Abstract
The main purpose of a classification scheme is to provide a practical framework for the synthesis and analysis of the information about existing agroforestry systems (AFS) and the development of new and promising ones. During the early stages of AF development in the tropics, a substantial database was generated from a global inventory of tropical AFS. Using that database, a classification scheme was developed based on the system’s structure (nature and arrangement of components) as the primary criterion, and three major categories of AFS were identified: agrisilvicultural, silvopastoral, and agrosilvopastoral systems. Other criteria such as the system’s function (major role or output), ecological distribution (rainfall, elevation), and socioeconomic characteristics (subsistence, commercial) were then used to group the systems in a purpose-oriented manner: for example, a silvopastoral system in tropical savannas, an agrisilvicultural system for soil conservation, and so on. In situations where such a detailed classification is not relevant or needed as in the temperate regions, classification has been limited to the identification of the major practices. Thus, during the late 1990s to early 2000s, alley cropping, silvopasture, forest farming, riparian buffer, and windbreaks were recognized as the major agroforestry practices in North America. Almost identical terms with slight modifications were adopted to designate the AF practices in Europe too. These terms have subsequently been modified and expanded in both North America and Europe.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AGFORWARD (2015) (This report is also cited in the literature as “den Herder et al. (2015)”
Benites JR (1990) Agroforestry systems with potential for acid soils of the humid tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean. For Ecol Manage 36:81–101
Bentrup G, Schoeneberger M, Patel-Weynard T, Jose S, Karel TH (2017) Introduction. In: Agroforestry: enhancing resiliency in U.S. agricultural landscapes under changing conditions. USDA Forest Service Ge. Tech. Report WP-96, pp 1–6
Bourke RM (1984) Food, coffee and casuarina: An agroforestry system from the Papua New Guinea highlands. Agrofor Syst 2:273–279
Buck L (ed) (1981) Proceedings of the Kenya National Seminar in Agroforestry, November 1980. ICRAF/University of Nairobi, Nairobi
Bungenstab DJ, de Almeida RG (eds) (2014) Integrated crop-livestock-forestry systems: a Brazilian experience for sustainable farming. Embrapa, Brasilia, 282 pp
Chandler T, Spurgeon D (eds) (1979) International cooperation in agroforestry. Proceedings of ICRAF/DSE conference. ICRAF, Nairobi
Combe J, Budowski G (1979) Classification of agroforestry techniques. In: de las Salas G (ed) Proceedings of the Workshop on Agroforestry Systems in Latin America. CATIE, Turrialba, pp 17–47
de las Salas G (ed) (1979) Proceedings of the Workshop on Agroforestry Systems in Latin America. CATIE, Turrialba
den Herder M, Burgess PJ, Mosquera-Losada MR et al. (2015) Preliminary stratification and quantification of agroforestry in Europe. Milestone Report 1. 1 for EU FP7 Research Project: AGFORWARD 613520, 57 p. (Also cited as AGFORWARD 2015)
FAO (1981a) Agroforesterie Africaine. FAO, Rome
FAO (1981b) Agroforestry: India and Sri Lanka. FAO, Rome
Fernandes ECM, O’Kting’ati A, Maghembe J (1984) The Chagga home gardens: a multistoried agroforestry cropping system on Mt. Kilimanjaro (N. Tanzania). Agrofor Syst 2:73–86
Fonzen PF, Oberholzer O (1984) Use of multipurpose trees in hill farming systems in Western Nepal. Agrofor Syst 2:187–197
Getahun A, Wilson GF, Kang BT (1982) The role of trees in the farming systems in the humid tropics. In: MacDonald LH (ed) Agroforestry in the African Humid Tropics. United Nations University, Tokyo, pp 28–35
Gold MA, Garrett HE (ed) (2009) Agroforestry: nomenclature, concepts, and practices. In: Garrett HE (ed) North American agroforestry: an integrated science and practice, 2nd edn. Amer Soc Agron, Madison, pp 45–55
Huxley PA (1983) Comments on agroforestry classification with special references to plants. In: Huxley PA (ed) Plant research and agroforestry. ICRAF, Kenya, pp 161–171
ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) (1979) Proceedings of the National Seminar on Agroforestry, May 1979. ICAR, New Delhi
Jose S (2019) Environmental impacts and benefits of agroforestry. In: Oxford encyclopedia of agriculture and environment. Oxford University Press, New York. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.195
King KFS (1979) Agroforestry and the utilization of fragile ecosystems. For Ecol Manage 2:161–168
Kronick J (1984) Temporal analysis of agroforestry systems for rural development. Agrofor Syst 2:165–176
Kumar BM, Nair PKR (eds) (2006) Tropical homegardens: a time-tested example of sustainable agroforestry. Springer, Dordrecht
Le Houerou HN (1987) Indigenous shrubs and trees in the silvopastoral systems of Africa. In: Steppler HA, Nair PKR (eds) Agroforestry: a decade of development. ICRAF, Nairobi, pp 139–156
Lundgren BO, Raintree JB (1982) Sustained agroforestry. In: Nestel B (ed) Agricultural research for development: potentials and challenges in Asia. ISNAR, The Hague, pp 37–49
Mann HS, Saxena SK (eds) (1980) Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) in the Indian Desert. CAZRI monograph no 11. Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur
McDonald LH (ed) (1982) Agroforestry in the African Humid Tropics. United Nations University, Tokyo
Michon G, Mary F, Bompard J (1986) Multistoried agroforestry garden system in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Agrofor Syst 4:315–338
Montagnini F (ed) (1986) Sistemas Agroforestales: Principios y Applicaciones en los Tropicos. Organización para Estudios Tropicales, OTS and Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, CATIE; San José, Costa Rica.
