Alley cropping

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alley Cropping (from English, in German as much as built-up connecting corridors or built-up alleys ) is a cultivation system of rows of trees or bushes alternating with crops or forage plants. It is a method of agroforestry . Are widely used for wood rows legume used (legumes). This system takes advantage of the fact that trees have deeper roots and can therefore overcome a short dry season . In addition, the roots loosen the soil, and the dense canopy of leaves protects the lower crops from heavy rain in the rainy season and from excessive sunlight in the dry season. Since the trees are regularly trimmed, it is impossible that the crops underneath are shaded too much. The resulting wood can be used as fuel , the leaves as fodder.

application

The alley cropping method was developed in the tropics and is mainly used there, as the soil is better protected against erosion than with complete clearing. Legumes also improve the soil's nitrogen supply. The use of fruit or nut trees increases the area yield. The overall increased biodiversity promotes the sustainability of cultivation.

The cultivation system is only profitable if the plants in the wood strips encourage the growth of the crops. An additional yield is z. B. possible through wind protection. For an economic return on the negative effects of a dissertation from the year 2011 through must accordance symbiosis effects achieved higher yield of a crop rotation winter rape, winter wheat, corn silage, spring barley on a 20 hectare impact with five wood strips at 3.6%.

Compared to large-scale cultivation, the Alley Cropping System stores more carbon dioxide and helps to reduce global warming. Reduced yields can be offset by subsidies in the context of emissions trading.

Due to the increasing importance of renewable raw materials, alley cropping has also come into the focus of agricultural and forestry scientists in Europe. A synergistic combination of short rotation plantations and arable crops in their crop rotation is sought.

disadvantage

With alley cropping, the effective usable area is reduced by the rows of trees, especially if the trees can only be used after several years. The earlier the rows of trees can be harvested, the more economical the cultivation system becomes.

The strips of wood hinder processing, which increases labor costs.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ JE Sumberg: Alley farming in the humid zone: linking crop and livestock production. In: ILCA Bulletin. Vol. 18, 1984, pp. 2-6.
  2. ↑ W. Terrell Stamps; J. Houx; L. Godsey and TL: Woods: The economics and ecology of alley cropping in the mid-western United States. In: Proceedings of the 12th North American Agroforestry Conference. Athens, USA. Agroforestry: A Profitable Land Use. 4-9 June 2011, pp. 8-14.
  3. ↑ Christian Schmidt: For the economic evaluation of agroforestry systems. Gießen 2011, p. 209 http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2011/8508/
  4. ↑ Jason Holderieath; C. Valdivia; L. Godsey and C. Barbieri: The potential for carbon offset trading to provide added incentive to adopt silvopasture and alley cropping in Missouri. In: Agroforestry Systems. Vol. 86 (3), 2012, pp. 345-353.
  5. ↑ Antonio Rigueiro-Rodriguez; Jim H. McAdam and Maria Rosa Mosquera-Losada: Agroforestry in Europe. Springer, New York 2008, ISBN 978-1-4020-8271-9 .
  6. ↑ RK Peng, LD Incoll, SL Sutton, C. Wright and A. Chadwick: Diversity of Arthropods Airborne in a Silvoarable Agroforestry System. In: Journal of Applied Ecology. Vol. 30 (3), 1993, pp. 551-562.