Potential Nutrient Cycling and Management in Agroforestry

The nutrient availability in soil system governs an important role in all living species on the earth through food cycle. Inorganic available nutrients influence the growth and development as well as influence the nutrient state in plant acquisition. Agroforestry system (AFS) as an alternative practice of agriculture involves the incorporation of agricultural crop or animal use with trees on arable land use system for sustaining the soil health and productivity. Soil nutrient dynamic is defined as the way of taking up nutrient, retention, transformation (quantity and forms) and cycle over the distance and time due to continuous different bio-chemical processes in agroecosystem. The amount of nutrient released during the decomposition of litter or residue material of agroforestry subsequently satisfies the nutrient need of the plant, while further away the soil releases nutrient losses through various kinds of processes, i.e. erosion, heavy runoff, leaching and gaseous losses, removal by crop, as well as nutrient fixation, etc. The agroforestry system influenced different nutrient cycles of our ecosystem. Agroforestry system relative importance for storage of nutrient as well as increased the SOM (sustain of active SOM) levels in the soil. The agroforestry system may decrease the losses of N through leaching and increase the C immobilization, enhance the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and drastically improve the level of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. This chapter examines the in situ nutrient dynamics of carbon and essential primary nutrients with its cycle in the agroforestry system (AFS).