Restoring Soil Fertility, Productivity and Biodiversity through Participatory Agroforestry: Evidence from Madhupur Sal Forest, Bangladesh

• Published in: Land (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 326
• Main Authors: Islam, Kazi Kamrul, Saifullah, Md, Mahboob, M. Golam, Jewel, Kazi Noor-E-Alam, Ashraf, S. M. Kamran, Hyakumura, Kimihiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2024
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Agriculture; Agroforestry; Bangladesh; Biodiversity; Biological diversity; Carbon; Carbon content; Carbon sequestration; Climate change; Climatic changes; cost–benefit; Data collection; Deforestation; Economics; Ecosystem restoration; Ecosystems; Endangered & extinct species; Environmental impact; Fertilizers; Forest ecology; Forest ecosystems; Forests; Laboratories; Land degradation; land equivalent ratio; Monoculture; Natural resources; Nutrients; Organic matter; Organic soils; Plant species; Productivity; Profitability; Soil degradation; Soil fertility; Soil improvement; Soil nutrients; Soil organic matter; Soil quality; Soil sciences; Soils; Species diversity; species richness; Terrestrial ecosystems; Threatened species; Trees; Wildlife conservation; yield; Bangladesh
• ISSN: 2073-445X; 2073-445X
• DOI: 10.3390/land13030326

Species diversity and soil quality are deteriorating due to continuous disturbances in ecosystems caused by human interference. However, agroforestry is considered a good approach to minimizing environmental problems. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the impacts of participatory agroforestry on restoring soil fertility, farm productivity and biodiversity in the degraded Madhupur Sal forest of Bangladesh. The study purposefully selected 40 common agroforestry programs in Madhupur Sal forest for the collection of soil and plant data from 2020 to 2023. Agroforestry programs have improved soil organic matter, soil carbon, pH, and available N, P and K content to a substantial degree and protected soil degradation, enhancing yield. The soil improvement index represents the potentiality of agroforestry in restoring soil nutrients and carbon in the form of organic matter, which is an important indicator for carbon sequestration and mitigating the impacts of climate change. The resultant cost–benefit and land equivalent ratios were steadily higher, which corroborates the greater productivity and profitability of agroforestry compared to monoculture systems. In contrast, agroforestry restored 31 plant species, opening up opportunities for restoring plant species in the threatened forest ecosystem. Therefore, this study recommended selecting appropriate site-specific species for managing agroforestry and restoring ecosystems.