Farmer's Footprint’s Post

The Symbiotic Relationship between Permaculture 🌿 and Agroforestry 🌳 in Modern Agronomy Seeking sustainable agriculture, permaculture and agroforestry stand as key responses to the Green Revolution's environmental toll. The 1960s innovations, while boosting food security and easing labor, inadvertently strained ecosystems through monocultures, heavy machinery, and excessive agrochemicals, impacting biodiversity, soil health, water, and climate cycles. In this context, agronomists and land managers turn to permaculture and agroforestry. These practices, blending trees and shrubs with farming, not only adhere to permaculture's ethos but also rectify past damages, enriching biodiversity, nurturing soil life, and establishing microclimates for a resilient agriculture. 🔍 Key Synergies: • Biodiversity Boost: Integrating agroforestry into permaculture designs diversifies species and genetic variety in the ecosystem, fostering resilience and natural pest control. • Soil Health & Fertility: Trees and shrubs play a crucial role in soil conservation, countering the depletion of soil organic matter caused by the overuse of synthetic fertilizers and heavy machinery. Their roots stabilize the soil, reduce erosion, and enhance the soil's organic matter through leaf litter. • Microclimate Regulation: The components of agroforestry contribute to mitigating the altered water reservoirs and greenhouse gas emissions, creating favorable microclimates within agricultural systems and ensuring a stable production environment. As professionals in the field of agronomy, embracing the permaculture-agroforestry nexus allows us to address the Sustainable Development Goals effectively, particularly in achieving food security and promoting sustainable land use. 🌱 Let's Cultivate Change Together: Engaging in this multifaceted approach requires a paradigm shift, recognizing the farm as an interconnected ecosystem rather than just a production unit. It's about understanding the intricate relationships between soil, plants, animals, and climate, and harnessing these interactions to foster a more sustainable and productive agronomy. #Agriculture #Agronomy #Permaculture #Agroforestry #Horticulture #SustainableAgriculture #AgronomyInnovation #Biodiversity #SoilHealth #GreenRevolutionLegacy

🌴 Enjoying the serene view beneath the grand palm tree, surrounded by fruitful trees in this agroforestry haven! 🌳 This is an innovative system where perennial trees and annual crops coexist, creating a harmonious balance. But what makes this agroforestry system truly unique? Enter the sheep! In this rotational system, sheep play a crucial role as free weed killers. As they graze, they simultaneously provide valuable resources. Whether it's meat, wool, or simply their friendly presence, these animals contribute in diverse ways. Their munching on crop residues turns into natural fertilizer, enriching the soil. Sheep also assist in trampling crop residues into the soil, activating the microbial system and enhancing the overall health of the ecosystem. While animals are not a necessity in agroforestry, their inclusion can be a holistic approach, providing multifaceted benefits. It's important to note that agroforestry systems can thrive without animals, as exemplified by Ian Tolhurst's organic veganic farming in England for the past 30 years. His successful approach demonstrates the incredible fertility achievable without animal inputs. So, whether with or without animals, agroforestry remains a resilient and sustainable method, showcasing the adaptability and creativity in cultivating our lands. 🌿🐑 #AgroforestryInnovation #SheepInAgriculture #SustainableFarming #HolisticApproach #EcoFriendlyAgriculture #NatureBalance #LaGomera #FoodForests #Permaculture #SustainableAgriculture #CanaryIslands #ExploreNature #IslasCanarias #Spain #Island #Tenerife #GranCanaria #LaPalma #Agriculture #landscapedesign #landschapsarchitectuur #tuinontwerp #tuinarchitectuur #voedselbos #permacultuur #agroecology #agroforestry #design #commensalist #landscapearchitecture #love #nature #louisdejaeger @louis.de.jaeger @commensalist.landscape

Are you curious about how actors in the Swedish forestry sector produce value using fast-growing broadleaf species such as birch, aspen, and poplar? 🌳 🌳 🌳 What innovative actions support the development of a 'fast-growing broadleaf niche' within forest value chains? 💸 ⛓ 🤝 How might these contribute to achieving noneconomic social and ecological values, furthering transitions towards a sustainable society? 🌱 👤 💱 If so, read more about my research within the #TreesForMe Centre of Excellence for Fast-growing Broadleaf Species and the Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre at SLU - Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet - SLU! #sustainableforestry #forestresearch #innovation #forestinnovations #sustainabilitytransformation #sustainabledevelopment #scienceandeducationforsustainablelife

