BENGALURU: Following the NITI Aayog Report - Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW), Karnataka is assessing the area under agroforestry, and the report will be shared with the Centre.
The report has been prepared using remote sensing and GIS to assess agroforestry suitable across all Indian districts. GROW mapping is uploaded on the newly developed Bhuvan portal. The Agroforestry Suitability Index (ASI) has been developed to integrate multiple data sets including wastelands, land use, land cover, water bodies, soil organic carbon and slopes.
As per the report, agroforestry covers 8.65 per cent of India’s total geographical area, totalling about 28.42 million hectares. The current report underscores the potential benefits of converting underutilized areas, especially wastelands, for agroforestry.
The GROW initiative aligns with national commitments, aiming to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 and create an additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.
In 2014, India introduced the National Agroforestry Policy to improve sustainability and profitability through alternative land use systems. It aligns with global and national commitments such as the Paris Agreement, Bonn Challenge, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Green India Mission.
The report also noted that the central government in 2022- 23 underlined the promotion of agroforestry and private forestry as a priority. India is also the the seventh largest country that faces issues like increase in built-up area, land degradation and imbalanced resources.
The report stated that around 16.96% of the total geographical area is wasteland that can be used as productive area. Analysis also showed that around 6.18% and 4.91% of India's land are highly and moderately suitable for agroforestry, respectively.
Senior Scientist, All India Coordinated Research Project on Agroforestry, DC Hanumanthappa said, the exact extent in Karnataka needs to be assessed. He explained agroforestry includes horticulture, dry land and orchard also.
“The extent of land under agroforestry is improving. There are three components to agroforestry- block, boundary and bund plantations. It is seen that farmers are undertaking boundary plantation and bund plantation. Plantation of sandalwood, with the seeds provided by Institute of Wood Science and Technology especially in Kolar and Chikkaballapur has increased to 3700 hectares in three areas. Similarly in boundary plantation, farmers are now seen planting teak, silver oak, Melia dubia, mohogany and other such in bund areas. They are looking at soil conservation and locking the moisture in slopes,” he said.
Officials in the Agricultural Technology Information Centre said, with the increased government subsidy for irrigation pumpsets and borewells, the area and under cultivation and the per acre production is also increasing. As a part of the new report, each sector is being analysed under the 27 sectors (identified by the centre) for assessment. The three University of Agricultural Sciences’ in Karnataka- Bengaluru, Dharwad and Shivamooga, will be giving inputs.
Green tax: Bandipur collects Rs 4.5 cr in 10 months
Mysuru: Authorities of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve have collected a revenue of Rs 4.5 crore in just 10 months through ‘Green Tax’ from inter-state vehicles. The authorities are charging a fee of Rs 50 for buses and minibuses and Rs 20 for cars which pass through Bandipur towards Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Though the initiative was proposed in 2019, collection of the cess began from April 2023.
Speaking on the collection of cess amount, Bandipur Tiger Reserve director Ramesh Kumar said the amount collected will be used to pay wages of the frontline staff of the forest department. “The tax is being collected from inter-district and inter-state vehicles. The amount collected from the tax will be used for the wages and welfare of the staff without waiting for the allotment of funds from the government,” he said.