An e-publication by the World Agroforestry Centre
AGROFORESTRY A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT 
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An e-publication by the World Agroforestry Centre |
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AGROFORESTRY A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT |
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section 3 Chapter 6 Gerardo Budowski Formerly: Head, Renewable Natural Resources Department Introduction This chapter deals with the development of agroforestry in Central America, including all the countries of the isthmus from Panama to Guatemala and Belize, with some inroads into tropical Mexico. Nowhere in Central America is there yet a government department dealing specifically with agroforestry — although many individual projects within different departments include this topic. CATIE, a regional organization covering mostly the Central American countries; has the strongest contingent of agroforesters in the region. This chapter, therefore, is focused on CATIE's agroforestry activities. Although there will be some discussion on historical background, the main aim is to concentrate on the latest research; earlier research can be found in the literature. Agroforestry in Central America, as in other parts of the world, is a very old practice, but it was not known by that name in the literature until the mid-1970s. When the science of agroforestry began taking shape, it was of course realized that a number of studies had already been made on the subject in the region without their ever having been labelled as agroforestry. Moreover, when the new term agroforestry was coined, there was some confusion about the exact boundaries of agroforestry, i.e., what could be considered as agroforestry and what not. This type of discussion still lingers, and is complicated by the Spanish terminology because there is — or was — no precise translation of the term forestry; in fact the words "foresteria" and "agroforesteria" were not used until the late 1970s and here too opinions were far from uniform. Agroforestry as used here implies a number of techniques that all include the combination, either simultaneously or sequentially, of trees and food crops, trees and livestock (trees on pastures or for fodder), or all three elements (Combe and Budowski, 1979). This chapter will review the following agroforestry practices in Central America with emphasis on CATIE's research:
There will be some consideration of the methodological and socio-economic aspects as well as of extension, documentation and training.
No systematic research has been carried out on the history of agroforestry in Central America. However, various techniques of mixing trees with food crops were well known to the pre-Colombian Indians, particularly the managed fallow in shifting cultivation, the tropical mixed homegardens, the mixing of trees and crops along ditches (chinampas) and elsewhere that are well described from Mexico (Gliessman, 1981) and Guatemala (Wilken, 1977). Combinations such as heavily pruned pines associated with food crops, and shade trees in cacao fields, have also been reported from that period. But many of these combinations have still not been properly documented. The earliest documented mention of agroforestry in Central America may possibly be that by Cook (1901) who had recognized the various beneficial effects (for instance the nitrogen-fixing properties and the input of organic matter) of shade trees, particularly legumes, in coffee plantations. Holdridge (1951) described the decades-old practice of planting alders (Alnus acuminata) in pastures in the highlands of Costa Rica. This striking feature of the land-use system was also described by Budowski (1957), who reported on the successful windbreaks made up of cypress, Cupressus lusitanica, also in the highland dairy region, as well as of laurel (Cordia alliodord) in pastures in the wet lowlands, both in Costa Rica. Perez (1954) used growth rings on the trunks of laurel to calculate the best management cycle for laurel in pastures and found it to be approximately 18 years. Budowski (1959) also suggested the use of shade trees, including Cordia alliodora, as a good management practice for coffee. For taungya, a literature review for "Tropical America" was prepared by Budowski (1956), which included the previous work in the then British Honduras, now Belize. Gonzalez de Moya (1955) and Aguirre (1963) reported prornising results in managing a secondary forest derived from an abandoned coffee stand. Live fences in Costa Rica were pròbably described first by Lozano (1962), a student at CATIE, and formal research ideas on this topic were later suggested by Budowski (1977) and Sauer (1979). The Spainish equivalent of the term "agro-silvo-pastoral systems" appeared first in 1976 when it was introduced by this author at CATIE as part of one of the three programmes within the Renewable Natural Resources Department. In early 1977, a request from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) led to a contract for CATIE to present a "programme of work for agroforestry in the humid tropics" (Budowski, 1977), which, jointly with a similar programme for the dryer areas, was considered by the Committee that recommended the creation of ICRAF. These programmes suggested a series of. promising lines of research, such as association of trees and food plants, taungya, live fence-posts, shade trees in coffee and cacao fields, nitrogen-fixing timber trees in pastures, use of trees for fodder for cattle, as well as tree belts alternating with crops or pastures. The creation of ICRAF in 1977 was an enormous boost to the programme at CATIE which has since benefited greatly from the scientific and educational output of ICRAF, including successful co-operative efforts in surveys and training programmes.