It helps to understand the Syntropic agroforestry

The Mayan forest extends over millions of acres and is now the second largest rainforest in the Americas. While it was always thought of as mainly primary untouched forest, large areas are in fact the remains of Mayan forest gardens. For hundreds of years the Mayan implemented a sophisticated, sustainable agricultural system called the Milpa cycle. Vast areas of the rainforest are actually the end result of the Milpa cycle that looks to harvest the land over 20 year cycles, culminating with the land being returned to closed canopy forest. Milpa is a form of agroforestry still skilfully practised by indigenous Mayan forest gardeners. The land is cleared and seeds are sown by hand - no tilling is ever used. Firstly annuals such as the' three sisters' - corn ,beans and squash, along with up to 90 other edible species. This is combined with the sowing of fruit and other edible tree species. After a few years the cropping transitions to harvesting the perennials as the young trees and shrubs mature. In the meantime the surrounding forest starts to naturally re seed the land. The seedlings are carefully managed and any invasive ones removed. After around a decade the natural tree species dominate and shade out the perennial growth. At this stage the gardens are left to mature into forest and the canopy to close and become complete. The Milpa cycle would by then have started again in another area and continue with the harmonious integration of food production and forest regeneration. Indigenous knowledge holds the key to our modern problems if we care to listen.. #Milpa #Mayan #agroforestry #miyawakimethod #rewild #rewilding #ecosystems #ecosystemrestoration #restoration #afforestation #reforestation #indigenousknowledge #climate

Agroforestry is the practice of integrating trees, shrubs, and other perennial plants into urban agriculture systems, with the aim of creating more productive, resilient, and sustainable food production systems. 🌳🍐 Trees and other perennial plants are often used as windbreaks, shade providers, and nutrient cyclers, while also producing fruits, nuts, or other valuable crops. They may be interplanted with annual crops, such as vegetables or grains, or integrated with animal husbandry practices, such as poultry or small livestock. 🐄 By integrating perennial plants into urban agriculture systems, agroforestry can help to promote biodiversity, improve soil health, and provide multiple benefits for urban residents and communities. 🐞 One example of agroforestry is “Parken Eklund” in the city of Örebro, Sweden. The city of Örebro transformed a “normal park with a play area” into a park that integrated food production and woody perennials into the park. This type of agroforestry system is called “forest gardens”. 🏞️ Find out more about urban garden practices in our research paper by Anna Ternell - https://lnkd.in/dFD28nZ6 #ugardenproject #ugardeneu #urbangardens #gardening #urbangarden #ugarden #sustainablegardening #agroforestry #agroforestryeurope #forestry #sustainableagriculture #localfarming #seazonalfood #organicgardening #organicfarming #organicfood #biofood #urbaneurope #urbanfuture #greencities #greencity #urbanlivinglabs

Agroforestry System & Keyline-Design @Kürnsteinerhof After more than 6 years of being Co-Founder Organic Tools GmbH and more than 3 years of living and working with my family at Kürnsteinerhof in Upper Austria I love to see the synergies that emerge out of these different activities. One I am particularly proud of is the implementation of an agroforestry system at Kürnsteinerhof in March 2024. To keep it very short : There exist several different types of Agroforestry systems. These land-use systems are described as a combination of agricultural practices with the use of trees/shrubs in order to:  1) Raise the total production on the land by using the 3rd dimension (and thereby raising ecological and economical value)   2) Use many positive synergy effects (e.g. biodiversity increase, water retention, shade for animals etc.) Through a project FFG Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft mbH by Organic Tools we searched for systemic ways to foster agroforestry systems in the DACH region. In this project we worked with Philipp Gerhardt Gerhardt from Baumfeldwirtschaft to get a deeper understanding of design and planning successful AF-systems. Philipp is a specialist not only in agroforestry systems but more specifically on those where the combination of water retention measures are in a focus. Our farm in the Mühlviertel east of Linz in Upper Austria served as demo farm to give us a real-world example of all the parameters that need to be considered and what might be possible obstacles for farmers who want to implement such a system. Many words: Here I present a video that shows the process of implementing our „Keyline“ Agroforestry system. This system combines  a) grassland for our small herd of „Waldviertler Blondvieh“ cattle ,  b) different tree species - mainly walnut, chestnut, quince as well as a variety of trees for timber production and  c) water retention moans - in order to keep all falling rainwater on the area Many thanks to Patrick Tafner from 'Studio Griesbacher and Tafner' who did this amazing video for us. #agroforestry #keyline #regag #organictools

