Agroforestry
Agroforestry is the combining of agriculture and tree growing, to produce both agricultural products and tree products on a commercial basis. The aim is to gain positive interactions between the two systems at both the paddock level and the enterprise level.
Photo: National Association of
Forest Industries
The two systems may be fully physically integrated, or treated as separate entities within a single business enterprise. Often landholders start practising farm forestry on a small scale, whilst maintaining an existing agricultural enterprise.
Australian agroforestry produces a wide range of products, including energy, wood and fibre, eucalyptus oil and oil products, food, fodder and ecosystem services.
The concept of agroforestry is relatively new in Australia, and for this reason the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program was established in 1993 and jointly funded by a range of government and industry groups. The objective of this program is to assist in the development of profitable agroforestry industries while delivering beneficial natural resource outcomes. This is achieved through a range of activities including research and development into best practice tree management; quantifying land, water, biodiversity and social responses to agroforestry systems; developing new products from trees in low to medium rainfall areas; addressing landholder decision-making needs; and enhancing landholder knowledge and capacity to farm trees.
A project under the umbrella of the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program is known as the Australian Master TreeGrower Program. This is an education and extension program for landholders about growing and managing trees on farms.
While most farmers already grow trees to shelter stock and crops, control land degradation, enhance wildlife habitat and improve their landscape, this project help them to understand the commercial opportunities available in farm forestry and how to produce high quality timber, bushfoods, eucalyptus oils or other commercial tree products.
For more information about the Australian Master TreeGrower Program, visit the Master TreeGrower website
Case Study: The Otway Agroforestry Network
The Otway Agroforestry Network encourages and supports local farmers to design and implement revegetation projects. Otway landholders want trees on their farms to shelter stock, control erosion and dryland salinity, attract native birds, enhance property values and, if at all possible, to generate income. Set up by local farmers with government support in 1993, the Otway Agroforestry Network is a not-for-profit community organisation striving to encourage the wider adoption of commercial vegetation management as an integral component of more productive and environmentally sustainable farming.
For more information about the Otway Agroforestry Network go to their dedicated website.