At CATIE, thesis research by graduate (M.S.) students on agroforestry-related topics had been a regular feature even in the early days. Examples dealt with the local species of alder (Alnus sp.) (Alvarez, 1956), live fences (Lozano, 1962), and Cordia alliodora in pastures (Perez, 1954; Marinero, 1962). Subsequently, when agroforestry was institutionalized, student theses on agroforestry subjects increased considerably: 24 such theses have been produced to date. Three CATIE publications, all issued in 1979, describe the research efforts: these are, (a) the proceedings of a workshop on agroforestry systems in Latin America (De las Salas, 1979), (b) the "Field Guide" describing all forestry research plots of CATIE (in Spanish) edited by Combe and Gewald (1979); and, (c) an international symposium entitled "Forestry and its Contribution to Development in Tropical America" in San José (Chavarria, 1979), where 10 out of a total of 36 papers dealt with agroforestry subjects, almost all of them from CATIE personnel. Efforts in agroforestry at CATIE increased considerably from 1979. These included organizing workshops, training courses and seminars in agroforestry at the headquarters as well as in Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras, assistance to training activities in the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Nigeria, Mexico, the United States of America, Indonesia, Peru, Honduras and Ecuador, and in-service training for students from several countries with United Nations University (UNU) scholarships. A significant effort has also been made in documentation, and close relations have been established with ICRAF in this area too. CATIE staff are also involved in consultation jobs in agroforestry in many tropical countries throughout the world. Recently a Spanish book Sistemas Agroforestales (the English translation of which is "Agroforestry Systems"), was produced by OTS (Organization of Tropical Studies, a consortium of mostly US universities and scientific institutions) and CATIE (OTS/CATIE, 1986), which is an excellent training material for agroforestry in Latin American countries. The resource limitations of M.S. theses were reflected in the initial results of agroforestry research at CATIE and in some of the obvious differences between desired research and actual execution. For example, several M.S. theses were prepared on the taungya system, measuring initial growth of trees, labour costs and yields, etc., in replicated blocks of various combinations with food crops, in comparison with plots of food crops alone (Combe and Gewald, 1979; Budowski, 1983a). Although these results proved valuable and worthy of M.S. degrees, the ideas were not being taken up by the fanning community because of the lack of adequate promotional and extension activities. Later, however, a pulp and paper company (Celulosa de Turrialba) used the research for their pine plantations. A more in-depth approach was taken by the CATIE staff researchers. Not constrained by the 12-month time limit of M.S. theses, the staff researchers studied in detail the existing local agroforestry practices — some of them decades old. The quantification of these practices, design for improvement, and the transfer of well-studied and validated practices to other areas where ecological as well as socio-economic factors indicated high chances of success, became the focus of such research, and these too had student involvement. Agroforestry initiatives elsewhere in Central America were slow. This was mainly because agroforestry was generally ignored by local government or university programmes until CATIE graduates and trainees returned to their countries and began building up local programmes. Moreover, and quite understanbably, many of the first papers of the newly-trained agroforesters from CATIE concentrated on describing — if not "discovering" — the various agroforestry practices found in the various countries or regions. Examples of such descriptions are papers by Castillo and Beer (1983) for the Kuna Indians in Panama, Budowski (1981) and Fournier (1981) for Costa Rica, Martinez (1982) and Leiva and Lopez (1985) for Guatemala, Campos Arce (1982) for hillsides, and Rodriguez et al. (1983) for Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. This compilation of existing practices was later published in the earlier-inentioned book Sistemas Agroforestales (OTS/CATIE, 1986). Research on specific agroforestry combinations Taungya The results and recommendations of a review on taungya by Budowski (1983c) have been widely used for the many short agroforestry courses at CATIE. These and other results (Combe, 1981b; Budowski, 1983a; Fernandez, 1978) have been used in reforestation projects in Costa Rica involving species such as Eucalyptus deglupta, Cordia alliodora, Gmelina arborea, Finns caribaea and Terminalia ivorensis. Several fuelwood species have also been established successfully using maize as an associated crop in Guatemala (Detlefsen et al., 