I woke up early in the morning when light penetrated my eyelids very softly. Uff! It was already 6; I threw my blanket and went outside of my room. I observed my farm from balcony. Meanwhile, my mother yelled me to have breakfast. Thereafter, I went to our farm to bring grasses for cows.

It was easier for me to cut small tree rather than cutting grasses for hours. Therefore, I cut down a small tree. After cutting down, I noticed a nest of bird with eggs which were found to be cracked. That day, cows enjoyed the fodder I brought. At evening, my father told that each cow gave few more milk. Immediately, my mother pointed me and said, it was me who feed the cow and asked me to do every day.

Thereafter, I started to exploit trees of our farm to feed cows and get more milk. After about 3 months, there were no any trees in our farm. The grasses were drying up due to seasonal change and I was compelled to travel hours to fetch fodder.

Hours of struggle just to bring fodder for the livestock, made me frustrated. I was doing all these just for few liters more milk. Therefore, I told mother that I was no longer interested to fetch fodder. Mother asked the reason and asked further that who would feed those cattle if I don’t? I replied her in very occasional manner to hire a guy to take care of her cattle. I’m not a cowboy just looking after cows all the time. I did have my own business, I told her in very ignorant way. There was some discordant between us. My mother slapped me and told never to ignore her as I was only offspring of them.

Milk was not as sweet as before and very little food quenched my hunger that evening. I slept with much tensed mind. It was the first time when my mother slapped me as perhaps it was the very first time I had ever ignored her.

Oh! It was a terrible nightmare. It was just 3 of morning. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. It was almost 6 when I left my bed.

I went to our farm without breakfast and observed those dead stumps made by me. There was like absence of something more important in the field. I thoroughly observed the atmosphere, there was no sweet twittering of birds, I suddenly remembered those cracked bird’s eggs and, there were no rustling movement of leaves as well. The natural worthiness of farm was lost somewhere else and I thought, if I had not cut down all those trees, I wouldn’t have to go for hours just to search for fodder. Suddenly, I realized the productivity of land was slightly declined due to lack of leaf litter composting in the field.

My mom was complaining that she noticed little decline in production of maize this year. Now I realized that the grasses were dried sooner because it was exposed directly to the skin burning sun. Now, I took a determination of making my farm green again because I wanted to increase the productivity and again to hear the sweet sound of birds and rustling movements of leaves. I finally wanted to make my parents happy again by making cows more productive.

I went to visit forest extension officers. I took information about the tree species that can be incorporated in different agricultural systems. The day, I came to know that use of trees in agricultural cultivation in mutual benefit of trees and crops satisfying needs of farmers, is called as agro forestry.. I was an ordinary, rural youth; the term was strange for me and had heard just now although we were practicing it for years. We simply used to call it “Trees in farm”.

The officers provided me some very suitable trees species whose fodder were highly nutritive and were able to improve soil fertility giving economic benefits as well. I planted those trees in the terrace.

The sweet sound of birds, their nest, scene of young birds just starting to fly, movement of leaves delights me. The trees are grown up. When mother told production is augmenting these years, I see a perfect coordination of forestry and agriculture crops. Finally, I start to think, trees are the homes of thousands of creatures helping to increase agricultural production. They feed us as well. Trees provide us oxygen, absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and ultimately assist us to be healthy.

Both tangible and intangible goods and services are provided by trees. Not only the direct benefits but also the indirect benefits of trees are quite important for a sustainable world. The tangible benefits can be converted into monetary values but intangible benefits can’t be expressed into exact monetary term. In the context of changing development pattern with changing geopolitics and economies, agroforestry has huge potentiality to reduce the increasing gap between demand and supply. It helps to reduce poverty by providing a better chance of agribusiness and livestock farming. In addition, by sequestering carbon it helps to mitigate climate change, it also helps to ease pressure on forests. Such farming system improves water quality by avoiding nitrate leaching. Therefore, It helps to attain overall human well-being.

Agro-forestry is potential to play very vital role in changing context of resource use and economic enhancement. It also helps to preserve biodiversity and maintain food security which is very important in present context.
Therefore, trees are our life because we exist if our woody friends, trees exist.

Photo: Nepal is a least developed country whose economy is sustained mainly by agriculture and forestry. Therefore, scientific agroforestry system can transform Nepal into a prosperous country.

Photo and blogpost by Dhiroj Prasad Koirala (Pokhara, Nepal) – Koirala1dhiroj(at)gmail.com