ANNOUNCEMENTS
Agriculture in India is an activity that engages 60 percent of our working population and hence signifies its importance as a primary source of livelihood for the majority population. Over the last decades, the problems faced by the farmers seems endless and this has caused severe discontent among them resulting in such large number of suicides and a generation that is reluctant to pursue agriculture as a career path. The cause for these problems have been recognized to be the result of unsustainable chemical farming which had taken over the agricultural systems since the Green Revolution in India. Now, in the wake of severe crisis of climate change and growing difficulties in sustaining this exploitative type of farming, several models of sustainable ways of doing agriculture are making a comeback and agroforestry is one such system that promises to tackle all these problems. It has the potential of encouraging biodiversity and adding value to the overall output of the farmland and hence improves the income of the farmer by reducing the heavy costs of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. By moving away from the economy of purchasing and depending on agrochemicals and transitioning into a low input natural form of agriculture for which an ever growing market is creating more demand for naturally/organically grown produce. Hence, the economic viability of transitioning to an agroforestry system is not a doubt, it just requires effective planning and support from the government in terms of ensuring security during the establishing stages.
Keywords: Agroforestry, Sustainable agriculture, viability, economic
