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National Advisory Council

Working Group Recommendations on Agroforestry/Tree based farming Need for a National Policy Framework 1. Introduction 1. Agroforestry (AF), which in a broad sense is growing of trees for various uses (food, fruit, timber, fiber, fodder, fuel, etc.) with crops in various combinations and designs on the farm lands, plays a vital role in the Indian economy by way of tangible and intangible benefits. It has helped increase farm productivity and employment in one hand and the rehabilitation of degraded lands on the other. Trees on the farm build soil fertility, improve nutrient cycling, enhance water / moisture storage in the profile and contribute to reducing emissions through deforestation and degradation (REDD). Current estimates show that about 64 % of countrys timber requirement is met from the trees grown on the farm. Agroforestry practice generates 450 labor-days per ha per year without negating productivity or farm income. Resetting priorities in avenues like bio-fuels, employment generation opportunities, carbon sequestration and optimization of farm productivity are now increasingly being addressed through agroforestry. It is also realized that agroforestry is the only alternative to meet the target of increasing vegetation cover to 33 per cent from the present level of less than 25 percent. Therefore, a major role for agro forestry is also emerging in the domain of environmental services.

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2. Agroforestry is known to have the potential to mitigate the climate change effects through microclimate moderation and natural resources conservation in short run and through carbon sequestration in the long run. Agroforestry systems also provide ample opportunities for adaptation to climate change. They are proven to sequester as much carbon in below ground biomass as the primary forests, and far greater than the crop and grass systems. Agroforestry also has a great potential to provide employment to rural and urban population through production, industrial application and value addition ventures. 3. Therefore, the present challenges of food, nutrition, energy, employment and environmental security can be met through different agroforestry systems to a great extent. However, it will require appropriate research interventions, adequate investment, suitable extension strategies, providing incentives to agroforestry practioners, removing legal barriers in felling, transportation and marketing of agroforestry produce, harvest process technology, development of new products and market infrastructure, and above all a forward looking Agroforestry Policy to address these issues 1. Given the fact that land holding size is shrinking, tree farming combining with agriculture is perhaps the only way forward to optimize the farm productivity and thus enhancing livelihoods of small farmers, landless and women. Four percent growth in agriculture is unlikely without meaningful interventions in the agroforestry sector as opined by the experts. In short, trees on farm or agroforestry are unique for achieving multiple objectives, especially the food, nutrition, employment, health and environmental security. It is contended that the next green revolution is unlikely to take place without having trees on the farm. 4. The figure below shows that on a time scale of say 10 years the trees on farm start contributing positively to enhanced food security, nutrition & health and employment generation in as short as a year time, to improved environmental services and sustained livelihoods in 3-5 years and to better lives and landscapes in after five years on a sustainable manner. It should also be noted that the income increase is consistent over time from the first year itself.

Agroforestry: Vision 2030, National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi (June, 2011)

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Policies and programmes around agroforestry in India 5. Major Policy initiatives including National Forest Policy 1952, 1988 and the National Agriculture Policy 2000, Task Force on Greening India 2001, National Bamboo Mission 2002 and National Policy on Farmers, 2007 emphasized the role of agroforestry for efficient nutrient cycling, organic matter addition for sustainable agriculture and for improving vegetation cover. The National Agriculture Policy, (2000) stresses that, "farmers will be encouraged to take up farm/agroforestry for higher income generation by evolving technology, extension and credit support packages and removing constraints to development of agroforestry". The Report of the Task Force of Planning Commission in 2001 2 identified a potential of 10 million ha irrigated lands that could be brought under commercial agroforestry and 18 million ha of rain-fed areas that could be developed through subsistence agroforestry. It also envisaged that implementation of greening programme will help in poverty alleviation of 30 million people by agroforestry in rainfed areas, which will help predominantly empowerment of SC/STs, women and other weaker sections. Further, it has recommended several measures for promoting agroforestry including commercial agroforestry in irrigated areas, promotion of agroforestry models that would complement agriculture, improved and high quality saplings, role of private sector in R&D, market information system for buyers and farmers, removal of restrictions on felling, transport and marketing of private agroforest produce, establishing agroforestry boards and marketing federations, etc.

