What is it?
Alley Cropping field
Alley cropping is the cultivation of food, forage or specialty crops between rows of trees. It is a larger intercropping or companion planting conducted over a longer time scale. Alley cropping can provide opportunities for row crop farmers, hardwood timber growers, nut growers and Christmas tree growers.
Benefits:
Alley cropping benefits both humans and the environment
Income diversification.
Crop production during the years before nut trees come into hardwood timber is harvested creates cash flow and diversifies farm income, thereby return on long-term investments in trees.
Marginal land improvement.
By planting rows of nut or timber trees on land where production is low due to erosion or other limitations, marginal croplands may be converted value woodlands.
Shelter:
Rows of trees reduce wind speed, thereby controlling wind erosion. They also microclimates that improves the yield and quality of crops growing in the alleys.
Wildlife:
Alley cropping increases the biodiversity of cropland which creates new habitat Alley cr
Tree nuts
opping enterprises:
Hardwood timber or nut trees:
Hardwoods such as black walnut or pecan may be annual crops such as corn or soybeans.
Forage crops can be cultivated between tree rows for harvest or livestock grazing, to livestock can be grown for fodder, e.g. tagasaste.
Possible alley crops also include specialty crops, e.g. herbal or medicinal, perennials Christmas trees, and even nursery stock, e.g. using the Pot-in-Pot system.
Combine specialty crops with conventional field crops:
Another alternative is to plant rows of perennial specialty crops within a field of tall corn to diversify income while maintaining annual crop production.
Sources of information about alley cropping:
University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry: http://agebb.missouri.edu/umca/
