THE ROLE OF TREES IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Transcription

1 THE ROLE OF TREES IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

2 FORESTRY SCIENCES Volume 43 The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.

3 The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture Review papers presented at the Australian Conference, The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture, Albury, Victoria, Australia, October 1991 Edited by ROSL YN TAMARA PRINS LEY Manager, Research and Strategy, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra, Australia Compiled by JAMIE ALLNUTT Reprinted from Agroforestry Systems, Volume 20, Nos. 1-2 (1992) SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.

4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Australian Conference, the Role of Trees in Sustalnable Agrieulture (1991 Albury, N.S.W.) The role of trees in sustalnable agrleulture review papers presentea at the Australian Conferenee, the Role of Trees in Sustainable Agrieulture, Albury, Vietorla, Australia, Oetober 1991 / edited by Roslyn Tamara Prinsley ; eompiled by Jamie Allnutt. p. em. -- (Forestry seiences ; v. 43) ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Agroforestry--Australia--Congresses. 2. Tree crops--australia -Congres5es. 3. Sustainable agrieulture--austral ia--congre5ses. 1. Prinsley, Roslyn Tamara. Ir. Allnutt, Jamle. IIr. Title. IV. Series. S494.5.A45A '0994--dc ISBN Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1993 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1993 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any mcans, elcctronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

5 Table of Contents Preface N. J. Schofield: Tree planting for dryland salinity control in Australia 1 A. Boutland, M. Robinson, J. Field, M. Scheltema, B. Hawkins, P. Bulman, J. Scarvelis, B. Mason, M. Wallace, M. Castley, P. A. Ryan, R. T. Henderson, G. B. Applegate, C. Lansdown and R. Reid: Alternative products from trees and shrubs to 'The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture' conference, Albury, September 30th - October 3rd P. R. Bird, D. Bicknell, P. A. Bulman, S. J. A. Burke, J. F. Leys, J. N. Parker, F. J. van der Sommen and P. Voller: The role of shelter in Australia for protecting soils, plants and livestock 59 R. Prinsley: The role of trees in sustainable agriculture - an overview 87 E. C. Lefroy, P. R. Dann, J. H. Wildin, R. N. Wesley-Smith and A. A. McGowan: Trees and shrubs as sources of fodder in Australia 117 J.C. Scanlan, R. Prinsley, J. P. Pigott, S. Wakefield, F. van der Sommen, F. Duncan, T. Stadler, R. McLellan and A. Farago: Retention of native woody vegetation on farms in Australia: management considerations, planning guidelines and information gaps 141 R. Moore: Integrating wood production into Australian farming systems 167 Vll v

6 The Conference Organising Committee is grateful to the following sponsors: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation National Afforestation Program Australian Newsprint Mills (ANM, Albury) Greening Australia Bureau of Rural Resources Treecrops Sure Gro (Cheltenham, Victoria) vi

7 Agroforestry Systems 20: vii, Preface Agroforestry has the potential to become a widespread from of land use, changing and improving the sustainability and profitability of agriculture and forestry. Trees are used on farms for shelter, shade, production of timber, fodder and other products, and for conservation of biodiversity and soil. Trees can be used simultaneously for all of these benefits. Uses of trees on farms will vary depending on the particular farm's physical environment, the farmer's economic and other aims and relevant Government policies. Thus, agroforestry, unlike many other rural industries, is a multi-faceted, multi-purpose land use. In the wet temperate zones of Australia, it is more likely to refer to commercial timber production from trees which are integrated with the farm in some way, such as timberbelts. However, in rangelands, in the semi-arid zone, it may mean the use of saltbush for fodder. In many cases, agroforestry may have no direct product such as timber associated with it, but rather the trees may be used, for example, to lower watertables in order to prevent salinisation or to act as wildlife corridors. In many parts of Australia the benefits of trees on farms are not well understood, and agroforestry as a land use is very much in its infancy. For any land use to expand successfully, appropriatc research and development is necessary. Agroforestry research and development in Australia has been largely fragmented and many of the research results have never been published and are unknown. The purpose of this volume is to comprehensively review all of the research that has taken place in the field of agroforestry in Australia including previously unpublished results, providing readers with the latest technical and economic information about using trees in agriculture for controlling salinity and erosion, for shelter and shade, and for production of timber, fodder and minor forest products. The chapters in the book provide information concerning planted trees within all of these categories and include a special review of the management of native vegetation on farms. These papers also examine research needs where appropriate. This book stems from the National Australian Conference on 'The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture' which took place in Albury, Victoria, Australia in October Each national review paper is based upon a summary of six or more state review papers of research and development prepared specifically for the national conference. The book thus provides readers with a comprehensive overview of agroforestry research in Australia which is introduced and summarised in the first chapter. Roslyn Tamara Prinsley