Report of the Task Force on Greening India for Livelihood Security and Sustainable Development, Planning Commission, GOI, 2001

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Main Agroforestry Systems in India Plantation Crops, such as the poplar based commercial agroforestry in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh; Tea in Assam, Sikkim, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; Coffe in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu; and Fruit Orchards, especially mango, guava, sapota, pomegranate and oranges across many States in the country Inter-spread Trees on Farm Lands, all over the country, especially in tribal areas of Jharkhand, Chhatish Garh, Orissa andWest Bengal Shifting Cultivation in North Eastern States of the country Shelter Belts along the coast line, particularly in Orissa and Tamil Nadu

Taungya Cultivation in Eastern and North Eastern States

Shrubs & Trees on Rangelands, especially in Rajasthan, Maharastra and Gujarat

Trees on Farm Boundaries Home Gardens, across the landscape in especially in Kerala, Tamil the country Nadu, Orissa and Assam Woodlots in central India, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharastra and Karnataka Large Cardamom & Alder Plantation in Arunachal Praesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya and upper Assam

Aqua Forestry in Kerala, West Bengal and Orissa Apiculture throughout all areas in the country

6. Yet, there is no specific scheme to promote Agroforestry in the country 3 although, there are a number of schemes of Government of India in which agroforestry is recognized as a component. To mention some of them are Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Mahatma Gandhi NREGA (MoRD), Soil Conservation in the Catchment of River Valleys and Flood Prone Rivers, National Horticulture Mission, National Mission for Green India (MoEF), etc. It is estimated that on average nearly rupees three to four thousand crore 4 or more is being spent
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Reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.3816 on 17th August, 2010 MGNREGA alone spends about 8-10% of its resources on tree planting as reported

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annually on tree planting / agroforestry through a number of Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Point worth mentioning here is that while there are many schemes trying to focus on tree planting / agroforestry, there exists a lack of coordination among the schemes/departments, a lack of general vision and a coordinated implementation framework including institutional mechanisms at the centre, state and district level to pursue agroforestry in a systematic manner. Constraints preventing growth of agroforestry/tree based farming in India

7. There are many constraints, ranging from inadequate legal provisions for felling and transportation of trees planted on farmland to near non-existent extension mechanisms on agroforestry, lack of institutional mechanisms at all levels to promote AF, lack of quality planting materials, inadequate research on agroforestry models suitable across various ecological regions of the country, inadequate marketing infrastructure and price discovery mechanisms, lack of postharvest processing technologies, etc. Since the mandate of the agroforestry falls within the cracks of the various ministries and departments and state governments, there is no serious institutional effort to remove the hurdles mentioned above. The value and position of agroforestry in the national system is ambiguous and undervalued. Despite of numerous benefits, in the national system it is sporadically mentioned here and there because of the lack of a national policy. 8. Farming enterprise of small farmers needs to be understood and developed as a portfolio of activities rather than as fixed one type of cropping system. Development along this direction requires a convergent programme which integrates tree, crops, water, livestock and other livelihood initiatives. This perspective of integration seems to be missing in the national agroforestry initiatives in whatever form it may currently be. In fact the key mantra of the success of the agro-horticulture programme of BAIF, NABARD, poplar based commercial scale (though small holder based), agro-timber systems in northwestern parts of the country and other successful initiatives is their ability to integrate various livelihood aspects with the tree planting in the farm. Survival of trees is the most challenging task and without addressing the issue of water this does not seem to be possible. The enthusiasm of farmers depleted substantially with the higher mortality rate as experienced from various programmes in the past. 9. There are restrictions imposed by the state governments (as per Section 41 of Indian Forest Act.) on felling and transportation of trees grown even on farm land, especially those species which are found growing in the nearby forests. These restrictions were basically designed to prevent pilferage from government forests. However, the rationale for such restriction is not very convincing as the species grown in the forest are to be best grown in the nearby private farms because of their suitability to that agro-climatic condition. Legal requirements for 5