1984). Shade trees in coffee and cacao fields Coffee and cacao are very valuable cash crops throughout Central America. The presence of shade trees in these fields (Figures 1 and 2) has therefore attracted considerable attention by agroforesters. This is partly due to the fact that shade trees had until then received very little research attention, particularly in those aspects not related to shade per se. More important is that two major diseases have recently affected these crops: the coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) and the cacao pod-rot or moniliasis (Monilia rohrerii), and in both cases shade management (reduction) has been advocated as an important aspect of disease control. In the case of coffee, complete removal of shade and use of large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and closer planting have been strongly advocated and promoted through several incentives. This strategy has proven to be relatively successful for large enterprises but disastrous to small farmers who have difficulty getting credit and access to modern technologies. Hence smallholder-oriented agroforestry research has concentrated on quantifying the multiple benefits of management practices which involve shade trees, especially legumes (Budowski et al., 1984). The genus Erythrina is particularly prominent in this context. Espinoza (1984,1985,1986a,b) studied the coffee stands in the Acosta-Puriscal region of Costa Rica, an area of small farmers, where 117 coffee stands were surveyed in detail. The study clearly demonstrated the many benefits these trees provide to the farmers such as fuelwood, fruits and construction wood. At CATIE a long-term replicated experiment known as "La Montana" was established by the Plant Production Department (Enriquez, 1983). It includes the use of different combinations of shade trees as practised by farmers in Costa Rica. Carefully monitored since 1977, it has been a good experimental site for researchers, students and trainees. A significant amount of data on organic matter, nutrient cycles (of N, P, K, Ca and Mg), litter fall, water infiltration, etc., are now available from this experiment, using two shade trees: Erythrina poeppigiana (periodically cut back) and Cordia alliodora (a valuable timber tree, periodically thinned), (Alpizar, 1985; Alpizar et al, 1985; Alpizar et al, 1986; Enriquez, 1983; Fassbender et al, 1985; Heuveldop et al, 1987; Jomenez, 1986). The coffee/shade tree combinations were also studied in other conditions, notably small farmers' plots close to CATIE. Emphasis was on leaf fall, nutrient balance, soil acidity, etc., comparing the two trees (Erythrina poeppigiana and Cordia alliodora) (Figures 1 and 2) versus only one (Erythrina poeppigiana) over coffee (Beer, 198,3, 1987; Glover and Beer, 1984, 1986). Cordia alliodora is also much used in cacao fields and was investigated for its growth, volume and yields, notably by Combe et al. (1981a, b) and Somarriba and Beer (1986). Other species that have showed similar promise include Cedrela odorata, a very valuable timber tree (Sabogal, 1982, 1983), Alnus acuminata (Combe et al, 1981a, Combe, 1982; Fournier, 1981) also a nitrogen-fixing tree, and Grevillea robusta in Guatemala (Villatoro, 1986). Environmental influences on the coffee/shade tree combinations were also studied by Barradas and Fanjul (1984), who showed various protective actions when shaded coffee was compared with non-shaded coffee. It is now well recognized that the use of shade trees implies a multitude of biological, environmental and socio-economic benefits (Budowski et al, 1984). Although the amounts of nitrogen fixed are still a matter of discussion and investigation, 40 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for Inga trees in coffee fields in Mexico (Roskoski, 1982) is considered an acceptable figure. However, wide variations have been reported depending on the methodology used for quantification. Nitrogen fixation, the effects of different management practices and the relation with endomycorrhiza for Erythrina were also investigated at CATIE, notably by Lindblad and Russo (1986), and Russo (1983a, 1984). Studies by Russo and Budowski (1986) have shown that periodic (once or twice a year) pollarding of Erythrina trees results in the addition of substantial amounts of organic matter and nitrogen to the soil. The genus Erythrina is presently the subject of a special project (financed by IDRC) at CATIE. Thus, CATIE investigations have made significant contributions to the understanding of the role of shade trees. Trees and annual crops This area has been little explored except for Cordia alliodora in sugar-cane fields (Fournier, 1981; Somarriba and Beer, 1986). The opening of various types of forest (primary, secondary and old coffee groves with shade trees) over cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), a valuable spice cultivated in Guatemala (Leiva and Lopez, 1985) and Honduras, may also be mentioned here although