<aside> 📘 Literature mentioned here, and other knowledge material, can be accessed in this folder.
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Source: Gasparro, 2019. From the Atlantic forest to the Mediterranean shrub land: a Farm Performance Assessment and a Functional Design Framework for Large-Scale Successional Agroforestry Systems (SAFS). Farming Systems Ecology & Farm Technology Group, Wagneingen University. Access: https://edepot.wur.nl/528942
Syntropic Agroforestry has been advocated by FAO in their “RECARBONIZING GLOBAL SOILS: A technical manual of recommended management practices” publication, launched in 2021. With review of several farming approaches, the manual explain different agriculture practices and the studies released so far comparing sites carbon holding levels before and after practices’ implementation.
Source: FAO and ITPS. 2021. Recarbonizing global soils: A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 3: Cropland, Grassland, Integrated systems and farming approaches– Practices overview. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb6595en
🌾 Larger Potential for Carbon sequestration in comparison to general agroforestry
Multi-layer successional tree-based designs aim to mimic natural forest dynamics and therefore deliver all environmental services associated with that. The higher the metabolism and photosynthetic rate, the greater the carbon absorption by plants (Ramachandran Nair et al., 2010; Miccolis et al., 2016). Therefore, there is great potential for carbon sequestration in SA practices, although we are unaware of studies in this respect
💰 It increases yields of cash crops due to increased biodiversity in consortia
In Brazilian semiarid zones, it was a common practice even for small hold farmers to grow castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) in monoculture designs. When the project “Policultura no Semi-Árido” (Del Arco Sanches, 2009) introduced the successional agroforestry approach in the 1990’s, 750 families started combining castoroil with other plants, both with shorter cycles (beans, corn, watermelon, sesame) and longer cycles (fruit trees, prickly pear and timber). In addition to diversified harvests, some farmers also saw an increase in castor-oil production. Previously, the average in the region was 800 kg/ha of castor seeds. Within the project, some farmers harvested as much as 2 100 kg/ha, with the benefit of inheriting a fruit and timber plantation after the castor-oil yield, instead of empty and exposed soil.
In Brazilian semiarid zones, it was a common practice even for small hold farmers to grow castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) in monoculture designs. The introduction of successional approach in 750 agroforestry farms led to an increase from 800 kg/ha of castor seeds to 2 100 kg/ha, with the benefit of producing more additional crops for fruit and timber (Del Arco Sanches, 2009).
💰 More diversity leads to higher combined yield per hectare
Hoffmann (2013) compared economic data from eight agroforestry systems in Brazil and found that the average yields projected for 25 years in two SA sites were 16 and 21 t/ha/yr. Other agroforestry systems produced between 2 and 13 t/ha/yr. Successional systems were an advantageous alternative in southeast of Brazil when compared to conventional agriculture. Rebeschini (2008), by collecting data from four family farms that implemented succession-based agroforestry designs at Ribeira valley, showed that these systems produce more and for longer in less space. They concluded that in order to achieve the same economic productivity, the conventional grains (soybean and corn) and milk production would require at least 10 times more land.