New Delhi: New research published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found that more than 5 million large farm trees disappeared in India between 2018 and 2020, partly due to changed farming practices.
The researchers said that "an observable trend was emerging" in which agroforestry systems were being replaced by paddy rice fields, even where a certain damage to rats could be found to be natural.
He said that large and mature trees within these agroforestry areas have been removed, and the trees are now being cultivated within individual block plantations, usually with low ecological value.
Block plantations, which typically include fewer species of trees, were seen increasing in number, which was confirmed through interviews with some villagers in Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and other states.
The team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, explained that the decision to remove trees is often driven by the perceived low benefits of trees, as well as concerns that their shading effect, including neem trees, may adversely affect crop yields. There may be an impact.The authors said that increasing crop yields also contributed to the expansion of paddy fields, which helped increase water supplies, which were increased by the installation of new boreholes.
"This finding is particularly troubling given the current emphasis on agroforestry as an essential natural climate solution, which can play an important role in both climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, as well as livelihoods and biodiversity," the authors wrote. Has been."
Agroforestry Trees are an important part of India's landscape as they generate socio-ecological benefits while being a natural climate solution due to their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air.
However, despite their importance, the lack of robust monitoring mechanisms has contributed to inadequate understanding of their distribution in relation to management practices, as well as their sensitivity to climate change and diseases, the researchers said.
For the study, the team used an AI-based deep learning model to detect individual non-forest trees for each year.By tracking the tree crown over the years, they analyzed changes. The crowns of many trees come together to form an umbrella.
The researchers mapped and located trees from about 60 crore agricultural lands, excluding block plantations, over the past decade.
They found that about 11 percent of the large trees, which each had a crown size of 96 square meters and were mapped in 2010/2011, had disappeared by 2018.
"In addition, over the period 2018-2022, more than 5 million large farm trees (about 67 square meters crown size) are expected to disappear, partly due to changing farming practices, where trees within farms are Considered to be detrimental to crop yields," the author wrote.The researchers explained that although the findings may seem to contradict official reports and studies that tree cover has increased in recent years, they only reported gross losses and did not look at tree gains as a separate category.
The researchers said that "an observable trend was emerging" in which agroforestry systems were being replaced by paddy rice fields, even where a certain damage to rats could be found to be natural.
He said that large and mature trees within these agroforestry areas have been removed, and the trees are now being cultivated within individual block plantations, usually with low ecological value.
Block plantations, which typically include fewer species of trees, were seen increasing in number, which was confirmed through interviews with some villagers in Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and other states.
The team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, explained that the decision to remove trees is often driven by the perceived low benefits of trees, as well as concerns that their shading effect, including neem trees, may adversely affect crop yields. There may be an impact.The authors said that increasing crop yields also contributed to the expansion of paddy fields, which helped increase water supplies, which were increased by the installation of new boreholes.
"This finding is particularly troubling given the current emphasis on agroforestry as an essential natural climate solution, which can play an important role in both climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, as well as livelihoods and biodiversity," the authors wrote. Has been."
Agroforestry Trees are an important part of India's landscape as they generate socio-ecological benefits while being a natural climate solution due to their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air.
However, despite their importance, the lack of robust monitoring mechanisms has contributed to inadequate understanding of their distribution in relation to management practices, as well as their sensitivity to climate change and diseases, the researchers said.
For the study, the team used an AI-based deep learning model to detect individual non-forest trees for each year.By tracking the tree crown over the years, they analyzed changes. The crowns of many trees come together to form an umbrella.
The researchers mapped and located trees from about 60 crore agricultural lands, excluding block plantations, over the past decade.
They found that about 11 percent of the large trees, which each had a crown size of 96 square meters and were mapped in 2010/2011, had disappeared by 2018.
"In addition, over the period 2018-2022, more than 5 million large farm trees (about 67 square meters crown size) are expected to disappear, partly due to changing farming practices, where trees within farms are Considered to be detrimental to crop yields," the author wrote.The researchers explained that although the findings may seem to contradict official reports and studies that tree cover has increased in recent years, they only reported gross losses and did not look at tree gains as a separate category.
