GROW Report:
The Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW) report and portal was launched by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).
Highlights of the GROW Report:
- The GROW report aims to facilitate restoration projects for achieving national commitments of Land Degradation Neutrality and restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, as well as creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
- The report highlights that India possesses approximately 55.76 million hectares of wastelands, comprising 16.96% of the total geographical area (TGA) of the country.
- These degraded lands have suffered from reduced productivity and biodiversity due to various natural and human-induced factors.
- The report suggests greening and restoring these wastelands through agroforestry.
- The report also underscores the potential benefits of converting underutilised areas, especially wastelands, for agroforestry.
- Currently, agroforestry covers 8.65% of India’s total geographical area, totalling about 28.42 million hectares and about 6.18% and 4.91% of India’s land are highly and moderately suitable for agroforestry, respectively.
- As per Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana are the top large-sized states for agroforestry suitability, while Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, and Nagaland ranked highest among the medium-sized states.
- The report identifies the policy and institutional support required for scaling up agroforestry interventions in wastelands.
- The report emphasises India’s National Agroforestry Policy of 2014, which aims to enhance productivity, profitability, and sustainability through this agro ecological land use system.