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obtaining permits for felling and transportation are cumbersome and costly and hence discourage the farmers for undertaking tree planting on farm land. Multiple agencies are involved including the State Revenue Department due to prohibitory clauses provided in the Land revenue code, in issuing felling and transit permits. Similarly, tax is imposed at various stages of the processing by multiple agencies. This is not only unwieldy but also costly and frustrating. These restrictions also negatively impact the in-situ, or on-farm primary processing, jeopardize local employment in these operations and increase transport cost because of the transportation of the entire bulk raw material to the processing centers. Because of these reasons, coupled with others, the domestic agroforestry produce (raw materials and finished goods) are increasingly loosing grounds as against the imported materials which are cheaper and of better quality. On the contrary India being the tropical country and with all natural advantages should have developed agroforestry a major sector for income and employment generation. 10. There are sporadic examples of States taking steps for liberalization of these restrictions, such as, exempting agroforestry species from the felling and transit, but this has not been uniformly done by all the States. Also the extent of liberalization is not widely known to the farmers and thus, their exploitation continues. It is also learnt that people do not take interest in tree planting on the farm land fearing that too many trees on farm may lead to change of land use. Clearly such apprehension has no basis; however this does emphasize the lack of awareness that persists on the ground. The Arun Kumar Bansal Committee, appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in July 2011 in its draft report has clearly identified the regulatory bottlenecks for the growth of the agroforestry. 11. Research results of agroforestry available in the public and private domain did not reach to the farmers due to lack of a dedicated extension system. There is a serious lack of institutional mechanisms at all levels to promote Agroforestry. There are not even enough efforts to dovetail the programme to any other established programmes which have strong institutional mechanism up to the implementation level, such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme. Also, there is not enough research done on the agroforestry models suitable for the diverse agro-climatic regions and the diversity of varieties / clones of species for those regions, resulting in popularization of few species (poplar, eucalyptus, Kadam, etc.) and their limited varieties in certain pockets of the country. It is also important to note that India lacks processing technologies for fast growing timber species. 12. The planting material such as seeds, seedlings, clones, hybrids, improved varieties, etc. are generally of mix quality and not available commonly, particularly in the resource poor regions. It is estimated that out of twenty crore saplings required for planting every year, only about two crore are produced in the nurseries which are reliable under certain quality parameters, the rest go without any guarantee for quality standards. Hence, there are major issues connecting to the 6

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production of quality planting materials, handling, distribution and finally planting and supervision. 13. The marketing infrastructure (market yard, etc.), including price discovery mechanisms for agroforestry produce in general are unavailable in the country except in few states which have either developed exclusive marketing infrastructure for AF produce or have dovetailed with the regulated agriculture commodity marketing systems. As a result, it is largely a buyers market and the middlemen get the major share in profit. Many a times to avoid cumbersome procedures to obtain felling and transit permit the producers sell their standing crop to the middlemen at throwaway price who in turn in connivance with the Government functionaries manage the official procedures to take the produce to the market. Needless to mention that this is another factor that acts as disincentive to farmers to grow trees on farm. 14. The Wood Based Industries (WBI) have played an important role in the promotion of agroforestry and economy in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Western parts of U.P and in Uttrakhand. However, over the years the regulations governing the WBI have become stringent. The procedure for setting up new unit or compliance for existing units is cumbersome and lengthy, not very encouraging to instill confidence in industries. It was highlighted by the representative of one of the well known ply wood and veneer industries that due to restrictions for the installation of saw mills in the production sites, the primary processing after harvest like pruning of branches, debarking, etc. cannot be done at the farm. This leads to higher cost for transporting entire stock to the factory. It is learnt that due to lack of raw materials the WBI are operating at sub-optimal level. The role of industries in promotion of agroforestry cannot be ignored and therefore, issues preventing growth need to be addressed urgently. A lot of wood based products are being unnecessarily imported while the policy should be such that such products are developed here generating local employment and reducing burden on imports. The low import tariff for raw materials and finished goods, cumbersome procedures for sourcing raw materials domestically are some of the major reasons for the slow or negative growth of the WBI in India. 15. Institutional finance in agroforestry has been minimal, reasons being the dearth of technical and economic data on different agroforestry models which make it difficult for the financial institutions (FIs) to evaluate finance needs and economic viability of the projects. Also the Financial Institutions lack adequate technical capability to assist in formulation and appraisal of agroforestry projects. Similarly, little is done in developing and popularizing insurance products for agroforestry. Lack of awareness, unavailability of products suitable to growers, high cost of premium and unclear procedure of claim settlements are reported to be the factors responsible for this poor state of affairs.

