Degradation of agricultural and forest lands is a global problem causing climate change, loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and environmental hazards. In the red and lateritic soils of the northeast, central and southern India, land degradation remains a major problem affecting the lives of millions of people. Agroforestry systems with appropriate combinations of arable crops, horticultural trees, and forest tree species are suggested as effective strategies to combat land degradation by restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services but the scientific evidence is lacking for red and lateritic soils of northeast India. In response, a forest deciduous tree species Gmelina [Gmelina arborea Roxb.], a fruit tree mango [Mangifera indica L.], and a legume crop pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] were grown solely or in various combinations for ten years (July 2009 to June 2019) in the red and lateritic soil of West Bengal, India to evaluate their role in the restoration of degraded land and the potential for offering multiple ecosystems services. Eleven indicators were selected for evaluating the multifunctionality of ecosystem services having synergies between them. Results after ten years of field experiments revealed that the Gmelina-mango-pigeon pea agroforestry system has provided multiple ecosystem goods like edible seeds (pigeon pea), fruits (mango), fuelwood and timber (mango/Gmelina) sequentially, and was 2–3 times more profitable in terms of net present value compared to sole Gmelina or mango or pigeon pea. This system also offered greater climate resiliency with 1–2 times higher annual biomass production, thus offsetting greenhouse gases emission. The composite evaluation index demonstrated that this system offers the highest level of multifunctionality of multiple ecosystem services. Evidence from this long-term experimentation suggests that the crop-fruit tree-forest tree-based agroforestry system has the potential to restore the land productivity of the degraded red and lateritic soils and provide multiple ecosystem services to millions of people dependent on such land. This system could potentially be out-scaled in many other similar agroecological zones of the world.

农业和林地退化是导致气候变化、生物多样性丧失、生态系统服务和环境危害的全球性问题。在印度东北部、中部和南部的红土和红土中，土地退化仍然是影响数百万人生活的主要问题。建议将可耕作物、园艺树木和森林树种适当组合的农林业系统作为通过恢复生物多样性和生态系统服务来对抗土地退化的有效策略，但印度东北部的红色和红土缺乏科学证据。作为回应，森林落叶树种Gmelina [ Gmelina arborea Roxb.]，果树芒果 [Mangifera indica L.] 和豆科作物木豆 [ Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] 在印度西孟加拉邦的红色和红土中单独或以各种组合种植了十年（2009 年 7 月至 2019 年 6 月）评估它们在恢复退化土地中的作用以及提供多种生态系统服务的潜力。选择了 11 个指标来评估它们之间具有协同作用的生态系统服务的多功能性。十年田间试验结果表明，Gmelina-芒果-鸽豌豆农林业系统提供了多种生态系统产品，如可食用种子（鸽豌豆）、水果（芒果）、薪材和木材（芒果/ Gmelina ）) 按顺序计算，与单一的Gmelina或芒果或木豆相比，其净现值的利润是 2-3 倍。该系统还提供了更大的气候弹性，年生物质产量提高了 1-2 倍，从而抵消了温室气体排放。综合评价指标表明，该系统提供了最高水平的多种生态系统服务的多功能性。这项长期实验的证据表明，以作物-果树-森林树木为基础的农林业系统有潜力恢复退化的红土和红土的土地生产力，并为依赖这些土地的数百万人提供多种生态系统服务。该系统可能在世界上许多其他类似的农业生态区中超出规模。