Potentials and limitations of agroforestry for changing land-use in the tropics: experiences from Central America |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 195 Marsteller Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA;2. Department of Economics, Iowa State University, 468E Heady Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA;3. Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics, University of Missouri, 223D Mumford Hall, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA;4. Department of Community, Natural Resources and Economic Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 445 Henry Mall, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA;5. Department of Geography, Michigan State University, 236A Geography Building, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA;6. Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2204 Griffith Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61821, USA;7. Department of Engineering Professional Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 610 Langdon Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703, USA;8. Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 403 West State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA;9. Department of Agronomy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 165 Keim Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583, USA;10. Department of Soil, Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri, 103 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA;11. Midwestern Regional Climate Center, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2204 Griffith Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA;12. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 215 Atmospheric Sciences, Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA;13. National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 821 Hardin Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583, USA;14. School of Natural Resources, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA;15. Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, 317C East Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA;p. Department of Agronomy and Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, LILY 2-420, 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA;q. High Plains Regional Climate Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 711 Hardin Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583, USA;r. Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, Purdue University, 155 South Grant St, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA;s. Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, 2010 Agronomy Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA;t. Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University, Box: 2120, Brookings, South Dakota 57007, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | With increasing population pressure, the agricultural frontier in tropical countries is being expanded into previously untouched or little changed areas, frequently resulting in environmental degradation. At the same time, the use of agricultural lands is undergoing rapid changes in response to increasing environmental concerns and external market forces. In large areas of Central America, for example, the production systems for coffee have lost much of their biological diversity in the last couple of decades. Observations of apparently higher yields in high-input and low-diversity systems resulted in recommendations to eliminate trees. In recent years, however, as a result of low coffee prices and environmental concerns, calls to reverse this trend have been made in many countries and research and implementation initiatives are being developed to, once again, increase the diversity of the systems by incorporating trees.The necessary changes in the objectives and management of land-use systems must be gradual to assure high acceptability of the new practices. Under such conditions, which are typical for most traditional land-use systems, the development of practices which integrate trees into the agricultural land-use systems assumes special importance. Agroforestry practices can help to improve land-use systems towards higher sustainability and/or provide a stepping stone towards other, often tree-based, land-use systems of higher viability.Using examples from the research and extension experiences at CATIE, some silvopastoral and agrisilvicultural systems are discussed with their potentials and limitations. To help evaluate improved systems, promising methodologies for appropriate research and extension are outlined. New research has shifted the focus to on-farm experimentation, and economic and extension aspects of agroforestry. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