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The NAC Working Group consultation process 16. It may be recalled that in the context of the National Food Security Bill, recommended by the NAC, the subject of small and marginal farmers has been under discussion time and again. It was felt that both from the perspective of equity and growth, the vision for agriculture should focus on small and marginal farmers. After the NAC recommended the National Food Security Bill, 2011 to the Government on 7th July, 2011, BAIF Development Research Foundation made a presentation to the NAC at the 21st meeting of the NAC on 23rd May, 2012. It was highlighted by BAIF that in order to ensure food security, there is a greater need for promoting rainfed agriculture together with livestock and tree based farming. The presentation, in fact, highlighted the success of their WADI programme on the lands of small and marginal farmers. Subsequent to the above meeting of the NAC it was decided that NAC should take forward the concept of tree based farming to enhance production and productivity of the farms, especially for the small and marginal farmers. 17. A working group (WG) of NAC was constituted in March 2013 to look into the present status of the agroforestry sector, review current gaps and implementation processes that affect growth of agroforestry; and recommend policy measures to the government particularly for developing an overarching policy framework to stimulate the growth in the agroforestry. 18. The Working Group held its first consultation meeting in March 2013 and subsequently organized six more consultations covering a wide range of institutions and individuals from the key ministries and departments of the central and state governments 5, institutions under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, bilateral and multilateral organizations (viz. FAO, DFID, USAID), international research organization such as the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), civil society organizations, industries, banking and insurance organizations. 19. The whole range of issues related to the agroforestry encompassing the critical contours of the sector, i.e. regulations, research and extension, institutional arrangement for implementation, supply chain development for quality planting materials, market linkages, etc. have been discussed at length in these consultations. Besides, the WG has consulted a wide range of documents such as suggestions and

Ministry of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Agriculture, Dept. of Land Resources, (MoRD), National Rainfed Area Authority, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MoRD), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Finance and others

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recommendations of various committees, review of existing laws and policy documents, Govt. schemes and orders, etc. The recommendations of the Working group are as follows: Key recommendations 20. There is a need to have a National Agroforestry Policy. Following are the suggestive components that the proposed national policy framework may address.

a. Address the institutional issues that currently hinder the progress in Agroforestry. Lack of institutions right from the top to bottom is the most critical gap today which hinders the progress in AF. The mandate of agroforestry should not fall in the cracks of various Ministries/Departments and State Governments, but should be promoted through an over-arching Common National Policy Framework and guidelines of Agroforestry and which should complement any amendments to existing policy and legislative framework. While the Ministry of Agriculture has the mandate for agroforestry, agriculture is a State subject and forestry is in the Concurrent List and there is a need for enhanced coordination between all stakeholders to take agroforestry to a higher level and sustain it. However, what needs to be underlined in this regard is: (i) that given the diverse agro-climatic regions in the country, no single model can be the solution and there is a need for an agency which can think holistically on the sector in all its aspects (farmers, industries, financial institutions, markets, technology promotion, etc.) and also to provide for facilitation, that the institutional arrangement and support is required right up to the implementation level for the agroforestry to become a vibrant programme like other national programmes, such as the watershed programme, and that the programme should be farmer centric and it must move from sectoral to holistic approaches, combining various livelihood interventions.

(ii)

(iii)

A commonly agreed National Policy Framework and guidelines, which each of the ministries and States can adopt and ride on with their own local guidelines is therefore, urgently required. A consortium of organizations such as Ministry of 9

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Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Environment & Forests, and Ministry of Rural Development can mentor the process of legislative and policy framework for the country as a whole. To implement the policy there should be a Agroforestry Mission / Board which can coordinate components that are scattered in different agencies and to oversee the implementation of the agroforestry programmes. Agroforestry Mission / Board be funded by some core, or seed money in the range of Rupees 200 crore. For upscaling of agroforestry there should be a functional convergence and dove-tailing with other missions, programs and schemes. Such a convergence should be for technical, resource, capacity building and institutional support. Agroforestry Mission / Board may be located in the development arm of a Ministry, such as the DAC in MoA having members such as the ICAR, different National Missions, MoEF, other ministries, ICRAF as a direct partner with DAC, etc. The actual implementation may involve govt. institutions, such as the Watersheds Programme, ATMA, NGOs, private sector, financial institutions & other investors. The private sector may also be activated to provide quality planting material and other services. What is clear from the analysis is that whatever may be the institutional arrangement, (a) the current stakes 6 of the key ministries have to be respected, and (b) that it has to reach up to the ground level to promote agroforestry. It is beyond any doubts that the Agroforestry as a programme has suffered due to the lack of institutional back up. Therefore, any ad hoc-ism in the institutional architecture will grossly underestimate the potency of the programme, and it is unlikely that any meaningful progress will happen on the ground. b. Clear the doubts over the definition of agroforestry Also, the notions, definitions and confusions about agroforestry need to be cleared so everybody comes on the same page. There appears to be a good amount of confusion with the definition and scope of the agroforestry with various institutions and State governments as surfaced during the consultation process. c. Urgent need of a simple and uniform regulation for felling and transportation of trees planted in the farmland

