Experts recommend resilient agroforestry for Kerala

The College of Forestry of Kerala Agriculture University recently hosted a 21 days Winter School on ‘Agroforestry for Climate Change Mitigation, Biodiversity Conservation and Resilience in Agro-ecological Systems: Current Trends and Future Strategies’. This is an ICAR sponsored program. The experts at the event recommended the adoption of agroforestry that is resilient to climate change in states like Kerala. It was recommended that the southern state focus on using bamboo based agroforestry as its agro-climate is especially suited for the plant’s cultivation. The cultivation and integration of diverse bamboo varieties would serve not only economic benefits but also Eco-restoration as well as protection against climate extremes like floods and landslides as it has a tendency to curb soil erosion. The cultivation can include edible bamboo varieties like Dendrocalamus asper, commercially valuable Dendrocalamus stocksii and also widespread varieties like Bamboosa bambos. A major impediment to its integration in fragile landscapes and farmlands is poor farmer awareness.