India, Dec. 18 -- Agroforestry on small family farms can play a powerful role in climate mitigation while strengthening rural livelihoods, showed a nine-year study from eastern India by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) scientists.

One-acre farms under agroforestry sequestered up to 154.5 megagrams (Mg) of carbon dioxide equivalent over nine years, while maintaining food production and generating substantial income for farming families.

In 2015, scientists from the ICAR's Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation in Dehradun and Koraput worked directly with 15 farmers in Odisha's Eastern Ghats region to set up a one-acre agroforestry model on their fields, integrating trees with existing crops.

The long-term study pu...