COIMBATORE:The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has launched a Consortium of Industrial Agroforestry on Saturday, with an aim to increase the green cover in the state and improve the environmental condition.
The Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) implemented a National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) on Industrial Agroforestry from 2008 to 2014. In order to take advantage of the progress made in this project, the institute has conceptualised a consortium of Industrial Agroforestry which helped to bring farmers, research institutes, wood-based industries, nursery entrepreneurs, producer organisations, forest department, tree grower societies, NGOs, banks and insurance companies, together on a single platform.
In his special address at the inauguration, R Ezekiel, National Coordinator (NAIP), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, informed that out of the 51 value chain systems created through NAIP, the value chain on Industrial Agroforestry created by TNAU ranked among the best.
He further stressed upon the need for research which is driven by the needs of the industry and the very success of this value chain was because of the active and meaningful participation of industries.
Ezekiel also congratulated the TNAU for having launched this consortium which is the first-of-its-kind in the country.
N Krishnakumar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Administration), appreciated the efforts taken by the institute which has enabled livelihood improvement of the farming community, besides aiding in increasing the green cover in the state.
“With mounting challenges in agriculture, the need for diversification is very much felt, and tree growing is one of the prominent options. The success of any programme lies in bringing different stakeholders in a production-consumption process together, and this consortium would be an important step in achieving it,” he said.
In his presidential address, TNAU Vice-Chancellor K Ramasamy emphasised the importance of taking up mass tree planting by greening the villages, and urged scientists to adopt villages for this purpose.
Such mass tree planting programmes would be successful only when tree species of people’s choice were selected, he said.
Suggesting the consortium to take efforts to synchronise mass tree planting with rural development, the Vice-Chancellor requested all the consortium partners to coordinate their efforts, and use the consortium to address the difficulties and share their experiences.
