Agriculture is known to be the backbone of our country’s economy. In such a scenario, to ensure the conservation of the environment, forestry plays a key role. Along with this, changing times have mandated it to adopt sustainable practices to manage land in order to achieve a balance between economic development and preservation of the environment. This led to the emergence of agroforestry as an approach to meet the growing demands along with the addressal of environmental as well as economic concerns.
Agroforestry has greatly benefitted the plywood industry as plywood, a versatile material used for a number of applications, is made from wood. All top plywood brands in India source their wood from agroforestry practices to reduce their contribution to deforestation, environmental destruction, and loss of biodiversity. By the sound of it, agroforestry indeed seems like an extremely key environmental practice to ensure the betterment of our planet. Along the same lines, in this blog, we will explore the benefits of agroforestry practices pertaining to the plywood industry.
Biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration
The biggest benefit of agroforestry is that it helps preserve biodiversity by maintaining the forest ecosystems on which a number of plant and animal species rely for their existence. Such cultivations promote a vast flora and fauna that mirror natural forests, leading to long-term sustainability and enhancing the strength of the ecosystem. Several companies that deal in branded plywood in India source their wood from timber cultivations from such agroforestry practices – this ensures their contribution to the efforts towards conservation of biodiversity and restoration of several habitats.
Conservation of soil
The Indian agricultural sector faces a number of issues when it comes to soil erosion and degradation. These issues are further intensified by inconsistent weather conditions, intensive farming, and deforestation. To tackle these issues arising from conventional forestry practices, agroforestry ensures the mitigation of soil erosion and the improvement of the structure and fertility of the soil by stabilising slopes and enriching the organic matter in the soil. Such quality of soil leads to better cultivations and sustainable productions which can be used for sourcing wood for a number of types of plywood in India. This also leads to reducing the environmental impact, rehabilitating eroded lands, and restoring the functionality of the ecosystem.
Rural employment and socioeconomic development
A consequential amount of the population of our country is directly or indirectly engaged in agriculture or related activities. For such people, agroforestry practices open up doors to opportunities to diversify their livelihood and alleviate their living conditions. A number of benefits can stem from agroforestry systems by small-scale farmers such as crop cultivation, food security, as well as fodder for livestock. To promote growth in rural areas, the plywood industry can nurture value chains, establishing a two-way relationship of sourcing wood and providing chances for employment.
Improvement in climate change
It is needless to say how grave of an issue climate change has become in today’s world. With risks associated with extreme weather conditions, scarcity of water, and agricultural disruptions intensifying, there is an urgent need to mitigate this. Agroforestry practices contribute significantly to tackling this issue by the process called carbon sequestration. Trees can act as viable carbon sinks that absorb the carbon dioxide from the air and store it in their soil and biomass. This, in turn, reduces the greenhouse emissions that happen because of the degradation of land and deforestation. Many top plywood brands in India support this agroforestry practice as it builds up the resilience of the agricultural systems to a variety of climatic conditions leading to the sourcing of better quality wood and contributing to mitigating climate change.
Lesser stress on natural forests
One of the biggest benefits of agroforestry to the plywood industry is that it puts less pressure on the natural forest systems for timber. By procuring wood that is sourced from agroforestry practices, the plywood industry relies less on timber from conventional agriculture and forestry. This, in turn, leads to the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecological balance.
Concluding thoughts
To wrap it all up in a nutshell, the rise in agroforestry practices has led to prominent benefits for the plywood industry. The foremost benefit is that by accepting and supporting agroforestry systems, plywood brands can get a sustainable supply of wood. Along with it, the plywood industry can also play a role in enhancing ecosystem services, and lead to employment and better livelihood in rural communities. From raw materials sourced from such agroforestry practices, the end customers can get the best plywood board made from sustainably procured wood, ensuring its durability, quality, reliability, and longevity.
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