Pomegranate based agroforestry systems for sustainable agriculture, achieving food security and mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration in Northwest Himalayas

Abstract

Agroforestry is a climate-smart integrated land use management system that addresses food security concerns, sustains livelihood by generating subsistence income and addresses environmental challenges while serving as a carbon sink. In this context, the present study was conducted on an 8-year-old pomegranate plantation in a farmer’s field in the Himachal Pradesh region of India. The aim was to assess the effects of pomegranate trees on the growth and yield parameters of soybean (Glycine max) and mash (Vigna mungo) at two distances from the tree base: D₁ (0–1 m) and D₂ (1–2 m) and acknowledge the biomass and carbon sequestration potential of the Pomegranate based agroforestry system. In the results, out of these seven treatments: T₁: Pomegranate + Mash + D₁, T₂: Pomegranate + Mash + D₂, T₃: Pomegranate + Soybean + D₁, T₄: Pomegranate + Soybean + D₂, T₅: Sole Pomegranate, T₆: Sole Mash, T₇: Sole Soybean, the highest growth and yield of mash and soybean were recorded under the Pomegranate based agroforestry system at D₂ distance, closely followed by monocropping, whereas least when crops were intercropped with Pomegranate at D₁ distance. The treatment T₄ showed the highest grain yield and harvest index (1.86 t/ha and 33.94%), while the lowest values were found in T₁ (1.06 t/ha and 16.45%). Among all treatments, the maximum total biomass and carbon stock were found in T₂ (27.18 and 50.31 t/ha) while the lowest was in T₇ (4.31 and 26.75 t/ha), respectively. Overall, T₂ proved to be the best for biomass production and carbon sequestration potential, while T₄ was the most effective for yield compared to sole cropping systems. Hence, fruit-based agroforestry systems can be preferred by farmers over sole cropping systems for satisfying rural needs while mitigating climate change. Further, the findings of this research are significant for selecting various crop combinations in fruit-based land-use systems and for estimating the biomass and carbon sequestration potential of such systems, contributing to our understanding of carbon studies.