Agroforestry Adoption in the Eastern Region of Uttar Pradesh, India: A Way to Mitigate Climate Change

Agroforestry practices are defined as combining intercrops with tree crops suitably with optimum land utilization. These practices contribute to carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The increasing CO2 and other greenhouse gases is a big concern for human society. The trees accumulate CO2, the most predominant GHG in their biomass. Carbon sequestration through agroforestry is now considered an alternative economic opportunity for mitigating global climate change and carbon trading and providing multiple associated benefits. Although the carbon absorption capacity varies, it is generally considered that a tree can store about 167 kg of CO2 per year, or 1 ton of CO2 per year for 6 mature trees. The average carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry systems is estimated to be 25 t ha−1 over 96 million ha, but substantial regional variability exists. In the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, the forest cover, including tree cover, is only 9.20%, far behind the national target of 33% of the total geographical area. It is widely acknowledged that the status of agroforestry in districts of the Eastern Plain region of Uttar Pradesh is developing. Most districts cover forest areas between 1% and 2%, and many show less than 1.0%. Because of the challenging face of Eastern UP regarding the adoption of agroforestry by different stakeholders, the district Ballia, with forest cover of only 0.74%, and Varanasi, with 1.11%, were selected for the existing status of agroforestry, demand and supply of timber trees and trees outside forests to draw the attention of policymakers to streamline future strategies to implement successfully in field conditions. The agroforestry trees of timber value as Teak (Tectona grandis), Mango (Mangifera indica), Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), Mahua (Madhuca indica), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Aonla (Emblica officinalis) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus sp) were recorded based on girth classes in selected villages of respective development blocks of districts. The demand-supply gap for these species was also assessed to identify deficit species of the region for recommendation in future plantation programs. In Ballia district, the demand-supply gap for studied species in the district was highest for Mango (1,166,062 qt) followed by Mahua (548,406 qt), Shisham (451,866 qt) and Teak (356,037 qt). Thus, massive plantations of Mango, Shisham, Mahua and Teak urgently need time. The number of trees based on girth classes was recorded in selected villages of respective blocks. In case of Teak, a total of 578,351 trees, for Mango species, a total of 433,320 trees, a total of 522,848 trees in Neem, in the case of Shisham, a total of 454,319 trees, in Eucalyptus species, a total of 359,395 trees, in case of Aonla, a total of 78,202 and for Mahua, 86,295 trees were enumerated in different girth classes. In Varanasi district, the results for demand-supply gap for selected species in the district depicted that it is highest for Mango (278,858 qt) followed by Neem (219,810 qt.), Mahua (175,587 qt), Shisham (136,792 qt) and Teak (127,061 qt) respectively. In the case of Teak, a total of 272,390 trees, in Mango species, a total of 86,648 trees, a total of 53,116 trees in Neem, in the case of Shisham, a total of 23,917 trees, in Eucalyptus species, a total of 24,851 trees, in case of Aonla, a total of 8795 and for Mahua, 16,556 trees were enumerated in different girth classes. Mahua and Aonla trees were found to be much less than other species. Thus, introducing these species in large areas/private land of the farmer may be a viable option for minimizing the demand-supply gap and raising tree cover. There is an urgent need for time to develop strategies for the economic gain of farmers and climate change reduction by tree farming.