I'm optimistic about agroforestry. The Propagate team is concluding with our 2024 Spring planting season, having put over 100,000 trees in the ground. And over 95% of them are going to survive. These trees are high-IRR carbon-accruing chestnuts, black locust, and a host of other species that are beneficial to local ecology and rural livelihoods in our own backyards. They are not "check the box" trees like you see being planted on marginal land in the developing world. We have an obligation to steward farmland in a way that produces abundant food and ecosystem services. I do like eating bananas and avocados as much as anyone else, but chestnuts and grass-fed beef are some of the best cold temperate-climate foods that we can put on our plates from an ecological perspective. Over the next 10 years, we'll continue to develop systems like these, pedal to the floor. Onward.

Happy World Bee Day! Today, we celebrate the incredible bees and the vital role they play in our ecosystems. At MNBS, where nature-based solutions and agroforestry are at the heart of what we do, we understand just how essential these buzzing pollinators are! Why are bees so important? Maintaining Biodiversity: Bees are responsible for pollinating many plants, from fruits and vegetables to flowers and trees. This pollination process ensures the reproduction of these plants, fostering a rich tapestry of life and a healthy environment. Essential for Pollination: Over 75% of the world's leading food crops rely on animal pollination, with bees being the most significant contributor. Without them, our food security and agricultural diversity would be at significant risk. Indicators of Ecosystem Health: The health of bee populations is a crucial indicator of an ecosystem's overall health. A decline in bee numbers can signal environmental issues like habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. How We Can Help Bees? By incorporating bee-friendly practices into our agroforestry projects, we can create healthy habitats for these vital pollinators. This includes planting a diverse range of flowering plants, reducing pesticide use, and promoting sustainable land management techniques. Let's all #BeeEngaged with protecting these amazing creatures! MITCON Nature-based Solutions is committed to working with clients to develop sustainable solutions that benefit both people and the planet. Visit: www.mitconnbs.com . . . #WorldBeeDay #NatureBasedSolutions #Agroforestry #Pollinators #mitconnbs #MITCON

Why plant trees on farms? And what, how, when and where? 🌱 🌳 This winter I've been exploring answers to these questions as a participant in the Master TreeGrower course led by the Otway Agroforestry Network. In a program tailored to participants' interests, we had talks on everything from timber products and tone wood to biodiversity, cut flowers and shelter belts. We also visited local farms (Gulidjan and Gadubanud Country in Victoria) to see inspiring examples of the different ways trees can be incorporated into agricultural landscapes. Two things stood out to me and many of the participants. Firstly, the sense of community was empowering. I loved learning with and from people with a shared passion for trees and I know the network will continute to foster community-based learning. One of the joys and challenges of growing trees is how long it can take to see if an idea has worked! So we appreciated the opportunity to learn from those who already had years of experience. For many of us, these are intergenerational projects. The connections we made will also help us work together across the landscape to support biodiversity and build resilience. For example, local efforts over the years have seen kilometres of creekline revegetated in a connected way. Secondly, it was clear to everyone that while there can be improved farm productivity and income from tree products, there are so many intangible benefits that also make planting trees attractive. This includes amenity and creating special places to visit, seeing the increase in birds and other animals, and improving the land for future generations. Overall, the Master TreeGrower course has given me a timely boost of enthusiasm prior to this year's tree planting effort. We'll be planting around 1500 trees and shrubs - all native and mostly local species, and a mix of shelter belt and paddock trees. I'm looking forward to watching them grow! I'd love to hear your thoughts about/experience with trees on farms. For more information about MTG, see https://lnkd.in/g74z6cwY Ross Dennis #agroforestry #trees #farming #biodiversity #naturalcapital #climateresilience