Soil Productivity and Protection.- 14. Tropical soils.- 15. Effects of trees on soils.- 16. Nutrient cycling and soil organic matter.- 17. Nitrogen fixation.- 18. Soil conservation.- Section V. Design and Evaluation of Agroforestry Systems.- 19. The diagnosis and design (D & D) methodology.- 20. Field experiments in agroforestry.- 21. On-farm research.- 22. Economic considerations.- 23. Sociocultural considerations.- 24. Evaluation of agroforestry systems.- Section VI. Agroforestry in the Temperate Zone.- 25. Agroforestry in the temperate zone.- List of acronyms and abbreviations.- SI units and conversion factors.