Fish-Rice Based Agroforestry Systems in India: Opportunities, Ecosystem Services, Climate Resilience, Livelihood Enhancement, and Future Research Directions
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Abstract
Integrated rice–fish systems are among the oldest forms of multi-trophic agriculture in Asia, yet their extension into explicitly agroforestry-oriented configurations—in which trees and woody perennials are deliberately combined with rice and aquaculture—remains poorly consolidated, particularly for India. This review synthesises evidence on fish-based rice agroforestry systems (FRAS) in India, drawing comparative insights from South and Southeast Asia, to assess their productivity, ecosystem services, climate resilience, livelihood outcomes, and research frontiers. Two findings frame the synthesis. First, rice–fish integration is well documented globally, but India contributes only a small share of the peer-reviewed literature, and the tree or agroforestry component specifically is thinly studied and agronomically contested, because woody perennials can compete with rice for light, water, and nutrients. Second, India's traditional systems—Apatani (Arunachal Pradesh), Zabo (Nagaland), Pokkali and the below-sea-level Kuttanad system (Kerala), and the bheri systems of the Sundarbans (West Bengal)—demonstrate long-standing integration of rice, fish, water, and, in several cases, trees and livestock, and are associated with substantial income gains relative to rice monoculture. Documented benefits include improved soil organic carbon, nutrient recycling, dietary diversification through small indigenous fish species, and enhanced flood and drought buffering, although methane dynamics involve clear trade-offs. Major constraints are land fragmentation, high initial investment in dykes and fish refuges, weak market and tenure institutions, and a shortage of long-term experimental data. We argue that the strongest near-term contribution of this field lies in treating agroforestry integration as an explicit research and policy frontier, aligned with India's National Agroforestry Policy (2014) and emerging blue-economy initiatives. We propose a future research agenda emphasising long-term factorial trials, standardised ecosystem-service accounting, and gender-disaggregated livelihood assessment.
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