cardamom is not an annual. The use of Cordia alliodora in sugar-cane fields deserves some comment since sugar cane is a sun-loving plant. Cordia trees are common in sugar-cane fields of smallholders who sell their sugar cane to local factories. The presence of trees does indeed depress sugar production but this is adequately compensated by the value of the timber, an important consideration for the small farmers who prefer to harvest timber for local needs on their own land rather than to buy it from the sawmill where it is very expensive. Moreover the Cordia trees grow very fast and have a preferred straight form, since they are self-pruning and always possess a relatively small and open crown that becomes leafless during the dry season. Hence they intercept only a small proportion of the incoming radiation and cast only little shade on the understorey species; their moisture uptake in drier months is also relatively less, unless of course the density of trees is too high. The desirable characteristics of "agroforestry trees" when associated with annual or perennial crops were recently analysed by Budowski (1987a). He analysed the uses of such trees for goods and services, growth habits, morphological and physiological features, methods of propagation, production of biomass, response to pruning, coppicing ability, litter decomposition, tolerance to fire, relationship to soil fertility and texture, capacity to fix nitrogen, efficiency of their mycorrhizae and tolerance to pests and relationship with local wildlife. Alley cropping This agroforestry technique, well publicized by IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria (see Kang and Wilson, this volume), was only tested in recent years at CATIE, notably by Donald Kass of the Plant Production Department. The trees used for alley cropping were the leguminous Erythrina poeppigiana and Gliricidia sepium, both propagated by large cuttings and well known for their ability to fix nitrogen and the relatively large amounts of crude protein (20-30 percent) in their leaves. The associated crops in these experiments were maize, millets, cassava and common beans. Kass et al (1983) summarized the beneficial effect of these trees, which were periodically lopped, as supply of organic matter and nutrients to the associated crops, suppression of weeds and action as a mulch. The lopped branches and leaves could also be carried from the nurse trees to nearby crops: in one study, Erythrina provided 8,000 kg dry matter (with 3-4 percent nitrogen) per year (Kass et al., 1983). In another experiment with Erythrina and maize, better yields were obtained at various spacings of Erythrina in comparison with control plots of maize only. However there was a slight increase in acidity and a decrease in the C/N ratio in the plots where Erythrina nurse trees were used (Alavez, 1987). Trees and livestock As mentioned earlier, the associations of local alder trees (Alnus acuminata) in the highlands (Figure 3) and laurel trees in pasture in the humid lowlands of Costa Rica had been reported decades ago (Holdridge, 1951; Perez, 1954; Budowski, 1955 and Alvarez, 1956). Recent studies give detailed analyses of the advantages and limitations of alder in pasture (Combe, 1981a; Combe et al, 1981a; Garriguez, 1983), using various examples from Costa Rica.
An interesting experiment at CATIE using Erythrina poeppigiana, established by large cuttings in a stand of king grass (a hybrid of Pennisetum purpureum x P. typhoides), showed promising initial results: the presence of periodically lopped Erythrina trees did not influence the yield of pasture in comparison to control (no tree) plots. Moreover, the total biomass production was 35 percent higher than in the control and the production of protein increased by 193 percent. The presence of Erythrina also increased the amount of protein in the pasture (Rodriguez, 1985). A series of laboratory analyses showed high nutrient content in the branches of Gliricidia sepium and Erythrina poeppigiana which are usually fed to cattle (Espinosa, 1984). Leguminous live fences that need to be lopped periodically also showed a high content of protein. However, possible toxicity problems in cattle need to be monitored. On the other hand, there was no such toxicity-problem with goats and early results were very promising (Borel, 1986). For goats, E. poeppigiana feed compared favourably with Dolichos lablab (Benavides, 1983; Samur, 1984). A 67 percent substitution of soya meal by Erythrina poeppigiana leaves in the diet of calves showed the highest economic benefit (a gain of US$ 0.63/kg) (Pineda, 1986). The "La Montana" experiment at CATIE (Enriquez, 1983) compared pasture production of Cynodon plectostachyus in unfertilized replicated plots with and without Erythrina poeppigiana and Cordia alliodora trees. The results (Table 1) showed that the presence of Erythrina resulted in the production of a greater amount ofbiomassthatisalso richer in protein; the weeds were also suppressed.
