Applicability of agroforestry systems

Abstract

It is argued that agroforestry is presently suffering from oversale and wishful thinking, rather than based on objective analysis of potentialities and limitations. To build up scientific credibility and provide a useful instrument for those who want to better promote agroforestry practices, it is proposed that a comparison between agroforestry and monocultures as a valid alternative should always be made. Such comparison must carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each system, both from biological and socio-economic angles. To facilitate such a comparison a lengthy recapitulation of qualitative and a few quantitative assessments are presented, based on practical experiences, literature review and discussions with practising "agroforesters". It is hoped that these assessments -to be refined on a continuous basis- can serve as guidelines to research themes, for promotion and extension campaigns and for evaluations a posteriori.