Model Rules for "Felling of Trees in Agricultural Land” to Promote Agroforestry | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Model Rules for "Felling of Trees in Agricultural Land” to Promote Agroforestry

Posted 30 Jun 2025

2 min read

The rules aim to simplify agroforestry processes and encourage farmers to integrate trees into farming without procedural hurdles.

Key Highlights

  • State Level Committee (SLC): The existing SLC constituted under the ‘Wood-Based Industries (Establishment & Regulation) Guidelines, 2016’ will oversee these rules.
    • It will advise the state on promoting agroforestry & boosting timber production by easing tree felling and transit rules.
  • Registration of Plantation Area: Applicants (owning agricultural lands) shall register in the National Timber Management System with land ownership details.
  • Felling Permission: A Felling Permit is issued for agricultural lands with more than 10 trees, while a No Objection Certificate is issued for lands with 10 or fewer trees.

What is Agro-forestry?

  • Definition: Agroforestry involves growing trees & agricultural crops together on the same land. 
  • Types: Agrisilviculture (Crops + Trees); Silvopasture (Trees + Livestock); Agrosilvopastoral (trees + crops+ pasture/animals) etc. 
  • Agroforestry in India: It covers 8.65% (28.42 million hectares) of India’s total geographical area.
    • The government defines agroforestry, for calculation purposes, as having over 10% tree cover on agricultural land.

Benefits

  • Environment Benefits: It supports increasing tree cover outside forests & promotes sustainable land use, aligning with India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
  • Economic Benefits: It helps double farmers’ incomes by boosting productivity, improving soil health, and conserving water.
  • Social Benefits: Improvement in rural living standards from sustained employment and higher incomes.

Initiatives to promote agroforestry

  • National Agroforestry Policy, 2014: To promote agroforestry and to create a framework for research, development, and scaling up agroforestry practices.
  • Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF): It is under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
  •  GROW initiative: Launched by NITI Aayog, aiming to transform India’s wastelands through agroforestry.
  • The amendment to the Forest Act 1927 in 2017: Redefined bamboo as grass instead of a tree, simplifying its harvesting and transit.
  • Tags :
  • Agroforestry
  • Agrisilviculture
  • Agrosilvopastoral
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