Research on grazing under Pinus caribaea in the large plantations of Celulosa de Turrialba (near CATIE) showed that grazing was possible when the pines were 3-8 years old, the carrying-capacity curve of animal units/ ha showing a maximum of 1.4 animal units for a 5-year-old plantation (Somarriba et al, 1986). Cordia alliodora trees in pastures in the wet lowlands of Costa Rica showed a growth of 4.2-10.8 m yr-1 at a density of 150-208 trees ha-1. The growth of Cordia was superior in non-grazed associations, for instance in cacao groves (Combe et al, 1981b). Guava (Psidium guajava) and pasture is a very popular association at middle elevations in Costa Rica (Somarriba, 1982, 1985,1986; Somarriba and Beer, 1985; Sequeira, 1984). There was considerable variation among the guava trees, pointing to the need for eliminating low-yielding trees. The fruits are eaten by cattle and many seedlings germinate from the excreta. Live fence-posts and windbreaks CATIE has been a pioneer in the study of live fence-posts, raised by planting large cuttings of trees to which barbed wire is attached (Budowski, 1987b) (Figure 5). The practice is widespread in Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and northern parts of South America. Its advantages and disadvantages were discussed by Budowski (1982b). Over 90 species are used in Costa Rica alone, of which a dozen make up about 0.5 percent of all types of fences. The most common species are Gliricidia sepium, Erythrina berteroana, E. costaricensis, Bursera simaruba, Spondias purpurea, Diphysa robinioides, Jathropha curcas, Yucca elephantipes and Croton glabellus and there is now considerable empirical knowledge about the establishment and management techniques and uses. These live fence-posts not only serve as support for barbed wire but they also produce fruits, fodder, fuelwood and, above all, new fence posts. There is at present a world-wide interest in live fences and Costa Rica, mostly through CATIE, has been a centre of research and a source of seeds and information on the subject.
Sauer (1979) identified 57 species of trees producing live fence-posts in Costa Rica, of which 26 are common. He has drawn attention to the decreasing diversity of the species used as live fence-posts, and the tendency to substitute live fences with other materials. It is much cheaper to collect local stakes and plant them as live fence-posts than to use other fencing materials; moreover, live fences last much longer and are economically attractive because of their production of more fences as well as fodder and fuelwood. As the realization of these advantages is becoming more widespread, the tendency to substitute live fence-posts with other materials is gradually becoming reversed. Live fences have also been described from the Mexican humid tropics (Alavez, 1983). Gross (1983) described tree species for live fence-posts in the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. A methodology to evaluate yields of fuelwood from Gliricidia live fence-posts was designed by Rose and Salazar (1983). The empirical knowledge of farmers concerning choice of large cuttings and planting and management methods for Gliricidia sepium has also been used in extension (Baggio, 1982). Costa Rica has become a centre for collection of germplasm of Gliricidia (Sumberg, 1985) (also see Burley, this volume). In order to co-ordinate the research efforts on Gliricidia world-wide, an international conference on Gliricidia was held at CATIE in June 1987. Beliard (1984a) experimented with three pruning intervals for Gliricidia sepium, and measured the volume and quality of products (fodder vs. forage). As expected, the shortest rotation produced the largest amount of forage while the longer intervals yielded high fuelwood returns. These results are of considerable interest to farmers who want to manage their live fences according to local needs or market values. Volume tables for Gliricidia, based on length of branches and diameter at the base of branches, have also been produced (Beliard, 1984b; Beliard and Mora, 1984) for both forage and fuelwood, with conversion factors to transform each into dry matter. Similarly, for eight-month-old fence-posts of Erythrina berteroana, a 100 m fence line yielded 1,107 branches from 169 live posts, with 319 kg of dry matter. The protein content was 4.2 percent for fresh leaves and 1.3 percent for the stems (Budowski et al, 1985). The initial performance of Calliandra calothyrsus, widely planted in Indonesia for fuel and fodder, was also evaluated at CATIE (Baggio and Heuveldop, 1982). However, this species has a limitation in that it must be established by seed and its large stem cuttings do not sprout. In the "La Esmeralda" farm in the dairy highland region of Costa Rica, cypress (Cupressus lusitanica) windbreaks have been planted since the early 1930s and are now yielding excellent returns. A modern sawmill has been successfully installed on the farm. The whole farm, with its sawmill and its Cupressus stands, has been heralded as a success story, and the farm is visited regularly by hundreds of students and researchers. Evaluation of fuelwood yield of cypress windbreak was carried out at CATIE (Salazar, 1984 as reported in OTS/CATIE, 1986). Shifting cultivation (or shifting grazing) with managed fallow This aspect of agroforestry deserves some comment. The fallow is rarely labelled as "managed", although this may prove to be a very superficial appraisal when we learn more about the farmers' practices. A good example is some of the fallows from the Central American Indian communities. They may look disorderly and untended but the local inhabitants have a good knowledge of fallow management and they occasionally harvest and tend certain trees in the fallows (Castillo and Beer, 1983; Nations and Nigh, 1980; Nations, 1981). Budowski (1983) summarized the evolution of a fallow, derived from an abandoned pasture and later successfully converted into a highly productive secondary forest. Most research on fallow regeneration carried out at CATIE compares either different forms of fallow resulting from slash and burn to secondary forest with an evaluation of changes above and below the soil surface (Berish, 1983; Ewel, 1969,1971,1976; Ewel et al, 1981), or biological processes and biomass yields in manipulated successional stages that are compared with control plots without intervention (Ewel and Babbar, 1981; Ewel et al, 1981, 1982; Babbar, 1983; Berish, 1983). Altogether this is a relatively unexplored field which deserves much more consideration, including enrichment techniques (with valuable timber species) for the fallow (Leiva, 1982), and even fertilization of the fallow as carried out by Harcombe (1977) on CATIE plots. Tropical mixed homegardens Knowledge of homegardens is still in its infancy in Central America, although the practice has been strongly advocated, notably by Lagemann (1981). There may possibly be a new surge of interest after the second International Workshop on Tropical Mixed Homegardens to be held in San Jose, Costa Rica in early September 1987. A detailed world-wide literature review on homegardens by Brownrigg (1985) cites only a few references referring to Central America. A later review for tropical America by Budowski (1985) contains more entries. Detailed case studies on mixed homegardens have been described from Santa Lucia, Guatemala (Anderson, 1950), Orotina, Costa Rica (Maffioli and Holle, 1981) and from various other areas of Costa Rica (Price, 1983). The latter also suggests promising lines of research. A questionnaire for surveying tropical homegardens has also been produced by CATIE (Huerto Casero, 1982).
