Silvopastoral system: A prototype of livestock agroforestry

Traditional livestock production systems based on grass monoculture tend to exhaust natural resources in a process of continuous degradation. Alternatively, silvopastoral systems are a prototype of agroforestry with a livestock component and are characterized as cleaner production that provides four major environmental benefits: carbon sequestration and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity conservation, soil enrichment and improved air and water quality. Incorporation of a silvopastoral system increases the quantity and quality of wildlife habitat, provides wide range of versatility in potential outputs from the land base and yields economic returns that are comparable to other land uses. The strategies for promoting productivity growth will require concerted research and development on improved use of less fed areas, technology delivery, initial investments, a policy framework and improved farmer-researcher-extension linkages. Despite of the above discussed facts, silvopastoral systems are underestimated and underutilized throughout the developing countries.