Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agroforestry Systems for Rehabilitating Degraded Lands of India

Degradation of land is a very vital question to be addressed in present times and needs immediate attention for restoration. There are various kinds of land degradation processes in India such as water and wind erosion, waterlogging, soil salinity and alkalinity, soil acidification, loss of soil organic matter, and other complex processes. The increasing level of CO2 in the atmosphere along with other greenhouse gases is a big concern for human society. Agroforestry as such is a very cost-effective and viable option not only for sustaining productivity but also for having socioeconomic and environmental benefits. Agroforestry has the long-term potential to combat climate change, maintain soil health, improve biodiversity, and protect natural resources. Sequestering C through agroforestry is now considered as an alternative economic opportunity for the mitigation of global climate change and carbon trading in addition to providing multiple associated benefits. The present review discusses role of agroforestry systems for degraded land management with main focus on carbon sequestration. The study undertaken under NICRA (National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture) Project at ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi, for 17 states of India, revealed that total carbon stock under baseline in different states of the country varied from 14.5 to 33.48 Mg C ha−1. Carbon sequestration potential in agroforestry systems existing on farmers’ field varied from 0.11 to 0.82 Mg C ha−1 per year. The inference was drawn that these systems especially in degraded landscapes have tremendous scope of locking carbon and mitigating climate change; however, the magnitude of carbon sequestration would vary depending on the climatic and geographical conditions of the area.