Agroforestry is the mandate of Ministry of Agriculture as per Rules of Business. The National Horticulture Mission, which spends significant amount of money, is its flagship programme as far as AF is concerned. MoEF plays an important regulatory role, and also steers the Greening India Mission which has mandate to grow trees outside forest areas also. MoEF considers agroforestry as a vehicle to achieve the target of 33% of land mass under forest cover. MoRD through two of its flagship programmes i.e. MGNREGS and IWMP spends considerable fund, largest amongst all the three, for tree planting. 7 Committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in July, 2011 to study the regulatory regime, felling and transit regulations for tree species grown on non-forest/private lands.

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There is a need to create simple and uniform mechanism / procedures to regulate the felling and transit of agroforestry produce within the State, and also in various States forming an ecological region. There is also the need to simplify procedures, with permissions extended on automatic route as well as approval mode through a transparent system within a given time schedule. A Committee 7 constituted by the Ministry of Environment & Forests under Shri Arun Kumar Bansal has submitted its report in December, 2012 on the regulatory regime to be followed. The relevant recommendations of the Committee should be considered in the National Agroforestry Policy. The decentralized institutions, such as the PRI institutions including Gram Sabhas, JFMC, EDCs 8 or other similar peoples institutions, such as those under the Forest Right Act (FRA), Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act1996(PESA) etc. may be considered for playing a role in the regulatory mechanisms. The National policy should be coherent with the FRA, PESA and such Acts (viz, Chotonagpur Tenancy Act.) under which such provisions of community rights for felling and transportation may have been already provided. Insecurity of land tenure is a critical issue. Security of land tenure and a sound base of land records is a necessary condition for the farmers to take up agroforestry. If they are not convinced about this right, they would not be willing to invest their labour and meager capital resources in a crop that may yield the benefits after couple of years 9. Similar is the case with the rights of the tenant farmers on tree planted in the farm which they have been cultivating for long. There are no easy solutions to such issues; however, the policy should attempt to address them considering the fact that informal land leasing is a fast growing practice / arrangement across the country.
d. Need to invest in research, extension and related services for an enabling environment

There are over thirty research institutions in the public domain in India involved in agroforestry research. There are claims of availability of technology and appropriate agroforestry models suitable for different agro-climatic regions of the country. Research knowledge is also reported to be available in plenty in the private domain, especially in the pulp and timber industry. However, what is clear is that there is very little replication of such knowledge and models on the ground. The nonexistent extension system for agroforestry may be the key reason for non-replication
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Committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in July, 2011 to study the regulatory regime, felling and transit regulations for tree species grown on non-forest/private lands. 8 Joint Forest Management Committee; Eco Development Committee 9 Farm and Agroforestry in India Policy and Legal Issues, Naresh Saxena (undated)

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of technologies; however, one needs to reconfirm the robustness of the technologies which have been developed mainly in the controlled environment and untested in the farmers field. Non-availability of quality planting material and technical knowhow at the farmers end have been found to be a key constraint. Having said that, there are also evidences of ultra modern technologies and effective extension mechanism, which are being mainly provided by the private sector and extensively used in some pockets. The issue of research and extension is a critical one and without addressing it adequately in the policy, the AF would be a non-starter. The policy must see that how the lessons from the various successful experiences can be drawn to develop a comprehensive approach which recognizes the need of effective linkage between research and extension and ensures accountability of the research and extension system toward results or impacts. The policy should also provide stimulus for the growth of private research and extension services, particularly in the resource poor regions of the country. Private sector can play a very important role in augmenting supplies of genetically improved planting stock as demonstrated amply in case of poplar and clonal eucalyptus plantations. Hence, the private sector participation should be encouraged in production and development of supply chain of quality planting materials. However, safeguard mechanisms against the ill effects of the genetically modified species would be required and to the extent possible naturally occurring species should be encouraged 10. Certification of nurseries, seeds and other planting materials for agroforestry is required to control spurious materials, which is rampant currently. Registration of nurseries and accreditation by a third party are some of the measures required. However a point of caution is that it may lead to creation of another Inspector Raj. There are smart mechanisms available today for quality certification (viz. organic certification, FSC certification for wood, etc.) which should be considered. Additionally, the nurseries maybe provided and trained on the use of quality planting material production guidelines, and the issue of supply /purchase of the quality planting material be left entirely between the nursery and the farmer. e. Facilitate increasing participation of industries dealing with agroforestry produce The role of industries in the promotion of agroforestry can be tapped in multiple ways, especially in the areas of (a) production and supply chain development for high quality planting materials, (b) technology development and dissemination,
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A.K. Bansal Committee Report (Draft), December2013

