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| Rural Industries |
Agroforestry, the incorporation
of trees into farming systems, has the potential to improve agricultural
productivity, diversify and increase farm income, conserve land,
maintain biodiversity and contribute to the national timber supply.
Given appropriate research, development and extension, agroforestry
could become a widespread, profitable and sustainable land use
of the future.
RIRDC has noted the strong community interest in
trees and Government efforts to plant more trees through programs
such as the 'One Billion Trees' program. However, many of the
current tree planting programs lack research and development support
and an appropriate economic framework.
In 1991 RIRDC undertook a comprehensive review of
research and development for agroforestry in Australia. This
review, together with the recommendations on research and extension
from the conference on 'The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture',
forms the background to RIRDC's program for 1991-96 in agroforestry.
RIRDC also manages a joint agroforestry program with
the Land and Water Resources R&D Corporation (LWRRDC). As
part of that program, two major reviews have been conducted on
low rainfall agroforestry and windbreaks research.
This had led to a sub-program in windbreaks research being established which is helping farmers to understand the interactions between the wind, the windbreak, the physical environment and the crop/pasture, and therefore helping them harness this technology to greatly improve the profitability and sustainability of a wide range of Australian farms.
Last updated: 10 October 1996
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Index of RIRDC Projects URL
http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/compendium/93-94/index.html