Agri-horti-silviculture

Agri-horti-silviculture

This system is defined as growing of agriculture crops, trees and fruit trees or ornamental trees or vegetables/flower together in same lands at the same time. This system is common in home gardens of mid-hills, Terai and Inner Terai of Nepal, where fodder trees such as Badahar, Tanki, Ipil Ipil etc and timber and fire wood species such as Sissoo, Eucalyptus, Baikaino, etc are grown around fruit orchard that act as shelter belt, and agriculture crops such as ginger, turmeric, yam, colocassia and vegetables are grown under fruit trees.

The main advantages of this system are as follows:

 Produce multiple products such as food, fruits, fodder and forage needed for livestock, fuel wood, timber, and leaf litter needed for organic manure production.

 Improve and sustain the livelihoods of farmers by increasing the level of income through the sale of fruit/vegetables.

 Trees grown around fruit gardens also provide extra-income.

 This is also the best practice for soil nutrient recycling, which also helps to reduce chemical fertilizer purchase.

 Improve the farm site ecology by reducing soil erosion and nutrient loss.

 Improve the local micro-climate and enhance the productive capacity of the farm.

 This practices helps for the beautification of the surrounding areas.