Your kind letters of support, suggestions and extra contributions were much appreciated by FACT Net staff. Thank you for helping make the year a successful one. There have been government and non-government programs to systematically promote agroforestry in India. Many of these programs have been on less productive land cultivated by resource-poor farmers and have had limited success. Even considering positive environmental benefits such as sustainable land use, agroforestry does not figure into the decision making of many small farmers.
Sustainability means little to farmers who are struggling to survive.
The situation is compounded by a lack of practical information about agroforestry. There are successful agroforestry ventures, however, emerging as a result of individual or collective initiatives. The absolute commitment of farmers to adopt sustainable agriculture and agroforestry is the driving force behind the success of many of these ventures. Immediate returns are not a goal, or more importantly, an economic necessity for these farmers. Thus, the enormous investment in agroforestry research and outreach has yet to bear fruit.