Feeding the country’s growing population in a rapidly warming world will not be possible with modern intensive agriculture that relies on cutting down more forests to plant crops.
The only way to produce enough crops and mitigate climate change at the same time is to adopt what the researchers have called agroforestry, a system of growing crops alongside trees and shrubs.
The observations came in inaugural session of a three-day training course on agroforestry at Public Library seminar room in the city today. Hindu Religion Welfare Trust under its ‘Skill Development of Priests and Devotees in Religious and Socio-economic Context Project’ organized the training.
Divisional Forest Officer Imran Ahmed and Assistant Conservator of Forest Kaishyapi Bikash Chandra addressed the session as chief and special guests respectively with regional training officer of the project Shidhen Chandra Shingha in the chair.
Imran Ahmed said the project could provide inputs on crop management techniques, while department of social forestry could chip in with tree management technologies. “Together these technologies can help a healthy and sustainable model of homestead agroforestry.
Agroforestry would be useful in addressing the needs of fuel, fodder, green leaf manure and medicinal plants.
“In Rajshahi, land is a resource under constraint and hence homestead farming assumes great importance in generation, protection and utilisation of natural resources. Family farming, promoting homestead agroforestry models will be the best step forward,” he said.
“This combination of environmental services and agricultural production makes agroforestry an exciting opportunity both to feed the region and save the planet.”
Imran Ahmed opined that optimum agroforestry could be effective means of reducing carbon emission at a substantial level and that is very important to face the adverse impact of climate change in the region including its vast Barind tract, reports BSS, RAJSHAHI.