Methodological aspects CATIE's contributions to research methodologies on various aspects of agroforestry are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 CATIE's contributions to research methodologies in agroforestry
Socio-economic considerations and extension Many socio-economic aspects are incorporated in the earlier-mentioned studies on systems and components. For instance, many aspects of plantations of trees established by taungya are compared, in economic terms, with the establishment of the same species of trees through normal planting and tending operations (Combe and Gewald, 1979; and Spiegeler, 1981). Reiche (1983) described various ways of characterizing the economic aspects for small agroforestry farmers, while Espinoza (I986a, b) described socio-economic factors of the Acosta-Puriscal area in a dry region of Costa Rica, and Maldonado (1986) made a similar analysis for the Taque-Taque area in a wet environment in Costa Rica. Extension aspects of agroforestry systems were discussed by Beer (1984b) and Beer and Somarriba (1984) who described the step-by-step approach to improving agroforestry systems for small farmers; this aspect was also discussed in a more general approach by Dulin (1982) in Honduras. Since very often, agroforestry amounts to incorporating trees in the existing farms, special emphasis has been given to stimulating farmers to plant trees (Beer, 1985; Clarkin, 1982). A notable effort towards this end was also achieved by a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras (Rodbell, 1986). Documentation The large number of publications issued by CATIE was made possible by building up a special section on forestry documentation and information in tropical America (INFORAT). One of the first tasks of INFORAT was the publication of a bibliography on tropical agroforestry with 680 entries (Combe et al, 1981). This computerized information bank is periodically up-dated and freely disseminated to students, trainees and others. Training Professional education in agroforestry in Central America was reviewed by Budowski (1982a) and a special manual on teaching methods for use in intensive short courses was issued by CATIE (Major et al., 1985). A landmark for training is, of course, the earlier mentioned textbook (OTS/CATIE, 1986). A textbook on soil aspects in agroforestry systems was also produced at CATIE (Fassbender, 1984), while Beer and Somarriba (1984) compiled a series of papers to serve as a support for the organization of short courses in agroforestry. The increasing interest in agroforestry training is evidenced by the attendance at the short agroforestry courses, now offered at even more frequent intervals in the Central American region by various bilateral aid organizations and agencies as well as CATIE. Agroforestry will be a special study area at the Graduate School of the University of Costa Rica, beginning in 1988. It will also be taught and investigated at the University of Peace, located close to San Jose, Costa Rica. Agroforestry is also becoming a regular course at the Universities in Guatemala and Honduras. The transition from theory to practice may still have a long way to go, but at least a good number of trained local personnel are now available and there is the large diversity of existing agroforestry practices throughout the region waiting to be analysed, quantified and, in most cases, improved. The basic materials are there and one can reasonably expect the next few years to witness a considerable increase in agroforestry development in Central America.
The author is particularly indebted to Alexander Imbach, a graduate student at CATIE, who prepared an annotated bibliography on agroforestry. Special credit is also due to the many staff members at CATIE, past and present.
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1 In 1984, one group within the agroforestry programme of CATIE sent a cable to ICRAF asking how ICRAF translated agroforestry into Spanish. The answer came swiftly: "agroforesteria". That ended that argument. |
