Silvopastoral models often address canopy closure over time by harvesting whole trees, yet regeneration requires expensive protection of saplings, or long periods of livestock exclusion. Alternatively, branch harvest opens the canopy (Figure 1) with diminished need for tree replacement, while providing marketable wood products and nutritious fodder (Garmo 1999) more frequently.
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Written by Shana Hanson, 3 Streams Farm, Belfast, ME
Agroforestry, an intentional integration, and management of trees, crops, and livestock in a single management unit, offers several environmental, economic, and social benefits. Alley cropping is gaining importance as an alternative way to utilize the land and resources effectively and efficiently. Many crop species can increase the biomass produced, compared to the traditional monoculture, but the success of the system depends on the crop selection (Brooker et al. 2014). Well-managed agroforestry systems provide economic viability through regular, short-term income from crops and long-term income from trees (Wilson and Lovell 2016). The Southern United States has a large acreage of forested land, and many farms have a substantial acreage of forested land, a part of which is often cleared for monocropping with grain, fiber, and forage crops. Therefore, there is much potential for practicing alley cropping on these farms.
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Written by Mounika Pudota, Varsha C. Anche, Andrea Byars, Suresh Kumar, Uma Karki, Lila B. Karki, Dedrick D. Davis, and Srinivasa R. Mentreddy