Nair PKR (1983a) Some promising agroforestry technologies for hilly and semiarid regions of Rwanda. In: Chang J (ed) Report of a seminar on agricultural research in Rwanda: assessments and perspectives. ISNAR, The Hague, pp 93–99
Nair PKR (1983b) Agroforestry with coconuts and other plantation crops. In: Huxley PA (ed) Plant research and agroforestry. ICRAF, Nairobi, pp 79–102
Nair PKR (1983c) Tree integration on farmlands for sustained productivity of smallholdings. In: Lockeretz W (ed) Environmentally sound agricultural alternatives. Praeger, New York, pp 333–350
Nair PKR (1984) Soil productivity aspects of agroforestry. Science and Practice of Agroforestry 1. ICRAF, Nairobi
Nair PKR (1985) Classification of agroforestry systems. Agrofor Syst 3:97–128
Nair PKR (1987) Agroforestry systems inventory. Agrofor Syst 5:301–317
Nair PKR (1993) An Introduction to agroforestry. Kluwer (Springer), Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Nair PKR (2012) Climate change mitigation and adaptation: A low hanging fruit of agroforestry. In: Nair PKR, Garrity DP (eds) Agroforestry: the future of global land use. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 31–67
Nair PKR (2014) Agroforestry systems and practices. In: Van Alfen N (ed) Encyclopedia of agriculture and food systems, vol 1. Elsevier, San Diego, pp 270–282
Neumann I (1983) Use of trees in smallholder agriculture in tropical highlands. In: Lockeretz W (ed) Environmentally sound agriculture. Praeger, New York, pp 351–374
Padoch C, de Jong W (1987) Traditional agroforestry practices of native and Ribereno farmers in the lowland Peruvian Amazon. In: Gholz HL (ed) Agroforestry: realities, possibilities and potentials. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht, pp 179–194
Seif-el-Din AG (1981) Agroforestry practices in the dry regions. In: Buck L (ed) Proceedings of the Kenya National Seminar on Agroforestry. November 1980. ICRAF, Nairobi, pp 419–434
Sinclair F (1999) A general classification of agroforestry systems. Agrofor Syst 46:61–180
Torquebiau (2000) A renewed perspective on agroforestry concepts and classification. CR Acod Sci Poris, Sciences de la vie / Life Sciencê sciences/Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS 323(2000):1009–1017
Torres F (1983) Agroforestry: concepts and practices. In: Hoekstra DA, Kuguru FM (eds) Agroforestry systems for smallscale farmers. ICRAF/BAT, Kenya, pp 27–42
Vandenbeldt RJ (ed) (1992) Faidherbia albida in the West African Semi-Arid Tropics. ICRISAT\ICRAF, Hyderabad\Nairobi
von Maydell HJ (1979) The development of agroforestry in the Sahelian zone of Africa. In: Chandler T, Spurgeon D (eds) International cooperation in agroforestry. ICRAF, Nairobi, pp 15–29
von Maydell HJ (1987) Agroforestry in the dry zones of Africa: past, present, and future. In: Steppler HA, Nair PKR (eds) Agroforestry: a decade of development. ICRAF, Nairobi, pp 89–116
Wiersum KF (1980) Observations on agrofrestry in Java, Indonesia. Forestry Faculty, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, and Department of Forest Management, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Wilken GC (1977) Integration of forest and small-scale farm systems in middle America. Agro-Ecosyst 3:291–302
Young A (1989) Agroforestry for soil conservation. ICRAF\CABI, Nairobi\Wallingford
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nair, P.K.R., Kumar, B.M., Nair, V.D. (2021). Classification of Agroforestry Systems. In: An Introduction to Agroforestry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75358-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75358-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-75357-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-75358-0
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)