Prospects for agroforestry research in India's semi-arid tropics and at ICRISAT

Agroforestry research centered on woody perennial and field crop combinations is in its infancy in India's SAT. Any proposed agroforestry research at ICRISAT should have an explicit link with crops in order to justify such research within ICRISAT's mandate. The development of an agroforestry program at ICRISAT should follow a farming systems research strategy based on strong links with target systems. And selection of species for research should be done carefully and purposefully with the target system in mind.