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especially for planting materials, processing, etc. (c) providing extension services to the farmers, (d) providing market information and future trends, (e) certification of nurseries, seeds and finished products for sustainable management practices, (f) developing agroforestry plantation in government land on lease contract and in partnership with local peoples institutions, etc. Policies are therefore, required to recognize the role of industries and make enabling conditions for increasing participation by the industries. f. Create marketing infrastructure for agroforestry products Barring few sporadic instances, the marketing system for AF produces, be it the timber, fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, etc. is totally unorganized, so middlemen thrive. Marketing infrastructure similar to what is available for agricultural commodities including information symmetry should be introduced with more private sector participation. Support price and buy-back guarantee for farm-grown trees and other produces should be considered. g. Policy/strategies for carbon sequestration and other eco services There should be enabling policy and implementation strategies for carbon sequestration and other environmental services schemes and payment mechanisms to farmers. Agroforestry interventions in farmland have far reaching environmental and ecological impacts. The role of agroforestry in soil fertility build up via nutrient cycling, soil conservation, profile recharge, bio-amelioration and climate moderation is most widely acclaimed and one of the compelling reasons for including trees on farm lands. h. Develop MIS for Agroforestry There is a complete lack of data on agroforestry. Number of trees on farm, species grown, survival rate, number of trees planted /harvested, or quantity of timber/fuel wood/fodder produced are unknown. The contribution of agroforestry to the national GDP is also not known. This poses a serious challenge for the planning and implementation. However, in the land record system there is a provision of recording trees on farm. But, whether it is noted correctly and used for any purposes is not known. Building on our old land record systems and with the help of modern technologies (Satellite imagery) and decentralized institutions, the recording of basic data such as existing trees, planting of new trees, harvest, etc. can be done. National level statistical organizations (viz. CSO, NSSO) should include agroforestry for their routine periodic survey. If systematic data can be developed then the legality of the source of timber and other produce can be established and as a result a lot of restrictions/hassles on the felling and movement can be minimized. 13

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The certification of timber and other forest produce under the international standards of sustainable forest management would be possible when the traceability of source and chain of custody is established. This is not possible without a systematic data recording mechanism. Certification under international standards shall open up the avenues for export of wood products. (i) Institutional credit and insurance cover for agroforestry Possibility may be explored to allow agroforestry to be covered by norms prescribed by RBI relating to Priority Sector Lending. Specifically, (a) there should be specific mention of agroforestry and target for financing in the PSL, (b) loans may be provided for agroforestry through Corporates ( channel financing), (c) banks may allow moratorium for the gestation period of agroforestry (three to five years), (d) possibilities may be explored to allow community collateral for bank loan, and (e) possibilities may also be explored as to whether the loans for agroforestry projects may be treated at par with loan for agriculture. Currently, loans for agroforestry are very costly. New insurance products may be devised for agroforestry which may be weather based and area specific. Subsidy for insurance premium may be considered. (j) Miscellaneous points (i) The agroforestry policy should be regionally, thematically and purpose differentiated, including incentive and support structure for them. The policy must provide special support to small and marginal farmers. (ii) Agroforestry Board / Mission architecture must have convergence and networking inbuilt into it so that it works in tandem with other missions, schemes and programmes. (iii) Contract farming /PPP/SPV route may also be explored to further develop and upscale agroforestry. (iv) Possibility may be explored as to whether agroforestry may be a part of Corporate Social Responsibility of a company. 21. The policy may be drafted by a task force with members from all key ministries, state governments and institutions having considerable stake in the sector. It may be considered to launch the national policy during the upcoming World Congress on Agroforestry in Feb, 2014 to be held in New Delhi.

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