Directions in Tropical Agroforestry Research

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-2

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2. Biophysical interactions in tropical agroforestry systems

   • M. R. Rao, P. K. R. Nair, C. K. Ong

   Pages 3-50

3. Soil improvement by trees in sub-Saharan Africa

   • R. J. Buresh, G. Tian

   Pages 51-76

4. Decomposition and nitrogen release patterns of tree prunings and litter

   • P. L. Mafongoya, K. E. Giller, C. A. Palm

   Pages 77-97

5. Nutrient cycling under mixed-species tree systems in southeast Asia

   • P. K. Khanna

   Pages 99-120

6. Agroforestry in the management of sloping lands in Asia and the Pacific

   • E. T. Craswell, A. Sajjapongse, D. J. B. Howlett, A. J. Dowling

   Pages 121-137

7. Shade management in coffee and cacao plantations

   • J. Beer, R. Muschler, D. Kass, E. Somarriba

   Pages 139-164

8. The domestication and commercialization of indigenous trees in agroforestry for the alleviation of poverty

   • R. R. B. Leakey, A. J. Simons

   Pages 165-176

9. Socioeconomic research in agroforestry: progress, prospects, priorities

   • D. E. Mercer, R. P. Miller

   Pages 177-193

10. Policy issues in agroforestry: technology adoption and regional integration in the western Brazilian Amazon

    • S. A. Vosti, J. Witcover, S. Oliveira, M. Faminow

    Pages 195-222

11. Directions in tropical agroforestry research: past, present, and future

    • P. K. R. Nair

    Pages 223-245

12. Back Matter

    Pages 247-249

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Large areas of the warm, humid tropics in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa are hilly or mountainous. Jackson and Scherr (1995) estimate that these tropical hillside areas are inhabited by 500 million people, or one-tenth of the current world population, many of whom practice subsistence agriculture. The region most affected is Asia which has the lowest area of arable land per capita. Aside from limited areas of irrigated terraces, most of the sloping land, which constitutes 60% to 90% of the land resources in many Southeast Asian countries, has been by-passed in the economic development of the region (Maglinao and Hashim, 1993). Poverty in these areas is often high, in contrast to the relative wealth of irri­ gated rice farms in lowland areas that benefited from the green revolution. Rapid population growth in some countries is also exacerbating the problems of hillside areas. Increasingly, people are migrating from high-potential lowland areas where land is scarce to more remote hillside areas. Such migra­ tion, together with inherent high population growth, is forcing a transforma­ tion in land use from subsistence to permanent agriculture on fragile slopes, and is creating a new suite of social, economic, and environmental problems (Garrity, 1993; Maglinao and Hashim, 1993).

• Forestry
• Plantation
• agronomy
• forest
• paper
• policy
• soil
• soil science
• tree

• University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

  P. K. R. Nair, C. R. Latt

Dr. P.K.R. Nair is Professor of Agroforestry at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA and has been a founder-scientist at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya for about 10 years. He is a leading world authority and a pioneering researcher and educator in agroforestry.

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