Operate agro-forest cultivation to benefit rural people

AS GLOBAL countries currently face environmental problems and challenges as well as food security issues, they use nature-based ways and means to solve these problems with agro-forest activity, conservation of watershed forests, efficient and correct use of land utilization, and agricultural techniques to reduce climate change as well as applying good agriculture practices.

Among them, the agro-forest measure is a proper land utilization process aimed at obtaining long-term benefits from the utilized lands and manufacturing more than one product from forest products, agriculture and livestock farms. Basically, the agro-forest activity comprises the cultivation of trees mixed with herbal plants and vines, seasonal crops, vegetables and fast-growth plants in order to increase per-acre yield from a single area.

Practically, growers plant trees of forests mixed with perennial or annual crops as well as feedstuff plants and pulses and beans which can be harvested in a short time. If so, those growers can obtain benefits from mixed crops which can be harvested two or three times a year while conserving trees.

There will be different systems for agro-forest measures depending on the use of species for the plants, geographical conditions, ecosystems, different geological conditions, cultivation techniques and cultivation methods whether may be conventional or modern.

As such, families can operate agro-forest cultivation as traditional jobs on a manageable scale. So also, groups of growers can engage in agro-forest measures on a commercial scale. Moreover, these activities can contribute much to the improvement of the socioeconomic life of the rural people depending on locations, climatic conditions, markets and interests of local people.

Up to now, the community-owned forests comprise 569,673 acres of agro-forest plantations. Likewise, a total of 8,761 acres of agro-forest plantations have been set up in the implementation of the Myanmar reforestation project. As such, a total of 578,434 acres of land have been placed under agro-forest plantations across the nation.

In fact, agro-forest cultivation is a chance created by the government for rural people and local farmers to earn income from agricultural tasks. Reciprocally, farmers from the plantations can be reliable for the conservation of valuable trees such as teak, ironwood, gam-kino and other hardwood not to lose.

Moreover, those rural people can enjoy the chance to possess agricultural produce from their plantations in agro-forest cultivation in addition to forest products. If so, their endeavours will help ensure food security not only for themselves as well as relevant regions and contribute to the improvement of their socioeconomic life.